The study shows that the global financial crisis has adversely affected Kuwait’s financial system, especially in the Investment Company (IC) sector. Stress tests indicate that, in contrast to the ICs, the banking system could broadly withstand significant shocks. The Central Bank of...

This article summarizes the European Union’s stress testing exercises and future priorities. The 2011 solvency stress testing was marked by methodology and data. The exercise forced banks to increase the quality and quantity of capitalization. This test has many controversial issues, but...

Owing to the high dependence of its exports on countries and commodities, Finland experienced the worst recession in the euro area. Executive Directors encouraged authorities to focus on improving bank cost efficiency, preventing excessive risk taking, and limiting liquidity and funding risks....

This technical note on the Republic of Poland underlies the country’s credit, growth, and financial stability. A broad-based statistical and econometric analysis of financial and household balance sheet data implies that exchange rate-related credit risk and liquidity risk are currently...

This paper discusses key findings of the financial sector stability assessment for Romania. The assessment reveals that in recent years, Romania’s financial sector regulatory authorities have made significant progress in adopting international best practices, including through...

This paper evaluates Pakistan’s Financial System Stability Assessment, including Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Monetary and Financial Policy Transparency, Banking Supervision, and Securities Regulation. Major reforms in the financial sector have resulted in a more...

This report summarizes the findings of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) Update for Spain. Although there is a core of strong banks that are well managed and appear resilient to further shocks, vulnerabilities remain. Substantial progress has been made in reforming the former...

The Mongolian financial system is dominated by commercial banks. The nonbank financial sector, including insurance and the stock market, is small. The current level of dollarization exposes Mongolia’s financial system to risk. The authorities are in the process of establishing the...

This note summarizes the stress tests undertaken for the German banking system as part of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) update. Solvency tests for the German banking system assessed medium-term vulnerabilities under two adverse macroeconomic scenarios. The tests considered a...

This Selected Issues paper for the Philippines has been prepared by a staff team of the International Monetary Fund as background documentation for the periodic consultation with the member country. Spillovers have been particularly prominent for countries with financial systems with high...