The Leverage Ratio1

Excessive leverage by banks is widely believed to have contributed to the global financial crisis. To address this, the international community has proposed the adoption of a non-risk-based capital measure, the leverage ratio, as an additional prudential tool to complement minimum capital adequacy requirements. Its adoption can reduce the risk of excessive leverage building up in individual entities and in the financial system as a whole. The leverage ratio has inherent limitations, however, and should therefore be considered as just one of a set of macro and micro prudential policy tools.