Osborne rejects revised bank clauses in Basel III

George Osborne has accused the European Commission of offering concessions to French and German banks as he refused to sign revised clauses of the Basel III agreement.

European finance ministers held talks late into last night but the Chancellor refused to comply with the new rules which would make him "look like an idiot", he said. "We are not implementing the Basel agreement, as anyone who will look at this text will be able to tell you. I am not prepared to go out there and say something that will make me an idiot five minutes later." Osborne said the UK is being disadvantaged at the expense of France and Germany in the rulings. Under one compromise, the UK and Sweden would have the option to tack on a capital buffer, amounting to 3% of assets...