This paper presents an update to the Financial System Stability Assessment (FSAP) on the Republic of Belarus. The paper reveals that the Belarusian financial sector has so far weathered the ongoing turmoil well, reflecting its relatively closed nature and the dominant role of state-owned banks....

Portugal’s financial system is sound, well-managed and competitive, with shorter-term risks and vulnerabilities well contained, and with the system buttressed by a strong financial policy framework. Portuguese banks’ profitability, asset quality, and solvency have held up well in...

This paper presents the Slovak Republic’s Financial System Stability Assessment Update including Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Banking Supervision and Insurance Regulation. Commercial banks are by far the dominant financial institutions, though nonbank financial...

This paper reports on Bangladesh’s Financial System Stability Assessment. Considerable progress has been made in strengthening the resilience of the country's financial sector. Total assets of the banking sector have increased twofold since 2003, and credit to the private sector has risen...

A detailed assessment report on the observance of China’s compliance of Basel Core Principles for effective banking supervision is presented. Regulation and supervision of China’s banking system has made impressive progress in the past few years, led by an activist, forward-looking...

This paper focuses on how the exposure to the corporate sector may impact the health of the Australian banking system. It also compares Australian banks with their international peers. Finally, it investigates banks' exposure to credit risk using the new Basel II Pillar 3 disclosure data. The...

This paper studies how Uruguay's regulatory framework was gradually strengthened to address shortcomings identified during the 2002-03 crisis, to align with international standards and, more recently, to deal with cyclical pressures resulting in an acceleration of bank lending. In particular,...

The financial turmoil of the late 1990s prompted a broad search for tools and techniques for detecting and preventing financial crises, and more recent episodes of instability have high lighted the importance of continuous monitoring of financial systems as a tool for preventing crises. This...

Drawing from a unique data set comprising 2,893 banks and 152 countries over the period 1987 to 2000, we test whether the adoption of the Basel Accord by Latin American and Caribbean countries was responsible for the serious slowdowns in credit growth experienced by these countries. We find...

The main vulnerabilities in the financial sector can be found in the banking system and the social security fund (SSNIT). The Ghanaian financial sector is also confronted by a large number of development challenges. The factual updates of Ghana’s observance of the three international...