Legal Aspects of Banking Principles Inspired by the Basel III Committee Decisions 2010: An Analytical Legal Study in the Reality of the Iraqi Banking Environment

The Basel Committee’s principles emerged as a direct response to the challenges faced by the global banking system, particularly following financial crises that exposed weaknesses in risk management and inadequate capital adequacy among many banks. The committee was established in 1974 by a group of central banks in major industrial countries to develop unified standards for supervision and regulation of the banking sector. Since then, these principles have evolved through several major stages, starting with the first Basel Accord in 1988 and culminating in Basel III, adopted in 2010 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The Basel Committee’s principles focus on enhancing the stability of the international financial system by regulating the banking sector. One of the key principles is capital adequacy, which aims to ensure that banks hold sufficient capital to address potential financial risks. Under the first Basel Accord, the capital adequacy ratio was set at 8% of risk-weighted assets, marking the beginning of stricter oversight of banks.As financial markets evolved and risks became more complex, the need to update the principles arose. Basel II expanded the scope of risk management to include market, credit, and operational risks while emphasizing transparency through disclosure requirements. The global financial crisis of 2008 revealed gaps in these standards, leading to the introduction of Basel III. The new framework focused on improving the quality of capital, increasing liquidity requirements, and enhancing oversight of derivative financial instruments. Another significant principle is risk management,