10 December 2010
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have given South Africa’s financial sector the thumbs-up following an assessment of the country’s adherence to international banking, insurance and securities markets regulatory standards.
The Report on Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) was compiled by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in terms of their Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP), South African National Treasury spokeswoman Kershia Singh said in a statement on Wednesday.
“ROSC assessors found the supervision of South African banking, insurance and securities markets to be of a high standard and that the regulatory framework is generally sound, as seen in the ability of the South African financial sector to weather the global financial crisis relatively well,” Singh said.
“Furthermore, the ROSC found that South Africa has made substantial progress in addressing recommendations made in earlier FSAPs.”
Financial stability and compliance
The ROSC assesses countries’ financial stability and compliance in terms of three key standards: the Basel Core Principles for banking supervision; International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for securities markets regulation; and Insurance Core Principles of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) for insurance regulation.
Singh said South Africa was committed to regular ROSCs and assessments of financial sector regulation, which were made public.
The Financial Stability Board had concluded that South Africa’s authorities adhered to regulatory and supervisory standards on international co-operation and information exchange, she said.
Sapa
