The Compendium of Standards
The Compendium of Standards lists the various economic and financial standards – by both subject area and issuing body – that are internationally accepted as important for sound, stable and well functioning financial systems.
The Compendium attaches much importance to the adoption and implementation of these standards because of their beneficial effects on the stability of financial systems both at national level and globally.
The Compendium includes both key standards which the FSB has designated as deserving of priority implementation depending on country circumstances, and other standards that are complementary in nature and cover particular functional areas.
The Compendium is an initiative of the FSB and is a joint product with relevant international standard-setting bodies. It was first developed in 1999 by the Financial Stability Forum, the predecessor to the FSB. The Compendium is reviewed and updated periodically.
What Standards Are
Standards set out what are widely accepted as good principles, practices, or guidelines in a given area.
Standards may be classified by their scope:
Sectoral These cover the economic and institutional sectors such as governments and central banks; banking, securities and insurance industries; and the corporate sector.
Functional Within each sector, standards cover areas such as governance, accounting, disclosure and transparency, capital adequacy, regulation and supervision, information sharing, risk management, payment and settlement, business ethics, etc.
From an implementation perspective, standards also differ in their specificity:
Principles These are fundamental tenets pertaining to a broad policy area. Principles are usually set out in a general way to suit country circumstances.
Practices These are more specific and spell out the practical application of the principles (drawing on country experiences) within a more narrowly defined context.
Guidelines These provide detailed guidance on steps to be taken or requirements to be met in a particular area.
Why Standards Are Important
The development and implementation of internationally accepted economic, financial and statistical standards can help promote sound domestic financial systems and international financial stability. While a broad range of political, social, legal and institutional factors affect financial stability, the focus of the FSB is on economic and financial standards which are generally accepted by the international community as important for sound financial systems. The development, adoption, and successful implementation of international standards yields both national and international benefits. It helps to:
strengthen domestic financial systems by encouraging sound regulation and supervision, greater transparency, and more efficient and robust institutions, markets, and infrastructure; and
promote international financial stability by facilitating better-informed lending and investment decisions, improving market integrity, and reducing the risks of financial distress and contagion.
Standards are not an end in themselves but a means for promoting sound financial systems and sustained economic growth. They need to be regularly reviewed in order to remain relevant in the face of changing circumstances. The relative importance of different standards to individual economies depends on their financial structure and other domestic circumstances. Their implementation must fit into a country’s overall strategy for economic and financial sector development, taking account of its stage of development, level of institutional capacity, and other domestic factors. Successful implementation of standards involves a process of interpretation, application, assessment and, enforcement. It is critical that economies have in place an effective legal framework and infrastructure for enforcement.
Criteria for Inclusion of Standards in the Compendium
Standards included in the Compendium should:
be materially relevant for fostering sound financial systems (relevant);
clearly set out guidelines on good practices in a form that can be implemented (implementable);
have been issued by an internationally recognised body in the relevant area (internationally recognised); and
have broad applicability across different jurisdictions (widely applicable).
The first criterion clarifies that certain proposed standards, while useful, are not directly relevant for national authorities in fostering sound financial systems and should not therefore be included in the Compendium. Examples of such standards include guidelines by international bodies for the compilation and dissemination of economic statistics as well as highly specific guidance or broad guidelines on topics that are only indirectly relevant to sound financial systems. The above criteria also clarify that assessment methodologies should not be treated as separate standards but should instead be appended to their respective standards, and that only standards issued by an internationally recognised body (on a standalone basis or jointly with other bodies) in the relevant area should be considered for inclusion.
Key Standards for Sound Financial Systems
The standards highlighted here have been designated by the FSB as key for sound financial systems and deserving of priority implementation depending on country circumstances. These standards are broadly accepted as representing minimum requirements for good practice that countries are encouraged to meet or exceed.
Read moreStandard-Setting Bodies in the Compendium
The following is a list of standard-setting bodies whose standards are featured in the Compendium of Standards.
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS)
The BCBS, established by the G10 Central Banks in 1974, provides a forum for regular co-operation among its member countries on banking supervisory matters. Its objective is to enhance understanding of key supervisory issues and improve the quality of banking supervision worldwide.
The BCBS formulates supervisory standards and guidelines and recommends statements of best practice in banking. In this regard, the BCBS is best known for its international standards on capital adequacy and the Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision.
Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS)
The CGFS, a committee of major advanced and emerging economy central banks, undertakes systematic short-term monitoring of global financial system conditions, longer-term analysis of the functioning of financial markets, and the articulation of policy recommendations aimed at improving market functioning and promoting stability.
Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI)
The CPMI (formerly known as the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems or CPSS) promotes the safety and efficiency of payment, clearing, settlement and related arrangements, thereby supporting financial stability and the wider economy. It monitors and analyses developments in these arrangements, both within and across jurisdictions. It also serves as a forum for central bank cooperation in related oversight, policy and operational matters, including the provision of central bank services.
Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF)
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was established by the G7 in 1989, and is an intergovernmental body with 36 members whose purpose is the development and promotion of policies, both at national and international levels, to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
The FATF is responsible for setting the international standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, and works to generate the necessary political will to bring about the required national legislative and regulatory reforms. It also monitors members’ progress in implementing necessary measures, reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter-measures, and promotes the adoption and implementation of appropriate measures globally.
