substantial
contribution to long-term financial stability and growth. The BBC's economic correspondent Andrew Walker has more.
One of the lessons of the financial crisis was that banks and other firms in the sector did not have enough capital, a financial shock absorber to protect them from losses. One of the key elements in the international post-crisis reform agenda was to agree new rules that would require banks to hold more. Central bank governors and other regulators have now reached an agreement which will more than
triple
the amount of the most basic form of capital that banks must hold.
British military police are investigating allegations that British soldiers are involved in smuggling heroin from Afghanistan. It's thought the inquiry is focused on soldiers based at Camp Bastion and Kandahar in the south of the country. Afghanistan is the world's biggest producer of opium, the raw material that is refined into heroin.
The Israeli army has killed at least three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. A spokesman said the soldiers opened fire after a number of suspects armed with rocket-propelled grenades were
spot
ted approaching the border with Israel. Our Gaza correspondent Jon Donnison has this report from Ramallah.
Doctors in Gaza say the three people killed were all civilians. They say one was a 90-year-old man; a 17-year-old and a 35-year-old were also killed. The attack happened close to the village of Beit Hanoun, right on the border with Israel. Palestinian militants often fire rockets from this part of the Gaza Strip, and local witnesses say at least two were launched earlier in the day. There were no Israeli casualties.