Global bank capital needs severe but improving

A review of the capital needs of 102 of the world's most significant banks has found they need €374.1 billion in capital to achieve a minimum capital ratio of 7.0 per cent, including the capital conservation buffer.

The Basel Committee of Banking Supervision said this compared with the aggregate profit of  €356 billion. The required capital is thus equal to 11 months profit.

A second group of 107 smaller banks would need to raise €7.6 billion to meet the target capital ratio. his compares with aggregate profit for this group of €24 billion.

These estimates are improvement on those produced by the Basel Committee five months ago. In April the committee estimated that the industry needed €518 billion in capital, equal to 15 months profit.