Country Reports
2024
August 1, 2024
Spain: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note on Cyber Risk and Financial Stability
Description: The scope of the assessment covered the regulation and supervision of cyber risk at the Spanish Less Significant Banking Institutions (LSIs) and Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs).1 Thus, the financial supervisory authorities in scope were the Banco de España (BdE) and the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), collectively referred hereinafter as authorities. Supervision of Significant Banking Institutions (SIs) in Spain is within the remit of the European Central Bank’s Single Supervisory Mechanism (ECB/SSM) and was not assessed.
August 1, 2024
Spain: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note on Regulation and Supervision of Less Significant Institutions
Description: The FSAP undertook a targeted review of the banking regulation and supervision of Spain’s Less Significant Institutions (LSIs). The review is part of the 2024 Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) of Spain. In scoping this targeted review, the IMF team took account of the recommendations of the previous FSAP for Spain (2017) and relevant Euro-Area (EA) and global regulatory and market developments. The review covered: (i) the supervisory powers and independence of Banco de España (BdE); (ii) the supervisory approach and tools for LSIs; (iii) the oversight of LSIs’ governance and risk management; (iv) the regulation and supervision of LSIs’ key risks (including credit risk and problem assets, related party transactions, funding and liquidity risks, and interest rate risk in the banking book); and (v) the oversight approach with respect to LSIs’ climate-related financial risks. The findings and recommendations of this technical note are based on an analysis of the regulatory framework in place and supervisory practices employed as of October 2023.
August 1, 2024
Spain: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note on Fintech Developments and Oversight
Description: The scope of this assessment covered fintech developments in Spain, including digitalization of the banking sector, and the supervisory oversight of fintech activity. This technical note covers the impact of fintech on regulated firms, mainly banks; the interaction between new market entrants and existing firms; the approach towards industry monitoring; and the institutional arrangements for regulation and supervision of fintech, including overall supervisory cooperation.1 The authorities under the scope of this analysis were the three sectoral financial supervisory authorities—Banco de España (BdE), Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), and Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds (DGSFP). The engagement with the Sandbox Coordination Commission and General Secretariat of the Treasury and International Financing (SGTFI) was focused on their respective roles in operating the regulatory sandbox.
August 1, 2024
Spain: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note on Financial Safety Net and Crisis Management
Description: Spanish authorities have made good progress in establishing an effective crisis management and resolution regime. The authorities have supported the Single Resolution Board (SRB) in setting resolution plans for Significant Institutions (SIs) and agreed on resolution plans for Less Significant Institutions (LSIs), enhanced cross-authority coordination, developed crisis management manuals, and participated in crisis simulation exercises. There have been improvements in the resolvability of Spanish banks, for instance, with respect to their compliance with the European Minimum Requirement for Own Funds and Eligible Liabilities (“MREL”). The Spanish authorities have also improved their internal and inter-authority crisis preparedness. However, further work is required to enhance the operational capacity of the resolution regime. The Banco Popular resolution in 2017 highlighted that an adequately staffed resolution authority able to cope with fast burn cases, internally and through the capacity to engage external parties at short notice, is essential to maintaining financial stability.
August 1, 2024
Spain: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note on Macroprudential Policy Framework and Tools
Description: The macroprudential policy framework in Spain has been significantly reinforced in recent years. A new macroprudential authority, Macroprudential Authority Financial Stability Council, (AMCESFI), has been established in Spain, to provide high level oversight and to strengthen internal coordination on the identification, prevention, and mitigation of systemic risks in the financial system. Techniques and approaches for systemic risk identification have been further enhanced. And gaps in the macroprudential policy toolkit identified by the previous FSAP have been closed, although to date the new tools have not been applied given the assessment of risks. The framework incorporates many areas of strength by international standards, such as the techniques for systemic risk identification and the breadth of permissible macroprudential tools.
August 1, 2024
Spain: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note on Systemic Risk Analysis
Description: Spain’s economy and its well-developed, bank-dominated financial system have shown resilience through the pandemic, rising global geo-political tensions and tighter financial conditions. The economy remains near potential and growth is projected to continue its robust performance in the coming quarters. The long running trend of deleveraging by households (HHs) and nonfinancial corporates (NFCs) continues, activity is cooling and very moderate overvaluation receding in the housing market, commercial real estate valuations remain below pre-pandemic levels, and foreign investments in the real estate market are on the rise.
August 1, 2024
Spain: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note on Regulation, Supervision, Oversight, and Crisis Management of Financial Market Infrastructures
Description: The FSAP’s focus was on selected topics in relation to the regulation, oversight and supervision of two Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) in Spain, Bolsas y Mercados Españoles Clearing (BMEC), a central counterparty (CCP), and Iberclear (IC) a central securities depository (CSD). Within this scope, this technical note focuses on: (i) the responsibilities of the Spanish authorities in the supervision and oversight of BMEC and IC with respect to compliance with the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMIs) of the Committee on Payments and Markets Infrastructures and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (CPMI-IOSCO); (ii) the supervision of margining practices of BMEC; and (iii) the supervision of recovery procedures of BMEC and IC.
July 31, 2024
Suriname: Sixth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Suriname
Description: The authorities’ commitment to a range of difficult policy reforms is showing results in terms of macroeconomic stability and investor perceptions. The economy is growing, inflation is declining, donor support is increasing, and international bond spreads are at historic lows.
July 31, 2024
Singapore: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Singapore
Description: Following a slowdown in 2023, growth is projected to recover gradually to 2.1 percent in 2024. After reaching 6.1 percent in 2022, inflation has steadily declined to 2.7 percent in April 2024. The pace of disinflation has nonetheless been gradual, with signs of persistent price pressures including from a tight labor market. With risks to global growth now broadly balanced, downside risks to growth outlook have diminished relative to last year, but Singapore remains vulnerable to a deepening of geoeconomic fragmentation. Inflation risks remain tilted to the upside.