Top global banks close capital shortfall to 15 bln eur -BIS

LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The world's top banks have almost eliminated the shortfall in capital they would have to fully meet new capital rules that are being phased in.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said on Thursday the world's top 102 banks would have had a 15.1 billion euro ($19.5 billion) aggregate shortfall to reach a 7 percent target for common equity capital at the end of December, compared to an estimated shortfall of 57.5 billion euros six months earlier.

It continues a sharp reduction in the theoretical capital shortfall faced by banks, which was estimated at 374 billion euros less than three years ago. BIS has been monitoring how well banks are transitioning to the implementation of tougher capital rules, which are being phased in from 2013 to 2019.

($1 = 0.7735 Euros) (Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Nishant Kumar)