Approved Guidance Notes

Guidance Notes below were approved by the IMF’s Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics and, where relevant, by the UN’s Intersecretariat Working Group on National Accounts to be included as subjects on the Annotated Outline to be prepared by the IMF’s Statistics Department and thereafter on the draft chapters of the respective International Statistical Standard manuals (i.e., Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, seventh edition (BPM7) and System of National Accounts 2025 (2025 SNA)).

Balance of Payments Task Team (BPTT)

• B.2 Standardized Definition of Net International Reserves (Posted September 2022)
• B.3 Treatment of Centralized Currency Unions in Macroeconomic Statistics (Posted November 2022)
• B.4 Reconciliation Between Flows and Stocks (Posted January 2021)    
• B.6 Sustainable Finance: Integrating Measures of Climate Change Risk into External Sector Statistics (Posted January 2022)
• B.7 Arrears in International Investment Position (Posted November 2021)
• B.8 Recording Citizenship-by-Investment Programs (Posted November 2022)
• B.9 Treatment of External Assets and Related Income Declared Under Tax Amnesty in External Sector Statistics (Posted January 2022)
• B.12 Treatment of Equity in International Organizations That Is in the Form of Unlisted Shares or Nonnegotiable Equity (Posted September 2022)

Current Account Task Team (CATT)

• C.1 Recording of Transactor-Based Components of Services (Posted June 2022)
• C.2 Goods, Services, and Investment Income Accounts by Enterprise Characteristics (Posted June 2022)
• C.3 International Trade Classified by Currency (Including for Trade Linked to Long-term Trade Credits and Advances) (Posted January 2022)
• C.4 Merchanting and Factoryless Producers, Clarifying Negative Exports in Merchanting, and Merchanting of Services (Posted November 2022)
• C.5 Statistical Impact of the Change in Treatment of Operating Leases in Business Accounting; Economic Ownership in the Context of Financial and Operating Lease Transactions Pertaining, in Particular, to Aircraft (Posted November 2022)
• C.6 Trade in Services Classifications (Posted January 2022) | Annex Table (zip)
• C.7 Treatment of Travel Packages, Health-Related Travel, and Taxes and Fees on Passengers' Tickets (Posted November 2022)
• C.8 Recording of Fines and Penalties (Posted August 2022)

Communications Task Team (CMTT)

• CM.1 An Assessment Framework to Measure Alignment with the Economic Accounting Statistical Standards (Posted November 2024)
• CM.2 Terminology and Branding of the Economic Accounting Statistical Standards (Posted November 2024)
• CM.3 A Taxonomy for Communicating Economic Statistics Releases, Products, and Product Updates (Posted November 2024)

Direct Investment Task Team (DITT)

• D.1 Greenfield Investment and Extension of Capacity (Posted May 2022)
• D.2 Valuation of Unlisted Equity (Posted June 2022)
• D.3 Treatment of Collective Investment Institutions (Posted May 2022)
• D.4 Corporate Inversions (Posted August 2022)
• D.5 Eliminating the Imputations for an Entity Owned or Controlled by General Government that is Used for Fiscal Purposes (Posted November 2022)
• D.6 Ultimate Investing Economy/Ultimate Host Economy and Pass-through Funds (Posted January 2021)
• D.7 Sectoral Breakdown of Direct Investment (Posted January 2021)
• D.8 Public-Private Partnerships (Posted December 2021)
• D.9 Reconciling BPM-Based Direct Investment and AMNE Statistics (Posted May 2022)
• D.10 Defining the Boundaries of Direct Investment (Posted September 2022)
• D.11 Removing Debt Between Affiliated Insurance Corporations and Pension Funds from Direct Investment (Posted September 2022)
• D.12 Including Intra-Concern [Between Affiliates] Derivatives in Direct Investment (Posted April 2021)
• D.14 Financial Conduits (Posted March 2023)
• D.16 Treatment of Retained Earnings (Posted March 2023)
• D.17 Identifying Superdividends and Establishing the Borderline Between Dividends and Withdrawal of Equity in the context of Direct Investment (Posted March 2023)
• Issue Note: D.17 Identifying Superdividends and Establishing the Boundary Between Dividends and Withdrawal of Equity in the Context of Direct Investment (Posted March 2023)
• D.18 Cash Pooling in Direct Investment (Posted September 2022)

