Basel norms, also known as Basel accords, are international banking regulations issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) . The Basel Committee was established in 1974 and has expanded its membership from the G10 to 45 institutions from 28 jurisdictions. The Basel norms provide recommendations on banking and financial regulations, specifically concerning capital risk, market risk, and operational risk. The accords ensure that financial institutions have enough capital on account to absorb unexpected losses. Basel norms are an attempt to harmonize banking regulations around the world, with the goal of strengthening the international banking system and improving the protection of consumers, financial institutions, and the economy at large.

There are three Basel accords, each building on the previous one. The first Basel Accord, known as Basel I, was issued in 1988 and focused on the capital adequacy of financial institutions. Basel I introduced guidelines for how much capital banks must keep in reserve based on the risk level of their assets. The minimum capital requirement was set as 8% of risk-weighted assets. Basel II refined those guidelines and added new requirements. Basel III further refined the rules based in part on the lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis.

The Basel norms classification system groups a banks assets into five risk categories, labeled with the percentages 0%, 10%, 20%, 50%, and 100% . A banks assets are assigned to these categories based on the nature of the debtor. The Basel norms also describe the criteria that bank capital instruments must meet to be eligible to satisfy the Basel capital requirements, as well as necessary regulatory adjustments and transitional arrangements.