JPMorgan sees small impact from capital reform

The Basel Committee of global banking supervisors last month issued revisions to its Basel III reform, which aims to force banks to hold more and better-quality capital to withstand future shocks.

JPMorgan, the second-largest U.S. bank, said the measure of its capital strength known as its Tier 1 common ratio, that is, its Tier 1 common capital divided by its risk-weighted assets, would fall between 100 and 200 basis points under the latest proposals.

That ratio was 9.6 percent at the end of the second quarter. The bank has been increasing its capital strength during the financial crisis. In the year-earlier period, its Tier 1 common ratio was 7.7 percent.

New York-based JPMorgan also said that if the latest Basel revisions are adopted as proposed last month, it would need to change the profile of its assets and liabilities to make them more liquid.

The Group of 20 leading countries agreed in June to phase in the Basel III reforms over several years. Banks had argued that introducing the reforms could crimp their ability to lend.

JPMorgan gave no update in its filing of the expected impact on its business from U.S. financial reform, signed into law by President Barack Obama last month.

The bank only said that the reform could result, among other things, in significant loss of revenue and additional costs for its businesses.

(Reporting by Elinor Comlay)