Regulatory Capital and Capital under German GAAP. Comparison and Implications

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Accounting and Taxes, grade: 1,5, University of Applied Sciences - Hachenburg Castle, language: English, abstract: This paper provides an overview of equity according to the HGB and regulatory capital as defined by Basel III and also its functions.

The concept of equity is used in different contexts. There are no regulatory provisions on capital adequacy for non-banks other than the capital stock. Nonetheless the legislature of credit institutions and insurance companies considered it to be necessary to regulate the amount and adequacy of equity due to the particular risks of the banking and insurance business.

In the German Banking Act (KWG), the definition of liable capital creates a bank-specific equity concept that differs from the one of the balance sheet equity according to the German GAAP (German Commercial Code (HGB).

On 16 December 2010, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published its framework "Basel III" in response to the banking crisis, and over the years it has been supplemented and revised.