The paper finds that, given New Zealand’s conservative approach in implementing the Basel II framework, New Zealand banks’ headline capital ratios underestimate their capital strength. A comparison with Canadian, UK and Australian banks highlights the impact of New Zealand’s...

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 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...

This paper discusses key findings of the Financial System Stability Assessment on Banking Supervision, Insurance Supervison, Securities Regulation, and Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism for Greece. The Greek financial sector appears largely sound and resilient to...

The Mozambican financial system has made remarkable progress from mono-banking to a full blown, market-based, financial system. Although Mozambican banks are generally profitable and well capitalized, they are exposed to significant credit risk. A number of reforms are needed to enhance the...

This Financial System Stability Assessment paper for Ukraine reviews financial sector issues and highlights macroeconomic developments, vulnerabilities, and soundness of the financial system. It discusses creditors' rights, insolvency, and corporate governance, and Anti-Money Laundering and...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix presents five essays examining issues in the United Arab Emirates related to the financial sector, long-term fiscal trends, fiscal sustainability, the competitiveness of the non-oil economy, and the labor market, as well as estimates of the...

This paper analyzes Rwanda’s Financial System Stability Assessment, including Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Monetary and Financial Policy Transparency, Banking Supervision, and the Financial Action Task Force Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating...

This paper presents Post-Program Monitoring Discussions for Indonesia. Macroeconomic and financial market developments were on the whole favorable in 2004. Inflation, after a temporary increase, peaking at 7¼ percent (y/y) in July, edged back down, ending the year at 6½ percent. External...

This paper combines financial soundness indicators (FSIs) and stress-testing methodologies to provide a broad assessment of the soundness of Venezuela's banking sector, based on a diagnosis of its structural and transient shortcomings. While the Venezuelan banking sector appears sound under...