• Basel I, the first of the three Basel Accords, created a set of rules that banks must follow to mitigate risk.
  • Basel I is now considered too limited in scope, but it laid the foundation for subsequent Basel Accords.
  • With the advent of Basel I, banking assets were classified according to their level of risk, and banks are required to maintain emergency capital based on this classification.
  • Under Basel I, banks were required to hold on hand capital of at least 8% of their defined risk profile.