BoE's Tucker says wants banks to meet leverage rule now

LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - A top policymaker at the Bank ofEngland said he wanted banks to meet a new capital requirementbased on leverage now.

Paul Tucker, the central bank's deputy governor forfinancial stability, made the comment to lawmakers onparliament's Treasury Committee on Tuesday.

Andrew Bailey, another BoE deputy governor who is in chargeof prudential regulation, said he wanted the new rule introducedas soon as possible and that BoE staff were looking at planssubmitted by banks for how they could meet it.

"We have made clear that we will go through these with thepublic, with the institutions during the course of this monthand we will publish, we will make clear what the outcome of thatis," Bailey said.

Britain's Prudential Regulation Authority, which Baileyheads, said on June 20 it would set a leverage ratio of 3percent for UK banks which would limit the amount they can lendrelative to their capital.

Bailey also said on Tuesday there had been "slippage" in theprogress of British banks building up their capital buffers. (Reporting by Huw Jones and Christina Fincher; writing byWilliam Schomberg; editing by David Milliken)