This outstanding edited collection introduces the Basel II accord on bank capital requirements, places it in an historical perspective, describes its provisions and implementation, and uses it as a jump-off point for discussing financial institutions regulation generally.

Chapters are scholarly, accessible, and generally very insightful. For the most part, they are not mathematical, but calculus makes an appearance or two. The book is targeted primarily to regulators, policy makers and academics, but I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Basel II or financial institutions regulation. While the book is sophisticated, it is largely self contained. Some prior familiarity with bank capital calculations would be helpful—see Matten (2000). Otherwise, the book should be accessible to most finance professionals or theorists.

The book differs from Ong's (2004) edited collection in two respects. First, Ong is written for implementers—finance professionals and regulators who are struggling to make Basel II work. Gup is more about policy and high-level issues. Second, Ong assumes considerable prior knowledge of Basel II. Gup does not. If you are new to Basel  II or have only passing familiarity with its provisions, Gup can help you get oriented before proceeding to Ong.