IMF and BIS—Working Together to Boost Financial Stability
IMF News, February 8, 2018
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- Published: February 8, 2018
I. Introduction & Theme
- Purpose: strengthen member countries' expertise in financial sector supervision and regulation through capacity development.
- Capacity development described as:
- Hands-on assistance and training.
- Sharing knowledge across countries.
- Promoting financial stability that underpins durable and inclusive growth.
- Framing quotes used:
- Benjamin Franklin: “ an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
- Voltaire (French): “ Aucun problème ne peut resister à l’assaut de la pensée soutenue,” with translation “No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.”
- Historical and budgetary context:
- IMF began providing technical assistance to central banks in the 1960s.
- Today, capacity development accounts for more than a quarter of the IMF’s total budget—about $267 million in 2017.
- The IMF serves 189 member countries.
II. Capacity Development—People-focused
- Core message: capacity development is people-centered—coaching, skills transfer, knowledge sharing.
- Long-term experts highlighted as central actors:
- Representative practitioners illustrate how capacity development works in practice.
- Example: Carmencita Santos
- Over the past 23 years, worked with bank supervisors, financial regulators, parliamentarians, and central bankers.
- Career path: Central Bank of the Philippines → IMF one-year and two-year assignments → country engagements including Guyana, Lesotho, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Myanmar.
- Developed the “working team approach”: clients absorb knowledge and quickly teach it to teammates, facilitating institutional knowledge transfer.
- Example: Leonard Chumo
- Career path: financial accountant and analyst in Kenya → banking supervisor at the Bermuda Monetary Authority and the Central Bank of Ireland → mission chief for the European Central Bank → IMF long-term expert based in Nigeria.
- Activities in Nigeria:
- Supporting implementation of “Pillar 2” of the Basel framework.
- Coaching teams on assessing bank capital levels.
- Providing training on stress-testing methods.
- Developing training materials tailored to Nigeria’s financial sector.
- Framing: long-term experts are “the face of the Fund”—teachers, ambassadors, trusted advisers.
- Institutional emphasis: putting people at the center benefits member countries and global financial stability.
III. Capacity Development—Products and Partners
- Products (knowledge-sharing instruments and areas of engagement)
- Objective: help members build capacity across fiscal, monetary, statistical, and financial areas.
- Case examples:
- Cambodia: IMF helped create key central bank functions after the country’s civil war; multi-year efforts on banking regulation and supervision supported commercial bank lending, growth, and employment.
- Jamaica: Fund supported the Financial Services Commission in strengthening supervision of insurance and securities firms to identify and address risks and make the financial system more supportive of growth.
- Approach:
- No one-size-fits-all—help members adapt global regulatory reforms to specific circumstances.
- Evolving focus on fintech, virtual currencies, new financial business models, and heightened money-laundering and financial stability risks.
- Cybersecurity emphasized as a key threat to financial stability.
- IMF participation in workshops on managing cyber risk to improve policy advice and capacity development.
- Partners (funding and collaboration)
- Funding and contributors:
- Last year, more than 40 member-countries provided funding for capacity development efforts.
- These partners—led by Japan and the European Union—finance about half of IMF work in this area.
- Contributions include sponsoring experts, financing technical assistance programs, and funding global capacity-development centers.
- Partners also contribute to “thematic funds” supporting priorities including financial stability and strengthening financial integrity.
- Collaboration with other organizations:
- Complementarity with BIS and the BIS Financial Stability Institute (FSI).
- Online learning:
- Fund has helped train nearly 10,000 government officials through free online courses.
- Since 2013, the Fund has trained more than 34,000 individuals, including nearly 10,000 government officials.
- BIS/FSI known for e-learning expertise (example: “FSI Connect”).
- Joint BIS-IMF initiative:
- A new online course on banking supervision is being created jointly.
- Some 200 government officials from 41 countries are expected to participate in this joint course later this year.
- New BIS-IMF course is a 40-hour training program, with 5 case studies and 5 interactive webinars.
- Pedagogical principle: combine well-designed online courses with face-to-face training and assistance to maximize results.
Conclusion
- Learning framework and call to action:
- Proverb: “Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.”
- By stepping up capacity development and deepening collaboration with the BIS, member countries can be involved in a powerful learning experience.
- Role encouragement: be teachers, ambassadors, and trusted advisers.
As prepared for delivery, February 8, 2018. IMF Communications Department.