This report on the offshore financial center program contains technical advice and recommendations given by the staff team of the International Monetary Fund in response to Liechtenstein’s request for technical assistance. It provides detailed assessment of observance of the Basel Core...

This simulation-based paper investigates the impact of different methods of dynamic provisioning on bank soundness and shows that this increasingly popular macroprudential tool can smooth provisioning costs over the credit cycle and lower banks’ probability of default. In addition, the...

The Banks and trust Companies Act, Financial Services Commission Act, and the Regulatory Act are considered for banking supervision. The assessment is also based on a self-assessment prepared by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). British Virgin Islands (BVI) law provides three classes of...

The Irish financial sector has continued to perform well since its participation in the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) in 2000. Although the outlook remains very strong for 2006–07, there are some macroeconomic risks that could have implications for the financial system asset...

This paper presents an update to the Financial System Stability Assessment on Sri Lanka. The paper discusses that despite a challenging macroeconomic environment characterized by a high fiscal deficit, inflationary pressures, and a widening current account, near-term risks to the financial...

This Technical Note presents a targeted review and a follow-up on the implementation of the recommendations of the 2002 assessment of Lithuania’s compliance with the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision. It was found that banking supervision arrangements in Lithuania...

Even though the Russian authorities have maintained financial stability at the time of a major global shock, the financial system is still weak. The crisis has set back progress toward a strong, competitive banking system for the future. The recent unification of the supervision of nonbank...

The 2002 Financial Stability Assessment Program (FSAP) found that the Croatian financial system was resilient, but vulnerabilities remain. The authorities have been proactive in addressing macroeconomic and financial vulnerabilities associated with rapid credit growth and have also taken...

The Compliance of the Basel Core Principles welcomes the assessors’ recognition of the overall quality and effectiveness of Cyprus’s banking regulatory and supervisory framework in place, and the resulting high degree of compliance with the Basel Core Principles. Regulation has to...

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...