Bahrain to impose limits on credit exposures

The Central Bank of Bahrain is consulting with local banks on introducing an upper limit on commitments to underwriting securities or syndicated loans of 30% of banks' capital for a period of 90 days, Reuters has reported. The proposed new regulations include a new definition of credit underwriting and caps on banks' temporary exposures to assets they plan to securitize or place with investors. Banks will not be allowed to have exposure to such assets for more than 90 days and the exposure cannot exceed 25% of their capital base.