IMF Executive Board Concludes Periodic Review of the Financial Sector Assessment Program
IMF News, September 21, 2026
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Bibliographic details
- Published: September 21, 2026
Overview
- Press Release No. PR26/298
- Completion date of the periodic review: September 3.
- Announcement date: September 21, 2026.
- The FSAP provides in-depth assessments of financial sectors and provides important input to Fund surveillance.
- Joint assessments with the World Bank in emerging market and developing economies; Fund alone in advanced economies.
- Since the program’s inception in 1999, 416 assessments have been completed across 161 Fund members, covering nearly all global financial assets.
Key statistics and scope
- Program inception: 1999.
- Number of assessments completed: 416.
- Number of Fund members covered: 161.
- Review completion date: September 3.
- Announcement date: September 21, 2026.
- Reference to the 2010 change mandating participation for jurisdictions with Systemically Important Financial Sectors (SIFS).
- Reference to the 2021 Review and its subsequent enhancements.
- Mention of a 10‑year cycle relevant to voluntary FSAP prioritization.
Drivers and emerging risks identified
- Growing interconnections between banks, non-bank financial intermediaries and market infrastructure providers requiring systemwide analysis.
- Elevated uncertainty and high public debt.
- Accelerating digitalization and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).
- Crypto assets including stablecoins.
- Cyber threats.
- Climate risks.
- Increased resource intensity of the FSAP program for the Fund and the authorities due to broadened risk landscape.
Reform objectives and proposed changes
- Aim to make the program more agile, tailored in topic coverage, and focused on the most material risks as they emerge.
- Move toward a more risk‑based and modular approach guided by stronger initial diagnostics to define the scope of FSAP coverage across and within the three FSAP pillars:
- Risk analysis.
- Financial stability policy frameworks.
- Authorities’ capacity to manage and resolve financial crises.
- More risk-focused identification of SIFS and sharpened criteria for voluntary assessments to rebalance resources between mandatory and voluntary assessments.
- Addition of an overlay of staff’s judgment to account for systemically important FMIs and cross‑border data gaps.
- Proposals to make recommendations better prioritized, sequenced, and actionable, and tailored to country circumstances and implementation capacity, including allowing a longer timeframe for implementation if needed.
- Greater transparency measures:
- Publication of analytical methods and technical manuals.
- Wider use of the iFSAP database—collecting all published FSAP materials.
- A communication strategy for mandatory assessments.
Executive Board assessment and guidance
- Executive Directors reaffirmed the program as a critical instrument of the Fund’s financial sector surveillance.
- Broad support for reforms to make the FSAP more agile, focused, and impactful, while preserving quality, effectiveness, and evenhandedness.
- Directors generally endorsed stronger emphasis on systemwide and emerging risks where relevant, tailoring coverage and materiality of risks to country circumstances.
- Concerns and cautions raised by Directors:
- Avoid displacement of core financial stability analysis.
- Need for safeguards to preserve evenhandedness and credibility of staff analysis.
- Importance of early discussions on scoping with country authorities.
- Need for clear and transparent prioritization criteria and operational guidance to guard against major surveillance gaps, especially for emerging market and developing economies.
- Adequate coordination with other international assessments.
- Importance of staff engagement with the Board, especially regarding the FSAP Guidance Note to operationalize safeguards.
- Views on SIFS methodology:
- Most Directors supported revisions to make FSAP coverage more agile and aligned with evolving risks.
- Directors noted staff judgment overlay should be evidence based, evenhanded, and periodically reviewed by the Board.
- Support for increasing the number of voluntary FSAPs, with transparent prioritization according to Board‑approved criteria and consideration of regional balance and requests from jurisdictions on the 10‑year cycle or exiting the mandatory list.
- Some Directors requested further refinement to better capture systemic importance, including regional linkages and transmission channels, and greater flexibility to revisit SIFS classification between FSAP policy reviews if warranted.
- Emphasis on clear external communications to avoid adverse signaling effects from changes in mandatory status or perceptions of scaling back surveillance.
- Directors noted staff will engage with relevant member authorities on modalities for following up on FSSA recommendations stemming from the FSA of a territory of a member with a systemically important financial sector with respect to which no separate Article IV consultation discussions are held.
Implementation, operational guidance, and safeguards
- Need for operational guidance and prioritization criteria to avoid surveillance gaps.
- Role of the FSAP Guidance Note highlighted to operationalize safeguards and ensure transparency.
- Emphasis on early scoping discussions with country authorities to preserve evenhandedness and credibility.
- Coordination with other international assessments deemed important.
Use of AI and data practices
- Directors supported greater use of AI to enhance efficiency, subject to strong safeguards on:
- Validation.
- Accountability.
- Data protection.
- Confidentiality.
International Monetary Fund press release: IMF Executive Board Concludes Periodic Review of the Financial Sector Assessment Program