Financial Stability Board (FSB)
The FSB was established in April 2009 as the successor to the Financial Stability Forum (FSF). Its mandate is to coordinate at the international level the work of national financial authorities and international standard setting bodies and to develop and promote the implementation of effective regulatory, supervisory and other financial sector policies.
The FSB brings together national authorities responsible for financial stability in significant international financial centres, international financial institutions, sector-specific international groupings of regulators and supervisors, and committees of central bank experts.
See moreInternational Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI)
The IADI, founded in 2002 with members and associates representing over 70 jurisdictions, is a non-profit organization domiciled at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.
The IADI provides a forum for international cooperation among deposit insurers, central banks, and international organisations on issues related to financial stability, deposit insurance, and resolution activities. As part of its objective to enhance the effectiveness of deposit insurance systems, IADI, together with the BCBS, published the Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance Systems and issued a methodology for the assessment of compliance with the Core Principles.
International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS)
Established in 1994, the IAIS is a voluntary membership organisation of insurance supervisors and regulators from more than 200 jurisdictions, constituting 97% of the world’s insurance premiums. It is the global standard-setting body responsible for developing and assisting in the implementation of principles, standards and guidance as well as supporting material for the supervision of the insurance sector. The IAIS mission is to promote effective and globally consistent supervision of the insurance industry in order to develop and maintain fair, safe and stable insurance markets for the benefit and protection of policyholders; and to contribute to global financial stability.
International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)
The International Accounting Standards Board is an independent, privately-funded accounting standard setter based in London, UK. Board members come from nine countries and have a variety of functional backgrounds. The Board is committed to developing, in the public interest, a single set of high quality, understandable and enforceable global accounting standards that require transparent and comparable information in general purpose financial statements.
In addition, the Board cooperates with national accounting standard setters to achieve convergence in accounting standards around the world. The IASB is responsible for developing and approving International Accounting Standards (IAS). To-date, a total of 40 IASs have been promulgated by the IASB and its predecessor, the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC).
International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB)
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) is an independent standard-setting body that develops auditing and assurance standards and guidance for use by all professional accountants under a shared standard-setting process involving the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB), which oversees the activities of the IAASB, and the IAASB’s Consultative Advisory Group, which provides public interest input into the development of the standards and guidance. The structures and processes that support the operations of the IAASB are facilitated by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
The IMF’s mandate is the surveillance of its members’ macroeconomic and financial policies, as well as of the international monetary system. The IMF develops and monitors international standards in areas relevant to this mandate. In collaboration with other standard-setting bodies, it has developed international standards for data dissemination and transparency practices in fiscal, monetary and financial policies, and has contributed to the development of international standards for banking, as well as for insurance and securities supervision.
In addition, the IMF (in cooperation with the World Bank in developing and emerging market countries) is assessing compliance with all the core international financial sector standards through its FSAP and ROSC programs. The IMF periodically publishes reports to its Board summarizing country experiences with the implementation of the standards and codes that it monitors.
International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS)
IOPS is a legal body whose Governing Members are entities responsible in whole or in part for the supervision of pension funds, plans, schemes or arrangements in a country or in the subdivision of a country. Formed in July 2004, the IOPS has over 80 members and observers from over 70 countries and territories worldwide.
One of the main purposes of the IOPS is to serve as the standard-setting body on pension supervisory issues and on regulatory issues related to pension supervision, through the development and promotion of the implementation of international principles, standards, and good practices in pension supervision, having regard to the variety of different private pension system. The IOPS Secretariat is hosted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)
IOSCO is the international policy forum for national regulators of securities and futures markets. IOSCO develops and promotes standards of securities regulation in order to maintain efficient and sound markets. It draws on its international membership to establish standards for effective surveillance of international securities markets and provides mutual assistance to promote the integrity of markets by a rigorous application of the standards and effective enforcement against offences.
Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB)
The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), established in 2002, is an international organisation that promotes the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry by issuing prudential standards and guiding principles for the banking, capital markets and insurance sectors. The IFSB also conducts research and coordinates initiatives on industry related issues, as well as organises roundtables, seminars and conferences for regulators and industry stakeholders.
Joint Forum (JF)
The Joint Forum was established in 1996 under the aegis of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) to deal with issues common to the banking, securities and insurance sectors, including the regulation of financial conglomerates.
The objective of the Joint Forum is to support banking, insurance and securities supervisors in meeting their regulatory and supervisory objectives and, more broadly, to contribute to the international regulatory agenda in particular where risks exist across or in gaps between the three supervised sectors.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
The OECD aims to promote policies designed to achieve sustained economic growth and employment in its member countries. In the area of promoting efficient functioning of markets, the OECD encourages the convergence of policies, laws and regulations covering financial markets and enterprises.
World Bank (WB)
The WB develops international standards in areas of direct operational relevance to its mandate of promoting financial sector development. In collaboration with other standard-setting bodies, it has developed international standards for insolvency and creditors rights, financial infrastructure (e.g. international remittances services, credit reporting systems), and public debt management.
The WB has also contributed to the development of international standards and assessment methodologies for financial sector supervision, AML/CFT, payment and settlement systems, accounting and auditing, and corporate governance standards. The WB, in cooperation with the IMF, is assessing compliance with all the core international financial sector standards through its FSAP and ROSC programs.
