Developments
in Banking Supervision
 Remarks
by Agustín Carstens
Deputy Managing Director IMF
VII Anual Assembly of Supervisors of Banks of the Americas
In a way we could say that since the late nineties, we have seen
consistent progress in this endeavor. The financial crises that took place
during the last decade in Mexico, East Asia, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey,
Uruguay, and the Dominican Republic triggered substantial efforts in different
forums and institutions oriented to prevent renewed crises or subsequent banking
crises. Work done by international bodies such as the Basle Committee, the Joint
Forum and the Financial Stability Forum represent a clear example.
 International
Convergence and Implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards
By Juan José Fermín del Valle Deputy President,
International Federation of Accountants
VIII Annual Assembly of the Association of Supervisors of Banks of the Americas
Clearly, as we all recognize, the availability of adequate
and reliable financial reporting information is essential to achieving this
objective. I also believe that we all know what is needed in order to have
adequate and reliable information available:
In
the first place, we need accounting standards that are consistent, comprehensive
and based on clear principles that communicate economic reality and, in the
global world in which we are living, homogeneous enough so as to allow their use
and facilitate understanding by everyone.
In
the second place, adequate corporate governance practices are required, which
among other things, should ensure appropriate internal controls and the
effective implementation of these accounting standards.
 Accounting,
prudential regulation and financial stability: elements of a synthesis
By Claudio Borio and Kostas Tsatsaronis
Monetary and Economic Department, BIS
What
information about the financial condition of firms is conducive to efficient and
stable operation of the financial system and of the economy more broadly? In
this essay, we outline the contours of an ideal set of such information,
identify existing gaps and propose a way forward to fill them. We argue that an
ideal set should comprise two dimensions. As regards financial characteristics,
it should cover three different types, viz: estimates of the current financial
condition (“first-moment information”); estimates of risk profiles (“risk
information”); and measures of the uncertainty surrounding both kinds of
estimate (“measurement error information”).
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banking
Alan Greenspan
Chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, to the
American Bankers Association Annual Convention,
In
the weeks and months ahead, the Federal Reserve will continue to closely follow
the consequences of the recent devastating events in the Gulf Coast region in
order to assess their implications for our economy. However, we are well aware
that the broader economic impact is only a part of the human misery left in the
wake of these events. In my remarks today, I plan, in addition, to focus on one
of the key factors driving the U.S. economy in recent years: the sharp rise in
housing valuations and the associated build-up in mortgage debt. Over the past
decade, the market value of the stock of owner-occupied homes1 has risen
annually by approximately 9 percent on average, from $8 trillion at the end of
1995 to $18 trillion at the end of June of this year. Home mortgage debt linked
to these structures has risen at a somewhat faster rate.
 Speech
by Malcolm D Knight
General Manager, Bank for International Settlements at the
Fourth Conference of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FICCI)
Over the past decade, India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies
on the globe. The rest of the world has been impressed to see that the reforms
initiated in the early 1990s are bearing fruit. To sustain any country’s growth,
of course, a strong and dynamic financial sector is essential. What can
governments and central banks do to nurture a more efficient and competitive
financial industry and at the same time maintain the stability of the system as
a whole? This question is central to the international deliberations on
financial policy that take place at the Bank for International Settlements.
 Did
the Basel Accord Cause a Credit Slowdown in Latin America?
Adolfo Barajas, Ralph Chami, and Thomas Cosimano; IMF
Many countries have experienced significant credit
slowdowns in recent years, and researchers have set out to determine their
possible causes. In one strand of this literature, researchers examined
post-crisis cases of marked declines in credit in Scandinavia and East Asia.
Among some of the more dramatic cases covered, the banking system credit-to-GDP
ratio shrank by over 44 percentage in Finland during 1992–97, and by some 36
percentage points in Thailand during 1998–2000.2 Thus, concern arose over
whether these declines were merely a reflection of depressed economic activity,
or whether they resulted from a diminished capacity or increased unwillingness
of banks to lend. In the latter case, supplydriven credit declines would be
termed “credit crunches.”
The
Accountability of Financial Sector Supervisors: Principles and Practice
Eva Hüpkes, Marc Quintyn, and Michael W. Taylor; IMF
Unlike the case for central bank independence, which has
won a broad following in both academic and policy communities, the case for
independence for financial sector supervisors (hereafter called Regulatory and
Supervisory Agencies (RSAs)) remains controversial. Policymakers remain
reluctant to grant independence to regulators, despite strong arguments
developed in its favor, supported by results of emerging empirical research,
which indicates that independence for RSAs is beneficial for financial system
soundness.
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