Financial News Online reports that investment banks soon will start reporting Tier 1 capital ratios, something they have not done previously. (Commercial banks have been doing this for years.) That just might throw an even more intense spotlight on perceived capital deficiencies at top banks, at least according to Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney. At the same time, new Basel II rules might require more capital. Furthermore, the SEC might start requiring more capital for certain types of level three assets. All of this adds up to more erosion of the business model that worked so well for so many years: leverage up like crazy to generate super high returns. Higher capital requirements will make that hard, leaving us to wonder again: what's next?  

For more:
- here's the Financial News Online article [1]