Country Reports
2019
June 26, 2019
Switzerland: Financial Sector Assessment Program; Technical Note-Selected Issues on Banking Supervision
Description: Financial Sector Assessment Program; Technical Note-Selected Issues on Banking Supervision
June 26, 2019
Switzerland: Financial Sector Assessment Program; Technical Note-Regulation and Supervision of Asset Management Activities
Description: Financial Sector Assessment Program; Technical Note-Regulation and Supervision of Asset Management Activities
June 25, 2019
Denmark: 2019 Article IV Consultation - Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Denmark
Description: The solid performance of the economy continues to be supported by domestic demand and labor market pressures are gradually building. The current account surplus is declining amid higher investment. The outlook is for continued growth with risks tilted to the downside. While overall house price growth has started to soften, elevated household debt remains a key source of risk. Banks are sound and profitable.
June 25, 2019
Denmark: Selected Issues
Description: Considering the Danske Bank case and in the context of a highly integrated Nordic-Baltic financial sector, this Selected Issues paper compares the money laundering (ML) threats and related supervisory vulnerabilities facing the region’s largest economies, highlights Denmark’s ongoing efforts to address those vulnerabilities, notes critical next steps, and provides recommendations aimed at maintaining the country’s current momentum for reform. The paper finds that Denmark has taken important steps to strengthen its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) supervision over the last two years—including via amendments to the AML Act, a significant increase in supervisory resources, and a concomitant increase in on-site inspections—and that these steps represent relevant and necessary responses to the ML risks facing Denmark. The key is therefore to maintain and build on the momentum Denmark has already established. The skills of newly hired inspectors will take time to build, the elaboration of a comprehensive institutional risk assessment model and AML/CFT supervisory manual will take time to complete and strengthened working relationships with foreign counterparts will take time to establish and operationalize.
June 24, 2019
United States: 2019 Article IV Consultation - Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the United States
Description: The U.S. economy is in the longest expansion in recorded history. Unemployment is at levels not seen since the late 1960s, real wages are rising, and inflationary pressures remain subdued. Economic activity, while still growing above potential, is expected to slow to around 2.6 percent this year and 1.9 percent in 2020.
June 24, 2019
Canada: Financial System Stability Assessment
Description: This Financial System Stability Assessment paper discusses that Canada has enjoyed favorable macroeconomic outcomes over the past decades, and its vibrant financial system continues to grow robustly. However, macrofinancial vulnerabilities—notably, elevated household debt and housing market imbalances—remain substantial, posing financial stability concerns. Various parts of the financial system are directly exposed to the housing market and/or linked through housing finance. The financial system would be able to manage severe macrofinancial shocks. Major deposit-taking institutions would remain resilient, but mortgage insurers would need additional capital in a severe adverse scenario. Housing finance is broadly resilient, notwithstanding some weaknesses in the small non-prime mortgage lending segment. Although banks’ overall capital buffers are adequate, additional required capital for mortgage exposures, along with measures to increase risk-based differentiation in mortgage pricing, would be desirable. This would help ensure adequate through-the cycle buffers, improve mortgage risk-pricing, and limit procyclical effects induced by housing market corrections.
June 24, 2019
Canada: 2019 Article IV Consultation - Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: Growth has slowed to a more sustainable level and financial vulnerabilities have eased. But risks remain. Household debt is high, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) awaits legislative approval, and ongoing trade tensions between the United States (U.S.) and its major trading partners are weighing on the global outlook.
June 21, 2019
People’s Republic of China: Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes-FATF Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
Description: • China has undertaken a number of initiatives since 2002 that have contributed positively to its understanding of ML/TF risk, although some important gaps remain. Its framework for domestic AML/CFT cooperation and coordination is well established. • China’s decentralized financial intelligence unit (FIU) arrangement consisting of China Anti-Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center (CAMLMAC), Anti-Money Laundering Bureau (AMLB), and 36 People’s Bank of China (PBC) provincial branches has high potential to produce financial intelligence that supports the operational needs of competent authorities, but its current functioning results in incomplete access by all parts of the FIU to all data, fragmented analysis and disseminations, and limits the development of a holistic view. Therefore, major improvements are needed.
June 21, 2019
People’s Republic of China: Detailed Assessment Report on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
Description: This report provides a summary of the anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures in place in the People’s Republic of China (China)1 as at the date of the onsite visit (July 9–27, 2018). It analyzes the level of compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 Recommendations and the level of effectiveness of China’s AML/CFT system and provides recommendations on how the system could be strengthened. China has undertaken a number of initiatives since 2002 that have contributed positively to its understanding of ML/TF risk, although some important gaps remain. Its framework for domestic AML/CFT cooperation and coordination is well established.