This paper seeks to revive the case for countries to self-insure against economic growth slowdowns by issuing GDP-indexed bonds. We simulate the effects of GDP-indexed bonds under different assumptions about fiscal policy reaction functions and their output effects and find that they could...

This paper assesses implementation of the International Organization of Securities Commissions' (IOSCO) objectives and principles of securities regulation in Spain. Spain exhibits a high level of implementation of principles. The legal framework is robust and provides the Comisión Nacional de...

This 2008 Article IV Consultation highlights that spillovers from the global slowdown and lingering turbulence in international financial markets have been propagated to Singapore mostly through the trade channel. Inflation has risen significantly on the back of international and home-grown cost...

The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region has weathered the global financial crisis reasonably well so far, although tighter global financial conditions began to take their toll on trade, capital flows and economic growth in late 2008. This resilience reflects the reforms put in place by many...

This paper surveys the foreign exchange markets, money and secondary government security markets, and stock exchanges in 107 smaller economy countries. The underdevelopment of these markets impedes risk transfer, monetary policy, corporate financing, and the capacity to absorb capital inflows....

This paper assesses whether regional cooperation and integration of stock exchanges in eastern and southern Africa could offer a way of overcoming impediments to the exchanges' development. The paper concludes that regional cooperation and, at a later stage, integration, if carried out at the...

A taxonomy of existing and planned automated trade execution systems in financial markets is provided. Over 50 automated market structures in 16 countries are analyzed. The classification scheme is organized around the principle that such markets consist of an algorithm that performs a trade...

This paper evaluates the Observance of Standards and Codes on the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation for New Zealand. New Zealand equity markets are comparatively small with market capitalization of about 44 percent of...

This paper proposes an integrated and risk-based approach to the sequencing and coordination of reforms to develop domestic financial markets. The paper argues that there is a hierarchy of financial markets that reflects the complexity of risks in each market and the interlinkages among markets....

In trend with a global pattern and following recommendations of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the number of stock markets in African countries has increased dramatically over the last ten years. Despite a scarcity of studies on the impact of stock markets on...