Biblioteca Digital

This publication aims to complement existing methodologies by establishing a comprehensive framework for the assessment of banks, not only by using financial data, but also by considering corporate governance. It argues that each of the key players in the corporate governance process (such as shareholders, directors, executive managers, and internal and external auditors) is responsible for some component of financial and operational risk management. Following a holistic overview of bank analysis in chapter two, the importance of banking supervision in the context of corporate governance is discussed in chapter three. This chapter also considers the partnership approach and the emerging framework for corporate governance and risk management, as well as the identification and allocation of tasks as part of the risk management process. The framework for risk management is further discussed in chapters four through eleven.

Does related lending have positive or negative effects on the development of banking systems? This paper analyzes a unique cross-country data set covering 74 countries from 1990 to 2007, and finds that related lending, on average, does not have any effect on the growth of credit. The authors do find, however, that there are conditional relationships: related lending tends to retard the growth of banking systems when rule of law is weak, while it tends to promote the growth of banking systems when rule of law is strong. They also find that related lending appears to be associated with looting when banks are owned by non-financial firms, but that it does not when non-financial firms are owned by banks. The results indicate that whether related lending is positive or pernicious depends critically on the institutional context in which it takes place; there is no single "best policy" regarding related lending. These findings are robust to alternative specifications, including instrumental variable regressions.

The financial crises of the late 1990s in East Asia and Eastern Europe, as well as the recent corporate governance scandals in Europe and America, have highlighted the need for strong corporate governance in ensuring a sound and stable financial sector. The governance practices of banks are important because banks accept deposits from the public, whose funds the government has an implicit (and often an explicit) obligation to protect. Banks are also subject to information asymmetries and high leverage, both of which make banks vulnerable to a sudden run on deposits where public confidence fails. The Slovenian bank governance review has three objectives to: 1) conduct a review of the Slovenian bank governance framework, 2) make recommendations on provisions that would help to strengthen the governance structure of banks in Slovenia, and 3) refine the good practices developed for the pilot banking governance review program. In addition, the international community has encouraged the strengthening of governance in the banking sector. The Slovenian banking sector has successfully weathered the financial crisis seen in other countries in 1997-1998...

The report presents an overview of financial sector reforms in Morocco, between 1990-1998, a period notable for liberalization. Reforms targeted the banking sector, development of the capital market, and liberalization of the financial sector, with recent reform efforts focused on savings institutions (insurance and pension funds). Included were the elimination of credit ceilings, interest rate liberalization, and overhaul of the legislative framework governing lending institutions, namely through the adoption of the new Banking Law of 1993. As a result, the financial sector is increasingly operating in accordance with market rules, and, financial inter-mediation has intensified. The financial situation of commercial banks is healthy, and has clearly improved since 1993, with foreign exchange risk exposure well below prudential limits. However, management of credit risk should improve, due to the high percentage of non-recoverable loans. Return on equity of Moroccan banks has been satisfactorily achieved, despite weak responsiveness by bank lending...

The Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) update team found that the authorities have progressed in implementing the key recommendations from the initial assessment. The 2005 FSAP team revealed a number of vulnerabilities, including (i) high credit growth, largely financed by foreign banks, which resulted in rising nonperforming loans (NPLs), and (ii) poor management and low capital of several systematically important state-controlled banks. The Basel Core Principle on Banking Supervision (BCP) assessment identified a number of deficiencies in banking supervision. The update team found that the authorities took action to address the issues highlighted by the 2005 FSAP. In particular, they adopted prudential measures to slow credit growth, including higher risk weights for foreign currency loans to un-hedged borrowers, and exposure limits to households. Two systemic state-controlled banks were privatized. Finally, a new banking law was enacted that significantly strengthened supervision on consolidated basis and improved corporate governance and transparency.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) employs a very well developed risk-focused regulatory and supervisory regime, consisting of a hands-on and comprehensive program of onsite supervision and extensive off-site macro, and micro, surveillance that is well integrated with its on-site supervision. This assessment of the current state of compliance with the Basel Core Principles (BCPs) in Malaysia has been undertaken as part of a joint International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) mission. The assessment was conducted from 4 April till 20 April 2012. It reflects the banking supervision practices of the BNM as of the end of March 2012 for the supervision of commercial banks. The assessment is based on several sources: (i) a detailed and comprehensive self-assessment prepared by the BNM ; (ii) detailed interviews with the BNM staff; (iii) review of laws, regulations, and other documentation on the supervisory framework and on the structure and development of the Malaysia financial sector; and (iv) meetings with individual banks...

Brazil has a well-defined banking supervision process supported by a legal framework that grants the Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) broad enforcement powers for corrective action and weak bank resolution. This assessment of the Basel Core Principles (BCP) for effective supervision was conducted from February 27 through March 20, 2012. As agreed with the authorities, the supervisory framework was assessed against the BCP methodology issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) in October 2006. In self-assessment the authorities addressed both essential and additional criteria and the assessors based their conclusions on compliance with both criteria. The last BCP assessment was conducted in 2002, however, the grading is not comparable to this assessment as the principles and methodology were revised in 2006. Although the BCB operates on an independent mode, there are amendments to Law 4595-1964 (banking law) that will aid in protecting the continuation of the operational independence.

