The Financial Stability Forum (FSF) meets next week *to assess potential risks and vulnerabilities in the international financial system and initiatives to address them.”*
At this 16th meeting on September 6 in Paris, the FSF will review developments in international standard setting practices, international accounting and auditing – and offshore financial centres. The forum also will discuss developments in risk transfer markets and in the hedge fund sector.
The FSF brings together national authorities responsible for financial stability in significant international financial centres, international financial institutions, sector-specific international groupings of regulators and supervisors, and committees of central bank experts. It was established by the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors, and its Secretariat is based at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.
**Offshore Financial Centres**
The 15th meeting of the FSF was held in Sydney, Australia in March of this year. At that time, the Forum received a report of its OFC Review Group set up in 2005 to review the results of work underway by FSF member bodies to ensure that OFCs meet international standards as financial markets evolve – and to address remaining problems in several OFCs, notably in the areas of effective cross-border cooperation, information exchange and adequacy of supervisory resources.
The FSF welcomed the progress made, in particular in the relevant ongoing initiative of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), and urged its member bodies to continue their efforts. It called upon OFCs to continue to cooperate with IOSCO and the IMF’s ongoing assessment programme in a timely fashion. The FSF also encouraged OFCs to contribute more fully to the IMF Information Framework Initiative.
In Paris next week, the Forum will review ongoing developments.