Wall Street Trading Desks Face Sweeping Changes From Basel Rules

Top banking regulators are plotting changes to the way banks account for the risk tied to everything from credit-default swaps to corporate bonds, part of a sweeping set of proposals that will force large lenders to boost the capital cushions they use to absorb unexpected losses.

Plans released Thursday by the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency offered different models for how banks calculate so-called risk-weighted assets tied to myriad products. Examples in the 1,000-plus-page document included changes to how lenders will calculate the risk tied to trading certain ...