In this section you can search eStandardsForum Weekly Reports by keyword, or by country, region, or standard in the Advanced Search function. Weekly Reports compile newsworthy events relevant to country risk analysis, international best practices, and other important information regarding developments in the international financial system. They also cover credit rating actions, International Monetary Fund Article IV consultations, updates to existing Standards and Codes, and other country-specific developments. A pdf-version of the Weekly Report can be accessed in the Publications & Policy Brief section.

United Arab Emirates - June 23, 2008 The United Arab Emirates has implemented new anti-money laundering regulations as it seeks to meet international standards of financial compliance. The central bank last week notified banks and exchange houses of the 13 new regulations that update the UAE's first anti-money laundering controls, which came into force in November 2000. The measures, to be announced later this week, require banks to carry out more due diligence on prospective customers, enshrining many existing practices already carried out by international banks operating in the UAE but which are still ignored by some local and regional institutions. A central bank official said the regulations aimed to bring UAE law into line with the latest requirements of the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering. Source: The Financial Times—United Kingdom

International Federation of Accountants - June 23, 2008 As part of its ongoing commitment to support professional accountants in business and their organizations in enhancing governance and in assessing and delivering organizational performance, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee has released two new proposed International Good Practice Guidance documents for public comment. The newly released exposure draft, Evaluating and Improving Governance in Organizations, sets out a framework, a series of fundamental principles, practical guidance, and references on how to evaluate and improve governance in organizations. The second proposed International Good Practice Guidance, Costing to Drive Organizational Performance, is designed to assist professional accountants in business in delivering useful cost information to support effective decision making and organizational performance. Comments on the two proposed guidance documents are requested by September 23, 2008. Source: International Federation of Accountants

Indonesia - June 23, 2008 In a bid to increase its budget transparency, the central bank may have to pay income tax starting next year if it records a budget surplus, a further deliberation on the income tax bill reveals. "Until now, only House Commission XI, which oversees Bank Indonesia's (BI) budget, has had access to BI's budget besides Bank Indonesia Supervisory Board (BSBI)," Dradjad H. Wibowo, a member of the House's working committee on the bill, said Sunday. Dradjad said the House and the government agreed to include a provision in the bill stipulating that BI would be taxed 30 percent in 2008 and 28 percent in 2009. However, if BI suffers a budget deficit, it will not be subjected to tax. Dradjad said that if BI was subjected to tax, it would be more careful in implementing its monetary policy. More specific details on the regulation will be deliberated in upcoming sessions. Another member of the House's working committee on the income tax bill, Rama Pratama, said the House expected to wrap up the bill in July. Source: The Jakarta Post

United States - June 23, 2008 The U.S. [Securities and Exchange Commission] is set to thrash out the challenges and benefits of fair value accounting and auditing standards next month. Securities and Exchange Commission chief accountant Conrad Hewitt announced the July 9 roundtable, which is intended to facilitate open discussion on the contentious standard. The roundtable will constitute two panels who will discuss fair value accounting issues from the perspective of larger financial institutions and the needs of their investors and that of public companies, including small public companies, and the needs of their investors. Representatives from the Financial Accounting Standards Board, International Accounting Standards Board and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will also be present. Source: Accountancy Age–United Kingdom

Canada - June 20, 2008 The Bank of Canada may begin publishing the results of its quarterly survey of senior loan officers, a spokesman said on Friday, a move that could provide markets with more insight into Canada's credit market. Governor Mark Carney, who has headed the bank since February, has said he would like to improve the Bank of Canada's transparency during his term. He told lawmakers last December, after his appointment, that he would study the possibility of publishing the minutes of monetary policy meetings for the first time. The Bank of Canada's governing council uses consensus decision-making to set policy. It does not vote on policy as the [U.S.] Fed does. Source: Reuters

Pakistan - June 20, 2008 From next year, the proposed expenditure portion of the federal budget will be presented in the National Assembly in March, Finance Minister Syed Naveed Qamar said on Thursday. Winding up the general debate on the 2008–09 budget in the National Assembly, he said the new government had suffered from time constraints in presenting this year’s budget, but would seek greater input from elected representatives next year. “The next budget will be in line with the recommendations of parliament. By March, we will present expenditure budget before parliament and would allow standing committees to deliberate on it as is practiced in real democracies,” he added. Source: The Daily Times–Pakistan

