In March 2009, the Fund established a new Framework Administered Account to administer external financial resources for selected Fund activities (the 'SFA Instrument'). The financing of activities under the terms of the SFA Instrument is implemented through the establishment and operation of a...

In a previous assessment, it was concluded that the British Virgin Islands (BVI) regulatory system governing securities markets functioned well overall, but required improvement in certain areas. Those areas are implemented with regulatory code, Securities and Investment Business Act (SIBA),...

This paper examines the IMF's concepts of convertibility and gives some impression of their purposes. The central concept of convertibility in the Articles is the convertibility of Article VIII, Sections 2, 3, and 4. Under it, the basic rule is that members must avoid restrictions on the making...

The 2012 Article IV Consultation reports that Iceland’s fiscal consolidation is continuing, but at a slower pace. Moderate expenditure overruns materialized in 2011, which will partly spill over to 2012 and the medium term. A key priority is to put the medium-term fiscal path back on...

The Kingdom of Bahrain’s Financial System Stability Assessment highlights banking supervision, insurance supervision, securities regulation, and antimoney laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. The banking sector is well capitalized. Asset quality has been improving and...

In today's financial system, complex financial institutions are connected through an opaque network of financial exposures. These connections contribute to financial deepening and greater savings allocation efficiency, but are also unstable channels of contagion. Basel III and Solvency II should...