There was a sizeable correction in financial markets in February. However, since then all of the reflation trades have returned: equities have recouped their losses to the end of April; bonds yields have fallen and spreads have resumed their narrowing pattern; commodities have rallied along with...

This article discusses different aspects of the formulation of financial policy against the backdrop of a changing financial services landscape. Recent trends and developments in the financial services industry, and some longer dated issues as well, present a number of challenges for regulators...

In the past few years, there has been a trend towards the harmonisation of pension policies for private and public sector workers, with the introduction of occupational complementary pension funds for civil servants. In many OECD countries these funds are among the largest in terms of assets and...

Long-term bond yields have been low in recent years both in nominal and real terms, and – especially in the United States – they have reacted differently to shifts in monetary and fiscal stances relative to previous cycles. This article examines various possible explanations for this...

Modern risk management has become an important tool for achieving strategic debt targets in the OECD area. In essence, risk management policies, based on the use of formal methods, are now an integral part of debt management in most OECD jurisdictions. In general, risk management tolerances and...

A reoccurring motif in pension literature and policy is the search for “benefit security” – that is, assurance to members of a pension regime that, at the end of the working career, they will get some reasonably predictable outcome, either as a pension (benefit stream) or a lump sum. The...

Following the end of the “Cold War”, the OECD has, since the early 1990s, been conducting “Outreach” activities (i.e. cooperation including technical assistance activities with non-Member economies), first with the Central and Eastern European countries in transition and now extending to...

The fixed nature of pension benefits under corporate defined benefit (DB) pension plans imply that plan sponsors face financial and potentially biometric risks. A large number of OECD countries have such DB pension schemes, whereby employees receive a specific payment upon retirement and for...

Following the end of the “Cold War”, the OECD has, since the early 1990s, been conducting “Outreach” activities (i.e. policy dialogue and capacity-building cooperation activities with non-Member economies), first with the Central and Eastern European countries in transition, and now...

With the economic reform in the late 1970s, it has been an objective of government policy for Chinese banks to move away from their traditional passive role of executing directives adapted to the active role in resource allocation of banks in a market economy. However, owing to unclear ownership...