WASHINGTON, DC-A floor for risk-based capital requirements for large, internationally active financial institutions has been set by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The reg was required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The rule calls for banks to meet the higher of the minimum requirements under general risk-based capital rules and the minimum requirements under the advanced approaches risk-based capital rules, the agencies explain. Translation for everyman: financial institutions will have to meet higher capital requirements than they have been used to in the past, as high as, in some cases, the requirements community banks must meet.

The final rule will be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register--that publication is expected soon. The Federal Reserve and OCC did not return calls to GlobeSt.com in time for publication. Financial institutions are not eager to see this particular rule published. Complaints, as explained in the Wall Street Journal, focus on the uneven playing field now established between global US banks and their foreign-based counterparts because of it. The higher capital requirements, they say, will curtail lending as a result and make them less competitive among borrowers.

On the other hand, there have been complaints about rule-making delays, which are heightening uncertainty among both banks and the businesses that borrow from them. So far, 28 of the 41 rule-making actions that should have been taken now have been missed, the New York Times reports, citing figures compiled by law firm Davis Polk. All together there are 385 new rules to be written.