Bank regulators from the key industrial powers...

Bank regulators from the key industrial powers proposed a tough new standard requiring banks in their countries to set aside 8% of their assets as a safety cushion. The proposal, which would streamline capital adequacy requirements for the first time, would force many banks to raise cash quickly, cut back their lending or risk being taken over by stronger institutions, banking sources said. A committee of central bank officials from Belgium, Canada, France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain and the United States proposed that banks meet the new requirement by the end of 1992.