Public Information Notice: IMF Executive Board Reviews the Standards and Codes Initiative
August 8, 2005

The Standards and Codes Initiative—Is It Effective? And How Can It Be Improved?
July 1, 2005

Standards and Codes: The Role of the IMF, A Factsheet

Standards and Codes

Public Information Notice: IMF Executive Board Reviews International Standards: Strengthening Surveillance, Domestic Institutions, and International Markets, April 3, 2003

International Standards: Strengthening Surveillance, Domestic Institutions, and International Markets , March 5, 2003

International Standards: Background Paper on Strengthening Surveillance, Domestic Institutions, and International Markets, March 5, 2003

Assessing and Promoting Fiscal Transparency: A Report on Progress, March 5, 2003

Review of the Fund's Experience with the Data Module ROSCs, March 7, 2003


The Standards and Codes Initiative—Is It Effective? And How Can It Be Improved?
Background Paper

Prepared by the Policy Development and Review Department
(In Consultation with Other Departments)


July 1, 2005

Use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the full text of 424kb pdf file.

Contents

I.   Introduction
 
II.   Overall Presentation of the Initiative
 A.   History of the Initiative
 B.   The Initiative's Current Shape
C.   Developments in Standard Setting and Methodologies
 
III.   Taking Stock of the Initiative: Detailed Data
 
IV.   Outreach on Standards and Codes
 A.   Objectives and Types of Standards and Codes Outreach
 B.   Evolution of S&C Outreach and Recent Trends
 
V.   Literature Review
 A.   Survey-Based Studies
 B.   Econometrics-based Studies
 C.   A Synthetic Portfolio
 
VI.   The Views of the Stakeholders on the Initiative: Results from the Surveys and Follow-up Interviews
 A.   Country Authorities
 B.   Fund Area Department Mission Chiefs
 C.   Fund Functional Department Mission Chiefs
 D.   World Bank ROSC Mission Chiefs
 E.   Market Participants
 F.   Standard Setters
 G.   Civil Society
 
VII.   Case Studies
 
VIII.   Resource Costs of the Initiative
 
Tables
1.   Participation in the Initiative
2.  
 Average Number of Initial Assessments Completed per Country
3.  
 Tests for Differences in Means of Participating and Non-participating Countries
4.  
 Lag in Completing the ROSCs
5.  
 Publication Rates of Initial Assessments ROSCs, FY1999-2005
6.  
 Summary Statistics on Accesses to Country Papers Posted on the Fund External Website, 2004
7.  
 Summary Statistics on Accesses to Initiative-Related Papers Posted on the Fund External Website, 2004
8.  
 Summary of Country Authorities' Views
9.  
 Usefulness of the Initiative: Country Authorities' Answers to the Survey
10.  
 Usefulness of Standards as a Diagnostic Tool
11.   Quality of the Assessments: Country Authorities' Answers to the Survey
12.  
 Area Department Mission Chiefs' Survey: Response Rates
13.  
 Reasons for Non-participation
14.  
 Summary of Area Department Mission Chiefs' Views
15.  
 Usefulness for Surveillance: Mission Chiefs' Answers to the Survey
16.  
 Clarity of ROSCs
17.  
 Technical Assistance
18.  
 Summary of ROSC/FSAP Mission Chiefs' Views
19.  
 Initiative's Contribution: Mission Chiefs' Answers
20.  
 Strengthened Surveillance?
21.   Value of Various FSAP Components
22.  
 Summary of Market Participants' Views
23.  
 Market Participants' Views on the Usefulness of ROSCs by Standards
24.  
 Average Size of Mission Teams, 2004-2005
25.  
 Costs to the Fund of Standards and Codes Initiative-Related Work, FY2002-2005
 
Figures
1.   Geographic Distribution of Participants in the Initiative
2.  
 Repartition of First-Time Participants in the Initiative
3.  
 Annual Number of ROSCs Completed
4.  
 Region of Origin of Country Authorities Survey Respondents
5.  
 Relative Usefulness of ROSCs
6.  
 Which is the More Useful?
7.  
 Which ROSCs Should be Done?
8.  
 ROSCs Helpfulness in Identifying Vulnerabilities
9.  
 Usefulness of ROSCs in Identifying Vulnerabilities
10.  
 Usefulness of ROSCs in Strengthening Institutions and Financial Infrastructure
11.   Quality of ROSCs
12.  
 To What Extent is the One-Standard-For-All Approach Favored?
13.  
 Contribution of the Initiative
14.  
 Possible Alternative to Full ROSCs
15.  
 More Quantitative Assessments?
16.  
 Assessments' Level of Detail
17.  
 Region of Primary Location of Market Participants Survey Respondents
18.  
 Usefulness of ROSCs by Country Groups
19.  
 ROSC Clarity, Quality, and Level of Detail
20.  
 Appropriate Frequency of ROSC Updates
21.   Standard Setting, FSAP and ROSC Activity
 
Boxes
1.   Counting the Number of Assessments
2.  
 Private Sector Extensions of the Standards and Codes Initiative
 

Appendices
I.   Fund Prioritization of Assessments of Observance and Standards and Codes
II.  
 References
 A.   Bibliography for the Literature Survey
 B.   Selected Board Papers and Decisions Relating to the Initiative
III.  
 Bank-Fund Outreach Seminars
IV.  
 Selected Tables and Graphs to Take Stock of the Initiative
V.  
 Country Classification