Lawmakers and state financial regulators on Thursday called on federal officials to revamp proposed rules that would force financial firms to hold much more capital, asking them to consider the impact on small banks and insurance companies, Reuters reported.

U.S. bank regulators are writing rules to implement an international accord known as Basel III. The agreement is seen as one of the key reform efforts after the 2007-2009 financial crisis to make the global banking system more resilient.

Under the rules proposed by the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the biggest banks would have to hold the most capital.

But the rules could pose challenges for community banks and other firms, which must meet stricter capital requirements, U.S. lawmakers and state bank and insurance regulators said during a House of Representatives committee hearing.

Under the proposed rules, banks would have to hold about three times more basic capital to guard against potential losses. The amount of reserve capital banks would need to hold would be determined in part by the riskiness of their assets.

Earlier this month, the federal banking agencies said banks would not have to comply with the Basel rules in January, as previously expected.