Austria - June 19, 2008 On June 13, 2008, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Austria. Directors welcomed the Financial Sector Assessment Program update's finding that the Austrian financial system is profitable, well-capitalized and liquid, and resilient to shocks. Directors noted that financial sector oversight has become more demanding, a key challenge being to ensure adequate risk management in the context of growing cross-border financial integration and increasing complexity of financial operations. They called for strengthening of cross-border supervisory arrangements and on- and off-site supervision. They noted the recent amendment of Austria's bank supervisory framework, which resulted in an enhanced role for the Austrian National Bank, and emphasized that the new framework will require close cooperation between the National Bank and the Financial Market Authority. Directors considered that the effectiveness of supervision would be enhanced through better legal protection for supervisory action. Source: International Monetary Fund

Colombia - June 19, 2008 Moody's Investors Service has upgraded Colombia's key ratings to reflect important and likely sustainable structural changes to the country's economy, reinforcing an investment-driven recovery and a significant improvement in debt ratios. Moody's upgraded Colombia's: foreign-currency government bond rating to Ba1 from Ba2; its long-term foreign-currency bond ceiling to Baa3 from Ba1; its short-term foreign-currency bond ceiling to P-3 from Not-Prime; and its foreign-currency ceiling for deposits to Ba2 from Ba3. All other ratings, including Colombia Baa3 local-currency government bond rating, remain the same. The outlook on all ratings is stable. "The dramatic progress with respect to Colombia's once-precarious security situation has spurred a sustainable recovery in domestic demand and generated a virtuous cycle that has significantly improved debt dynamics," said Moody's Vice President—Senior Analyst Alessandra Alecci. Source: Moody’s Investors Service

India - June 19, 2008 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday made it mandatory for regional rural banks (RRBs) to report all suspicious transactions above Rs 10 lakh to the directorate of financial intelligence as part of exercise to strengthen the anti-money laundering drive. The central bank had earlier on May 23 issued similar guidelines for the commercial banks. The central bank said all documents pertaining to complex, unusual large transactions and all unusual patterns of transactions, having no apparent economic and lawful purpose, should be be examined and the findings should be properly recorded. These records should be preserved for 10 years as per the PMLA [Prevention of Money Laundering Act], 2002. The central bank has clarified that individual cash transaction below Rs 50,000 need not be mentioned in the CTRs. RBI through Wednesday’s notification has tightened the rules issued in February 2006 in pursuance of the prevention of Money Laundering Act. Source: The Economic Times–India

India - June 19, 2008 SEBI [Securities and Exchange Board of India] has [released] SEBI (Intermediaries) Regulations, 2008 with an aim to consolidate the common requirements which apply to all the intermediaries wherever such requirements are applicable. The regulator has also notified regulations with respect to public offer and listing of securitized debt. This will be called SEBI (public offer and listing of securitized debt instruments) regulations, 2008. SEBI said in a statement that the regulations put in place a comprehensive regulation which will apply to all intermediaries. The common requirements, like the grant of registration, general obligations, common code of conduct, common procedure for action in case of default, and miscellaneous provisions have been provided in the approved intermediaries regulations. Source: The Financial Express–India

India - June 19, 2008 To provide vibrancy to lackluster primary market for corporate bonds, SEBI [Securities and Exchange Board of India] on Thursday removed the requirement of filing of draft offer documents with the market regulator for such issues, but made it mandatory for companies to get credit ratings. However, a draft offer document has to be filed with the stock exchange through the lead merchant banker, according to Regulations for Issue and Listing of Debt Securities notified today. The lead merchant banker would have to ensure that all comments received on the draft offer document are suitably addressed prior to the filing of the offer document with Registrar of Companies. Source: The Economic Times–India

Australia - June 19, 2008 Listed companies and trusts that fail to comply with corporate governance reporting standards will be pulled up by the Australian Securities Exchange. The ASX's latest review shows only a marginal improvement in reporting over the past financial year. ASX Corporate Governance Council chairman Eric Mayne said companies and trusts that did not adhere to the ASX's principles and recommendations would be contacted by the end of this month, unless the company explained why it had not followed the rules under the so-called "if not, why not" option. And if a company or board did not improve when its 2007-08 report was lodged, the ASX would raise its concerns with the company's board. Mr Mayne, who is also the ASX chief supervision officer, said there had been a significant improvement in corporate governance reporting by listed trusts. But improvement was needed in reporting of codes of conduct and risk management policies. Source: The Age–Australia

