I, being a capital markets guy, was very interested in the MBA sending a comment letter to the Basel Committee on its proposal, "Interest Rate Risk in the Banking Book" (Consultative Document). As drafted, the Consultative Document would layer on additional risk-based capital for interest rate risk based upon a series of rate shocks and their impact on the economic value of the bank and the impact on the bank's net interest margin. Do lenders really need to tie up more capital? Policy advisers to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision are considering easing the leverage ratio, sources say. Industry groups' request to exclude client collateral when calculating banks' total assets had been rejected by regulators. Changes in capital requirements make offering derivatives more expensive, market participants say.