Academic

The Basel Committee is supposed to be about harmonizing banking regulatory standards for cross-border institutions (or otherwise dealing with such behemoths), but it seems to find a way to get involved an array of tangents in the pursuit of its original mission.  Today it's corporate governance, as the committee has issued principles that it thinks regulators ought to expect from their banks.  Amid the usual bland hemming and hawing of an international institution (the board should "account of the bank's long-term financial interests and safety"), I saw a couple of interesting developments:

• A dig at the United States, which has tolerated corporate titans and college presidents on boards; Basel wants more qualifications (but yet also independence!).
• A "chief risk officer or equivalent with sufficient authority, stature, independence, resources and access to the board."
• A double down on the importance of systems and process for risk management.  Remember, some think that Basel's uncritical endorsement of internal bank Value at Risk models didn't do the crisis much good.  But the committee's sticking with technocratic lingo for risk management.