Although Basel III implementation is not due to be completed until 2019, the move to adopt the new rules is already under way even as the full impact of the measures on the banking industry and corporations remains unclear.  First announced in 2010 as a means of bolstering banks' capital reserves in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Basel III includes a requirement that banks raise their core tier one capital ratios from 2% to 7%.

Up to this point the financial industry has concentrated on understanding Basel III and its requirements, but the focus has shifted increasingly to implementation, according to Dan Taylor, industry issues manager at J.P. Morgan Treasury & Securities Services and vice chair of the International Chamber of Commerce Banking Commission.

"A number of major jurisdictions around the world are now starting to grapple with how they can get to the implementation stage," Taylor says.