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Ref: 35/2024
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) Regional Consultative Group for Sub-Saharan Africa (RCG SSA) met on 6 December in Cape Town. The meeting was hosted by the South African Reserve Bank.
The meeting started with an overview of the FSB’s work programme for 2025 and its planned contributions to South Africa’s G20 Presidency. A key focus in 2025 will be on implementation of the FSB recommendations on crypto-assets and global stablecoins and on enhancing cross-border payments globally.
Participants exchanged views on global and regional vulnerabilities in the financial system, including perspectives on the financial stability outlook. They noted that long-standing vulnerabilities remain, such as high debt levels in governments, corporates and households. Particular attention was devoted to the challenges regional authorities face in monitoring risks from non-bank financial intermediation. In that respect, members looked forward to the forthcoming FSB Global monitoring report on non-bank financial intermediation for 2024.
An important area of concern is the increasing number of financial scams and fraud cases worldwide. Participants explored the scope for cross-border cooperation, including through the FSB and other international organisations, to protect investors and consumers from malicious online activities, ensure the proper functioning of capital markets and promote financial stability. They shared experiences on preventive and enforcement measures implemented in response to these disruptions and discussed the role that artificial intelligence (AI) can play in fraud detection and prevention.
Finally, members discussed crisis preparedness and resolution planning for financial institutions in light of the growing interconnectedness within the financial system. Members noted the need to be prepared for failures of banks beyond globally systemic important banks, as noted in the FSB’s recent statement on the importance of resolution planning and loss-absorbing capacity for banks which may be systemically significant or critical if they fail. Members further noted the increasing significance of regionally systemic banks and emphasised the need for African regulators to collaborate in crisis preparedness work. They also exchanged views on promoting cross-border cooperation and information sharing during crises, for example through crisis management groups, as set out in the FSB’s Key Attributes for Effective Resolution Regimes for Financial Institutions.
Notes to editors
The FSB Regional Consultative Group for Sub-Saharan Africa is co-chaired by Lesetja Kganyago, Governor, South African Reserve Bank and Denny Kalyalya, Governor, Bank of Zambia. Membership includes financial authorities from Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania, as well as the Central Bank of West African States based in Senegal. Permanent observers include the Committee of Central Bank Governors of the Southern African Development Community, and the East African Community.
The FSB has six Regional Consultative Groups, established under the FSB Charter, to bring together financial authorities from FSB member and non-member countries to exchange views on vulnerabilities affecting financial systems and on initiatives to promote financial stability.1 Typically, each Regional Consultative Group meets twice each year.
The FSB coordinates at the international level the work of national financial authorities and international standard-setting bodies and develops and promotes the implementation of effective regulatory, supervisory, and other financial sector policies in the interest of financial stability. It brings together national authorities responsible for financial stability in 24 countries and jurisdictions, international financial institutions, sector-specific international groupings of regulators and supervisors, and committees of central bank experts. The FSB also conducts outreach with approximately 70 other jurisdictions through its six Regional Consultative Groups.
- The FSB Regional Consultative Groups cover the following regions: Americas, Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. ↩︎