The assessment of the implementation of the Basel Core Principles (BCP) was conducted for effective banking supervision in Nigeria. The assessment team reviewed the legal framework for banking supervision and held extensive discussions with the staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the...

The global financial crisis provided Nigerian banks with opportunities to expand within Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigerian banks have active cross-border liquidity flows, which may complicate the operation of monetary policy. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should enhance further its work in...

The ability of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) to provide emergency liquidity assistance to solvent but temporarily illiquid firms is well tested and satisfactory. Belgian authorities are testing draft guidelines for recovery plans through pilot projects with selected firms that are of...

The Belgium Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) stress testing exercise examines a financial sector that remains in a state of transformation. Domestic economic challenges remain sources of continued uncertainty as the banking sector consolidates and reduces funding risks. Insurers face...

To assess the financial stability in Nigeria, various stress tests and analytic processes were undertaken jointly by the Nigerian authorities and the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) team. The exercise included macroeconomic scenario analysis and its transmission into a range of...

This paper focuses on Saudi Arabia’s Detailed Assessment of Observance of the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision. The banking sector is fairly concentrated around a few banks. The seven largest banks have a combined share of assets of 85 percent. The three largest...

The Nigerian financial system underwent a banking crisis in 2008–09, owing to the global financial crisis and domestic events. The decisive crisis response effectively stabilized the banking system, but the challenge now is to devise a credible exit strategy. The Central Bank of Nigeria...

This paper presents the Third Progress report on Spain’s financial sector reform. Correction of Spain’s large external, fiscal, and financial imbalances is well underway, with policy actions at both the European and Spanish levels helping to ease market pressures over the last...

This staff paper on euro area policy 2013 Article IV Consultation discusses economic development and policies. Severe market stresses have subsided, although private borrowing costs have remained too high in the periphery. In these economies, sovereign borrowing costs have declined from...

Over the past decade policy makers in Latin America have adopted a number of macroprudential instruments to manage the procyclicality of bank credit dynamics to the private sector and contain systemic risk. Reserve requirements, in particular, have been actively employed. Despite their...