Israel’s compliance with International Organization of Securities Commissions’ objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation has been assessed. The regulatory regime is well developed and in most respects is comparable with that of major jurisdictions. For the most part, it is...

This technical note assesses the reform of Spanish savings banks (SSBs). It provides a brief overview of the SSB institutional framework before the reform, and describes the main factors that led to the financial distress, albeit uneven, of the SSB sector. The note outlines major regulatory and...

This paper analyzes the origins, implications, and solutions for the Asian financial crisis. From the perspective of a member of the Executive Board of the IMF, as Asian problems were building, the IMF overlooked weaknesses in bank and corporate balance sheets in much of Asia: the IMF was...

The spectacular growth of many economies in East Asia over the past 30years has impressed the economics profession, which often refers to thesuccess of the so-called Four Tigers of the region (Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan Province of China) as ""miraculous."" This papercritically...

This paper examines episodes of the banking system distress and crisis in a large sample of countries. The empirical results identify several macroeconomic and financial variables as useful leading indicators. The main macroeconomic indicators were of limited value in predicting the Asian...

Economic growth in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been impressive with GDP. The dominance of foreign-owned bank subsidiaries has transformed the financial sector and altered the risks to financial stability. Reforms should focus on strengthening banking supervision and adapting it to the...

This paper presents key findings of Latvia’s Financial System Stability Assessment, including Reports on Observance of Standards and Codes on Banking Supervision; Payment Systems; Securities Regulation; Insurance Regulation; Corporate Governance; and Monetary and Financial Policy Transparency....

This paper evaluates key findings of the Financial System Stability Assessment for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), including Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Banking Supervision, Securities Regulation, Insurance Supervision, Payment Systems, Securities...

This Work Program (WP) translates the strategic directions and policy priorities laid out in the Fall 2019 Global Policy Agenda (GPA) Update and the International Monetary and Financial Committee Communique into an Executive Board agenda from November 2019 to October 2020, focusing on the next...