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Basel Committee on Banking Supervision

Institution · Standard setter

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is the global standard-setter for prudential supervision of internationally active banks, hosted by the BIS and reporting to the Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS). For tokenisation readers, the load-bearing Basel deliverable is the SCO60 prudential standard for bank exposures to crypto-assets, which classifies tokenised traditional assets meeting specified conditions as Group 1a and unbacked crypto as Group 2, with sharply different capital treatment. SCO60 implementation is now under targeted review (endorsed by GHOS in March 2026 and being expedited per the November 2025 Mexico City meeting), which is the single most important Basel-side process for any institution holding or planning to hold tokenised assets on balance sheet.

Role in tokenisation

  • Owns SCO60, the prudential standard for bank crypto-asset exposures (covers tokenised traditional assets and unbacked crypto).
  • Sets the broader Basel III framework that determines bank capital, leverage, and liquidity treatment, including the cryptoasset exposures dashboard added to the latest monitoring exercise.
  • Coordinates with IOSCO and CPMI on cross-cutting standards (margin requirements, FMI principles, third-party risk).

Recent activity

  • 24 Mar 2026Basel III monitoring exercise: Tier 1 minimum required capital impact of Basel III decreased on Group 1 banks; cryptoasset exposures dashboard expanded.
  • 9 Mar 2026GHOS welcomes Basel III implementation progress and endorses targeted reviews of cryptoasset and G-SIB standards.
  • 26 Feb 2026Basel Committee consults on a consolidated version of its guidelines (comments by 26 Jun 2026).
  • 25 Feb 2026Basel Committee discusses recent market developments and a targeted review of the cryptoasset standard. Also discusses vulnerabilities in government bond-backed repo markets and announces ICBS date and location.
  • 17 Feb 2026Basel Committee publishes analysis of synthetic risk transfer (SRT) transactions.
  • 10 Dec 2025Basel Committee publishes principles for the sound management of third-party risk in the banking sector.
  • 5 Dec 2025Basel Committee consults on standard format for machine-readable disclosures (comments by 5 Mar 2026).
  • 3 Dec 2025Basel Committee finds the United Kingdom largely compliant with its NSFR standard and large exposures framework.
  • 27 Nov 2025Basel Committee publishes more details on the 2025 G-SIB assessment.
  • 19 Nov 2025Basel Committee meets in Mexico City. Prioritises Basel III implementation; approves third-party risk principles; agrees to expedite targeted review of cryptoasset standard.
  • 23 Oct 2025Basel III monitoring exercise: capital ratios up, leverage and NSFR stable, LCR down.
  • 3 Oct 2025Basel Committee reports further progress on Basel III implementation; final standards in effect in over 40% of member jurisdictions.

Leadership

  • 17 Mar 2026Ben Gully appointed Secretary General of the Basel Committee, three-year term starting August 2026. Comes from OSFI Canada.

Open questions

  • The targeted review of SCO60 has been endorsed and is being expedited; the substantive direction (calibration adjustment vs. structural redrawing of Group 1a / Group 2) is not yet public.
  • Whether the consolidated guidelines exercise will fold any tokenisation-specific guidance under one heading or leave SCO60 as standalone.
  • Whether the third-party risk principles will be applied to bank exposures via vendor relationships into permissioned tokenisation infrastructure.