Mobile banking services offer great potential to expand financial services, particularly payment services, to the poor. They also provide a convenient and cost effective way to access bank accounts. This paper constitutes a first attempt to explain statistically what factors contribute to mobile banking usage, with a particular focus on the regulatory framework. The authors construct an index that measures the existence of laws and regulation that support mobile banking activity for 35 countries. Using variations in regulatory environments across these countries and armed with newly released data on mobile banking usage by approximately 37,000 individuals in these 35 countries, the paper sheds light on the importance of laws and regulation in supporting mobile banking. The analysis finds that a supporting regulatory framework is associated with higher usage of mobile banking for the general population as well as for the unbanked.

This research is an interdisciplinary approach to the EEC banking harmonization process. The methodology employed consists in focusing the subject from the legal, economic and political Science perspectives. Therefore, the underlying purpose of the research is to study the legal outcomes within their context. The research is subdivided in several parts. The first part is a legal approach to both the first and second Banking Directives as the cornerstones of the EEC banking harmonization process. The detailed analysis of both Directives from an EEC legal perspective is a condition precedent for the understanding of how is being shaped the Community Financial Policy. The Second Part is a political science approach to the role of interest within the EEC decision making process. More specifically, it is an attempt to show how banks can influence legislators for the achievement of their objectives. An additional study to this second part, is constituted by the analysis of the Community policies in consumer protection. This sector provides us with comparative information for an estimation of the importance of "interest” within the shaping of regulatory policies within the EEC. A socioeconomic approach to credit institutions strategies1 for the controlling of financial markets is the subject of the third part. Through the study of the United States current "deregulatory" trends...

The financial market events in 2007–9 have spurred renewed interest and controversy in debates regarding financial regulation and supervision. This dissertation takes stock of the developments in EU legislation, case-law and institutional structures with regards to banking regulation and supervision, which preceded and followed the recent financial crisis. It does not merely provide an update, but anchors these developments in the broader EU law context, challenging past paradigms and anticipating possible developments. The author provides a systematic analysis of the interactions between the content of prudential rules and the mechanisms behind their production and application. European Prudential Banking Regulation and Supervision includes discussions of the European banking market structure and of regulatory theory that both aim to circumscribe prudential concerns. It scrutinises the content of prudential norms, proposes a qualification of these norms and an assessment of their interaction with other types of norms (corporate, auditing and accounting, consumer protection, competition rules). It also features an analysis of the underpinning institutional set-up and its envisaged reforms, focusing on the typical EU concerns related to checks and balances. Finally...

This assessment of Moldova current state of compliance with the Basel core principles for effective banking supervision (BCPs) was undertaken as part of a joint International Monetary Fund (IMF) - World Bank mission in connection with a broader financial sector assessment program exercise. This version of the assessment has a greater focus on risk management policies and practices implemented by supervised institutions and their assessment by the supervisory authority as well as more emphasis on quality implementation of supervisory standards. The assessment has been conducted in accordance with the revised BCP assessment methodology approved by the Basel committee and was based on extensive discussions with officers and staff members of the Banking Supervision Department in National Bank of Moldova (NBM), and a review of internal supervisory documents, such as manuals, operating policies, examination reports, and external audit reports. The mission reviewed the BCP self-assessment undertaken by NBM preceding this assessment...

This assessment of the current state of the implementation of the Basel core principles (BCP) for effective banking supervision in Bulgaria has been completed as a stand-alone report on the observance of standards and codes undertaken by the international monetary fund (IMF) and the World Bank during March of 2015 at the request of the Bulgarian authorities. It reflects the regulatory and supervisory framework in place as of the date of the completion of the assessment. The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has an internal governance structure which, by vesting the majority of the powers of supervision in the Deputy Governor for banking supervision, exposes the supervisory function to risks. Under the BNB’s legal structure, supervision and enforcement is dissociated from the Governing Council, and the Governing Council has no right to compel transparency of decision making or to impose a framework to ensure consistency in the use of the enforcement regime. There are material concerns that the BNB is too resource constrained to deliver effective minimum levels of supervision. Despite a broad range of supervisory powers...

The authors review the series of events that led to the 2002 Uruguayan banking crisis, assess the current status of the Uruguayan banking sector, and analyze the policy responses undertaken by the Uruguayan authorities to counteract the crisis. The main conclusion from their analysis is that although the immediate trigger for the crisis was caused by contagion resulting from Argentina's financial crisis, the spread and magnification of the crisis that engulfed the Uruguayan economy was amplified by certain weaknesses of the Uruguayan economy in general, and the domestic banking sector in particular. The authors also believe that the policy responses adopted by the Uruguayan authorities were mostly adequate, allowing Uruguay to successfully counteract simultaneous banking and public debt crises. Most important, the Uruguayan authorities were able to overcome a severe crisis while preserving the necessary trust in banking contracts, achieving a high level of social stability and political cohesion, and maintaining a fluid dialogue with multilateral financial institutions and all affected parties. The cooperative and consensual approach taken by the authorities created the necessary conditions to overcome some of the important obstacles to the recovery of the domestic banking sector.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is to be commended for its tightly controlled regulatory and supervisory regime, consisting of higher than minimum capital requirements, frequent, hands-on and comprehensive onsite inspections, a conservative liquidity risk policy and restrictions on banks' capacity to take on more volatile exposures. The Indian banking system remained largely stable during the global financial crisis. Since then, the government of India and RBI has taken additional measures to enhance the soundness and resilience of the banking system, such as the establishment of a Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), the implementation of a countercyclical provisioning regime, and the development of a roadmap for the introduction of a holding company structure.

