Banks will be worst hit

Thomas Hess chief economist at reinsurer Swiss Re says Basel III banking capital rules are good news for reinsurance companies, City AM reports.

“Banks’ capital charges have been rightly raised by quite a bit. At the centre of the crisis were the banks, not the insurers,” he said.

Basel III will have a bigger effect on financial services than Solvency II. “Banks will have much bigger challenges to cope with the new regulation than insurers will,” Hess said.