Banks need big tech upgrades to be Basel III compliant
Achieving full Basel III compliance will cost the world's leading financial institutions US$75 billion to achieve, according to a leading industry analyst.As yet, banks lack the comprehensive data analytics platforms which would be required to fully model enterprise-wide risk, technology analyst IDC Financial Insights said.The enhanced risk reporting features of Basel III require that a bank be able to calculate and report its entire capital and liquidity on demand - integrating data from its banking and financial systems, and also taking data from external sources such as sharemarket feeds.According to Cyrus Daruwala, managing director of IDC Financial Insights: "As of right now I can't think of a single organisation in the world - none whatsoever - with the spot-on analytics for enterprise-wide risk.He said that while the leap from Basel II to Basel III compliance might not seem enormous, the leading 1000 banks in the world would have to spend a combined US$75 billion to be able to accurately pinpoint enterprise-wide risk.He said, however, that banks were benefitting from the continued delays in the Basel III roll-out, by taking the time to develop customer-facing computer systems, to encourage loyalty and to grow customer deposits in order to tackle the liquidity requirements of Basel III.