Estimating the Costs of Financial Regulation

To assess the overall impact of the financial regulatory initiatives on U.S., European, and Japanese financial institutions and their respective economies. It will examine the existing analyses on the impact of the regulatory initiatives by the financial industry (financial analysts, industry associations, and consulting companies) and the official sector and supplements them with Basel III disclosures by financial institutions to estimate the overall impact of the regulatory reforms and reach some overall conclusions. The assessment takes into account how financial institutions respond to the combined effects of the regulatory measures by adapting their business models to a new set of capital regulations, shrinking their balance sheet, changing its structure (funding and asset composition) , cutting costs, and charging more for loans. Indeed, one of the most important conclusions is that any increase in lending rates will be minor.