01 October 2012 7:07am

The Australian version of the Basel III rules on capital for banks is now final, with only a few minor changes being agreed by the banking regulator regarding prudential standards, which were released on Friday.

The new standards, which apply from the beginning of 2013, refashion the definition of core capital, add extra layers of capital and also narrow the type of hybrid securities that banks can use.

There is no shift in any of the major areas of policy innovation that have been settled for...