Chairman Bachus Asks Fed to Extend Comment Period on Proposed Basel III Regulations

House Financial Services Chair Spencer Bachus has asked the Fed to extend the comment period on the proposed Basel III regulations for ninety days. The current comment period expires on September 7. In a letter to Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, Chairman Bachus noted that the proposed regulations are extremely complex, thereby justifying the additional time for public comment. Also, the House leader believes that a longer comment period will lead to more substantive comments, which in turn will be much more useful to reviewers. The more thorough the comments, he reasoned, the better the final regulations will be.