Britain says Basel bank rule delay will aid response to coronavirus

LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - Delaying remaining elements of
new global bank capital rules for a year will give lenders in
Britain time to focus on dealing with fallout from the
coronavirus epidemic, the Bank of England and Britain's finance
ministry said on Thursday.

The Basel Committee of banking regulators from across the
world agreed to the one-year delay to 2023 last week.

"This will provide operational capacity for banks and
supervisors to respond to the immediate financial stability
priorities from the impact of Covid-19," the BoE's Prudential
Regulation Authority (PRA) and finance ministry said in a joint
statement.

The PRA and finance ministry said they were committed to the
full, timely and consistent implementation of the new rules and
"we will work together towards a UK implementation timetable
that is consistent with the one year delay".

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)