United Kingdom - June 19, 2008 Alistair Darling, the UK's chancellor of the exchequer, last night announced the biggest government shake-up of the Bank of England in a decade, with plans to create a new "financial stability committee" to address shortcomings exposed by the Northern Rock bank crisis. The new committee is the centerpiece of a package of reforms that Mr. Darling believes will strengthen the central bank. The Bank of England's governing Court will be cut from 18 members to no more than 12. The Bank would also be given a statutory role to oversee financial stability. Mr. Darling also vowed to advertise publicly all senior jobs—including the governor's post and members of the monetary policy committee—to make appointments more transparent. As well as providing oversight, Mr Darling envisages it meeting regularly at a time of financial crisis, strengthening the tripartite arrangements which also include the Treasury and the FSA. Source: Financial Times–United Kingdom

United States - June 19, 2008 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Federal Reserve have nearly completed a formal agreement to oversee the financial system, an SEC official told a Senate panel on Thursday. The regulators are working on a memorandum of understanding to outline the scope and mechanism for sharing information related to the Fed's discount window and other areas, Erik Sirri, the SEC's director of trading and markets, said in prepared testimony. The memo would provide a mechanism for regulators to gain a broader and continuous perspective on financial institutions and markets that could impact the stability of the financial system, Sirri said. It will also help with "bridging the period of time until Congress can address through legislation" fundamental questions about investment bank supervision, he said. Source: Reuters

World Bank - June 19, 2008 Recent research shows that global corruption can add as much as 20%- 25% to the costs of public procurement but many companies are still faced with the dilemma of either paying bribes to win business or withdrawing from high-risk markets. However, practical help is now at hand. The World Bank Institute today released "Fighting Corruption through Collective Action—A Guide for Business." Created to help companies fight back against the insidious impacts of corruption, the Guide, and its companion web portal, outlines proven methods to fight marketplace corruption through Collective Action between business and other stakeholders. Organized by the World Bank Institute, the coalition is made up of NGOs and multilateral organizations including United Nations Global Compact, the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), and Transparency International, as well as several private companies. The guide and web portal will be launched at the ICC–Commercial Crime Services annual seminar in London later today. Through the portal, the World Bank Institute-led group will continue to support and report upon the use of collective action going forward. Source: World Bank

Canada - June 18, 2008 All money services businesses will be required to register with FINTRAC [Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre of Canada] by June 23, 2008. This registration requirement follows recent changes to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. This new requirement is part of a larger package of regulatory changes announced in December 2007 by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to strengthen Canada's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime. The new regulations bring Canada's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime in line with the international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force, a G-8 created body. The amendments also follow recommendations made in the 2004 Auditor General's Report and in a 2004 Treasury Board-mandated evaluation of the regime. Source: Canada NewsWire

Thailand - June 18, 2008 On May 21, 2008, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Thailand. Executive Directors welcomed the resilience of the Thai economy against the background of domestic political uncertainties and the turmoil in global financial markets. Directors commended the authorities for the significant strides made to strengthen the financial and corporate sectors. They welcomed the completion of the Financial Sector Stability Assessment (FSSA), and called on the authorities to build on the progress already achieved by implementing rapidly the FSSA's recommendations. Directors praised the progress made in upgrading the regulatory and supervisory frameworks, and welcomed the recent passage of key financial sector legislation, including that granting operational independence to the BOT. The financial sector would be further strengthened by addressing the remaining nonperforming loans from the Asian financial crisis and implementing tighter supervision of the state-owned specialized financial institutions. Scaling back government ownership in financial institutions remains an appropriate longer-term goal. Source: International Monetary Fund

Accounting - June 18, 2008 The world’s securities authorities—represented by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), as well as the European Commission, the Japan Financial Services Agency, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the securities authorities in the world’s three largest capital markets—welcome the upcoming Roundtable organized by the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (IASCF) regarding the creation of an IASCF Monitoring Group. The IASCF is the private foundation that provides public interest oversight to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which promulgates International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The IASCF Monitoring Group will provide for organized interaction between national authorities responsible for the adoption or recognition of accounting standards for listed companies and the IASCF. Source: International Organization of Securities Commissions

India - June 18, 2008 Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), said it will appoint, in a month's time, a mutual funds advisory committee as a first step to giving India's mutual funds industry regulation a re-look. At a mutual funds conference in Mumbai, C. B. Bhave, SEBI's chairman, said the advisory committee will look at issues, both immediate and long-term, faced by the industry. When asked about what areas the advisory committee will look at, Bhave said creation of a common platform, like the depository, might help mutual fund investors. Bhave said the industry should shift its focus to client needs. Source: Forbes