This focused assessment of the current state of the Philippines' compliance with the Basel core principles for effective banking supervision is an update of the detailed assessment completed as part of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) that took place in 2002. Thus, the current assessment targets those Basle Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision (BCPs) for which the initial assessment was non-compliant or materially non-compliant, and those for which the FSAP had recommended reforms. As the original assessment had been made using the 1997 methodology, which was superseded by the 2006 methodology, the principles that were reviewed were mapped into the 2006 principles. This report should provide inputs for the enhancement of the Central Bank of the Philippines (BSP's) action plan to move toward full compliance with the core principles. This assessment of the effectiveness of banking supervision was based on an examination of the legal and regulatory framework and benefited from the inputs of the IMF resident advisor...

This assessment of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency's (SAMA) compliance with the basel committee's core principles for effective banking supervision was conducted by a mission to Saudi Arabia during April 9-20, 2011. The assessment was carried out as part of a Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) update undertaken by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank at the request of the Saudi authorities. The authorities requested that the assessment of compliance be conducted using only the essential criteria in the methodology. This assessment was based on a review of laws, regulations, policies and practices in place at the time. The financial system is subject to risks reflecting the openness of the economy and dependence on the hydrocarbon sector, as well as the size of the market. Saudi Arabia implements International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for banks and insurance companies and is served by the major accounting firms. There has been no need to provide emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to any bank in recent years. The conditions in which SAMA will provide ELA would be determined on a case-by-case basis...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is to be commended for its tightly controlled regulatory and supervisory regime, consisting of higher than minimum capital requirements, frequent, hands-on and comprehensive onsite inspections, a conservative liquidity risk policy and restrictions on banks' capacity to take on more volatile exposures. The Indian banking system remained largely stable during the global financial crisis. Since then, the government of India and RBI has taken additional measures to enhance the soundness and resilience of the banking system, such as the establishment of a Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), the implementation of a countercyclical provisioning regime, and the development of a roadmap for the introduction of a holding company structure.

The objective of this paper is not to review the pros and cons of deposit insurance systems, but to focus, rather narrowly, on the recent adoption of a deposit insurance system (DIS) in Russia, the rationale offered, and the potential impact it might have on the stability and development of the Russian banking system. An attempt is made to draw some lessons from the implementation experience in Russia. The paper starts with a brief description of the Russian DIS, followed by an overview of the banking system's structure and some observations on the sequencing followed for adopting the DIS and the political economy of its adoption. It concludes with a discussion of areas requiring attention.

The global financial crisis has uncovered a number of weaknesses in the supervision and regulation of cross border banks. One such weakness was the lack of effective cooperation among banking supervisors. Since then, international bodies, such as the G-20, the Financial Stability Board and the Basel Committee have actively promoted the use of supervisory colleges. The objective of this paper is to explore the obstacles to effective cross border supervisory information sharing. More specifically, a schematic presentation illustrating the misalignments in incentives for information sharing between home and host supervisors under the current supervisory task-sharing anchored in the Basel Concordat is developed. This paper finds that in the absence of an ex ante agreed upon resolution and burden-sharing mechanism and deteriorating health of the bank, incentive conflicts escalate and supervisory cooperation breaks down. The promotion of good practices for cooperation in supervisory colleges is thus not sufficient to address the existing incentive conflicts. What is needed is a rigorous analysis and review of the supervisory task-sharing framework...

The globalisation of banking markets has raised important issues regarding corporate governance regulation for banking institutions. This research paper addresses some of the major issues of corporate governance as it relates to banking regulation. The traditional principal-agent framework will be used to analyse some of the major issues involving corporate governance and banking institutions. It begins by analysing the emerging international regime of bank corporate governance. This has been set forth in Pillar II of the amended Basel Capital Accord. Pillar II provides a detailed framework for how bank supervisors and bank management should interact with respect to the management of banking institutions and the impact this may have on financial stability. The paper will then analyse corporate governance and banking regulation in the United Kingdom and United States. Although UK corporate governance regulation has traditionally not focused on the special role of banks and financial institutions, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 has sought to fill this gap by authorizing the FSA to devise rules and regulations to enhance corporate governance for financial firms. In the US, corporate governance for banking institutions is regulated by federal and state statute and regulation. Federal regulation provides a prescriptive framework for directors and senior management in exercising their management responsibilities. US banking regulation also addresses governance problems in bank and financial holding companies. For reasons of financial stability...