Financial and Payment Systems Task Team (FITT)

• F.1 More Disaggregated Institutional Sector and Financial Instrument Breakdowns (Posted June 2022) 
• F.2 Asymmetric Treatment of Retained Earnings (Posted November 2024)
• F.3 Reverse Transactions (Posted June 2021)
• F.4 Financial Derivatives by Type (Posted November 2021)
• F.5 Treatment of Credit Default Swaps (Posted January 2021)
• F.6 Capturing Non-Bank Financial Intermediation in the System of National Accounts and the External Sector Statistics (Posted November 2021)
• F.7 Impact of Fintech on Macroeconomic Statistics (Posted June 2022)
• F.8 Valuation of Debt Securities at Both Market and Nominal Value (Posted January 2021)
• F.9 Valuation of Loans (Fair Value) (Posted April 2022)
• F.10 Treatment of Cash Collateral (Posted March 2025)
• Explanatory Note: Treatment of Cash Collateral in the 2025 SNA and BPM7 (Posted March 2025) 
• F.12 Covering Hybrid Insurance and Pension Products (Posted November 2022)
• F.13 Margins on Buying and Selling Transactions (Posted November 2022)
• F.14 Treatment of Factoring Transactions (Posted November 2024)
• F.15 Debt Concessionality (Posted January 2023)
• Issue Note: A Holistic Assessment of the Treatment of Concessional Lending in Macroeconomic Statistics (Posted January 2023)
• F.16 Subscription Rights (Posted November 2021)
• F.18 The Recording of Fungible Crypto Assets in Macroeconomic Statistics (Posted November 2024)
• Issue Note: Recording of Fungible Crypto Assets in Macroeconomic Statistics - Unbacked Crypto Assets (Posted November 2024)

Globalization Task Team (GZTT)

• G.1 Valuation of Imports and Exports of Goods in the International Standards (CIF to FOB Adjustment) (Posted November 2022)
• G.2 Treatment of MNE and Intra-MNE Flows (Posted May 2022)
• G.4 Treatment of Special Purpose Entities and Residency (Posted May 2022)
• G.5 Economic Ownership of Intellectual Property Products: Recording of Intra-MNE Transactions (Posted May 2022)
• G.7 Global Value Chains and Trade in Value Added (Posted November 2024)

Informal Economy Task Team (IETT)

• IE.1 Statistical Framework for the Informal Economy (Posted November 2024)

Islamic Finance Task Team (IFTT)

• IF.1 Islamic Finance in the National Accounts and External Sector Statistics (Posted November 2024)

Issue Notes/Clarification Notes

• Clarification Note: Classification of Expenditures of Companions of Business and Education-Related Travelers (Posted March 2023)
• Clarification Note: Treatment of Securities Under Reverse Transactions in Reserve Assets (Posted June 2023)
• Issue Note: Treatment of Negative Equity Position (Posted November 2024)
• Issue Note: Title of the Updated BPM (Posted November 2024)
• Issue Note: Recording Uncompensated Asset Seizures in Macroeconomic Statistics (Posted November 2024)
• Issue Note: Use of Credit/Debit vs Revenue/Expenditure in Balance of Payments Statistics (Posted November 2024)
• Issue Note: Treatment of Intellectual Property Products in Balance of Payments Statistics (Posted November 2024)
• Issue Note: AI.1 Valuation Principles and Methodologies (Posted November 2024)
• Issue Note: Sustainable Finance in the 2025 SNA and BPM7 (Posted November 2024)
• Issue Note: Recording of Crypto Lending/Borrowing in Macroeconomic Statistics (Posted March 2025)