Insurance regulation in South Africa is sound and takes a thorough approach to regulation, recognizes the scale and development of the market, and the need for effective market conduct as prudential regulation. There are particular challenges in improving standards of market conduct, in both...

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...

The paper discusses the limits to market-based risk transfer in the financial system and the implications for the management of systemic long-term financial risks. Financial instruments or markets to transfer and better manage these risks across institutions and sectors are, as yet, either...

This paper presents a factual update of the Insurance Core Principles including insurance sector market and regulatory developments for Switzerland. Regulatory reforms since 2003 have updated Switzerland’s regulatory and supervisory regime for the insurance industry to bring it in line...

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...

Côte d’Ivoire's government decided on the National Development Plan to give a new impetus to its development policy. This new strategy is based on an ambitious and realistic recovery and development program centered on private and public investment. The institutional monitoring framework for...

The Belgian insurance industry was adversely affected by the global financial crisis and continued to confront challenges related to legacy assets and economic uncertainties in Europe. The Belgian authorities have made significant progress in updating the insurance regulatory regime and...

This Selected Issues paper for the United States discusses the microeconomics of the country—household wealth and savings. Households’ consumption-saving decisions have an important bearing on the U.S. economic outlook. This paper demonstrates how households with consistently lower...

This report discusses key findings of the Financial Sector Stability Assessment on Canada. Canada’s financial system successfully navigated the global financial crisis, and stress tests suggest that major financial institutions would continue to be resilient to credit, liquidity, and...

This paper discusses key findings of the Detailed Assessment of Observance of International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Insurance Core Principles for the United States. Most U.S. insurers write primary insurance on U.S. risks. The U.S. market is characterized by low market...