Africa - June 18, 2008 The Johannesburg Stock Exchange's (JSE) plan to create a Pan-African trading board is meeting resistance from major continental bourses due to the fear of being edged out by Africa's largest stock market. While pointing out that they would not prohibit firms from listing on the JSE, Nigeria has joined Kenya in showing reluctance to an alliance with the larger and more established South African stock market. The JSE plan is an attempt to capitalize on growing interest in Africa among Western investors, but the reluctance by the biggest exchanges in the west and east of the continent may force a rethink. Farooq Oreagba, head of strategy and new products at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, told The Financial Times that his organization had been in "exploratory talks" with the JSE, but that both the exchange and Nigerian companies were just as interested in cultivating ties with the London Stock Exchange and others. Nigeria has begun to vie with South Africa for commercial and political leadership of the continent, a point brought home by Mr Oreagba with the assertion that the idea of creating a pan-African exchange based on the JSE was "never going to work politically." Source: Business Daily–Kenya

Bank for International Settlements - June 17, 2008 The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision today issued for public comment enhanced global Principles for Sound Liquidity Risk Management and Supervision. The principles support one of the key recommendations for strengthening prudential oversight set out in the Report of the Financial Stability Forum on Enhancing Market and Institutional Resilience, which was presented to G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in April 2008. The draft principles represent a substantial revision of the Committee’s liquidity guidance that was published in 2000 and reflect the lessons of the financial market turmoil. The work was drawn from recent and ongoing work on liquidity risk by the public and private sectors and is intended to strengthen banks' liquidity risk management and improve global supervisory practices. Comments are invited by 29 July 2008. All comments will be published on the Bank for International Settlements’ website unless a commenter specifically requests anonymity. Source: Bank for International Settlements

United States - June 17, 2008 Barry C. Melancon, president and CEO of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, speaking at a forum of accounting and finance authorities on international accounting, called for a reasonable and clear-cut time frame of three to five years for the U.S. accounting profession to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards. "Awareness is growing among U.S. accountants that IFRS is coming for public companies and most believe it will take three to five years to get ready," Melancon said at a Financial Accounting Standards Board conference on International Financial Reporting Standards held at Baruch College in New York City on June 16. Melancon's comments came in remarks at a FASB forum on "High-Quality Global Accounting Standards: Issues and Implications for U.S. Financial Reporting" that was attended by 24 representatives from the U.S. and international accounting and finance professions as well as state and federal regulatory authorities including the Securities and Exchange Commission and Internal Revenue Service. A majority of AICPA members polled in an April 24 to May 12 survey said they believed it would take three to five years to prepare for IFRS. Source: PRNewswire–United States

World Bank - June 17, 2008 A new database and ranking tool unveiled today by the World Bank shows that in 2007 most developing countries continued to improve trade policies supporting greater integration. Data in the World Trade Indicators 2008 – Benchmarking Policy and Performance, produced by the World Bank Institute, also show that, over the past decade, countries with lower barriers tended to have stronger, more consistent trade and export performance. The WTI database brings together key trade-related indicators from the Geneva-based International Trade Centre (ITC), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Bank. The database also provides country briefs on developing countries, while its companion publication summarizes global patterns in trade policies, institutions, and outcomes revealed by the database. Source: World Bank

Australia - June 16, 2008 The Treasury and ASIC [Australian Securities and Investments Commission] today issued a joint consultation paper, Cross-Border Recognition: Facilitating Access to Overseas Markets and Financial Services. The consultation paper invites comment on proposals for cross border recognition of financial markets, financial services, and disclosure about investments. The last three decades have seen Australia's financial markets and services industries experience substantial changes owing to international trends in cross border capital flows and international regulatory reform. These events and the unrelenting pressure of global financial integration have led Treasury and ASIC to believe that it is timely to propose and refine measures to improve Australia's approach to safely harnessing the benefits of cross border capital flows. Treasury and ASIC invite comments on the proposals set out in the joint consultation paper by 25 July 2008. Source: Australian Securities and Investments

China - June 16, 2008 China banned its commercial banks from granting loans to clients for foreign exchange (forex) margin trading, according to a statement released by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the nation's top banking regulator, on its website. CBRC said the banks' risk control ability and consumers' recognition to potential risks in such investment are still inadequate and 80% or even 90% of investors are losing money in their foreign exchange transactions. The ban will not affect the existing clients. However, domestic banks are not allowed to offer the service to new consumers. All the banks who have conducted such service are required to submit to CBRC within five days after the announcement on the details of their clients. CBRC said it will strengthen risk supervision in the service and issue new rules on the sector after all conditions are ripe. Source: China Knowledge–Singapore