Over millennia, mankind has used hard cash in various forms ranging from shells to gold coins and paper. More recently, cash has become unpopular in political circles, as it effectively restricts states’ power to tax (explicitly or via negative interest rates) or to survey and potentially...

The insurance sector is underdeveloped and has been inadequately supervised to date, as the regulator lacks the requisite independence, skills, and resources. The three public pension systems, which cover less than 10 percent of the active population, appear to be fiscally unsustainable. The...

Singapore’s compliance with the Observance of Standards and Codes on Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) is reviewed. Singapore’s AML/CFT efforts are centered on having a sound and...

The evaluation of the anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regime of Australia was based on the Forty Recommendations 2003 and the Eight Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing 2001 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and was prepared using the...

The Isle of Man (IOM) is recognized for the expertise developed in a range of international financial products. The paper also presents a Detailed Assessment of Observance of Antimoney laundering/Combating Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) report on the IOM. The IOM authorities are placing...

An evaluation of observance of good transparency practices relating to banking supervisory and regulatory policy was carried out as part of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) against the IMF Code of Good Practices on Transparency in Monetary and Financial Policies. It also provides...

This Financial System Stability Assessment on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) examines macroeconomic and financial sector developments. The banking sector as a whole shows comfortable levels of capitalization and profits, having benefited from the rapid expansion of the economy and a steady...

This paper discusses findings of the Report on Observance of Standards and Codes on Singapore. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) shows a very high level of compliance with the Basel Core Principles and demonstrates a strong commitment by MAS to their implementation. As a large financial...

The impact of the financial crisis on Sweden’s economy and financial sector is analyzed in this study. From the financial stability analysis, banks are resilient to credit risk and could face difficulties with respect to liquidity risk. The frameworks of international reserve management...

Liechtenstein’s financial sector business has created money laundering risks. The investigative powers of the law enforcement authorities are comprehensive enough to enable them to conduct serious investigations in an effective way. Money laundering is criminalized broadly in line with...