Over the past year, the world has teetered on the brink of an abyss which some hailed as the end of capitalism. Confidence in the financial system fell to an all-time low and many countries' economies faced the worst recessions in living memory. Guided by the G20 leaders, the financial system is putting in new rules to prevent such a financial forest fire from ever occurring again. Better prudential regulation is one of the main reforms and central to this theme is increasing the quality and ratios of capital that banks hold. Point 49 of the 92 action points calls for "a global framework for promoting stronger liquidity buffers at financial institutions, including cross-border institutions, by 2010". This is not the first time the world has attempted to deal with liquidity risk. Internationally, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's September 18, 2008 principles have been around in nascent form since the 1990s. It is, however, the first time there has been a political will to make
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