World's top banks nearly comply with capital rules in full

The world's top banks have nearly met new capital rules in full five years ahead of a 2019 deadline set by regulators, global banking supervisors said on Thursday.

The Basel Committee, made up of regulators from nearly 30 countries, said the world's top 102 banks had a combined shortfall of 57.5 billion euros by June 2013, half the 115 billion euro shortfall seen at the end of 2012.

The committee's new, tougher capital rules known as Basel III, a core global response to the 2007-09 financial crisis, are being phased in and must be complied with in full by the start of 2019.

Market and regulatory pressure has meant that banks have moved early to build up their capital buffers to dispel doubts about their health.