The capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio, or capital adequacy ratio (CAR), is the ratio of a bank's capital to its risk. Regulators review a bank's CAR to determine if it can absorb significant ...

For capital purposes, approximately 24% of banks' collective risk-weighted assets would be these phantom assets. By the standard measure used by global regulators, this requirement alone would ...

European bank balance sheets are shrinking. Barclays Capital analysts note first-quarter declines at 15 of the 25 largest quoted banks in Europe, with banks reporting on average balance sheets 3% ...

It serves as the primary cushion against losses and is the first line of defense in times of financial distress. This capital is divided by risk-weighted assets to derive the Tier 1 capital ratio.