- March 10, 2020
- Posted by: admin
- Category: Current News
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the Bank for International Settlements’ Financial Stability Institute (FSI) organised its 15th high-level meeting on strengthening financial sector supervision and current regulatory priorities. The meeting was hosted by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and held on 30 and 31 January 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa.
This annual event gathers senior central bank supervisors in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to discuss global and regional developments in banking supervision. This year’s event focused on the latest work on operational resilience of banks, cyber security, supervisory challenges related to Basel implementation and the use of technology in supervision (suptech)
The forum convened high-profile speakers to delve into the evolution of supervisory frameworks and methodologies post the financial crisis and technological developments and their impact on banks and bank supervisors. The MEFMI Executive Director, Mr Michael Atingi-Ego was invited to participate as a panelist at the seminar. His presentation focused on the regional priorities in bank supervision highlighting the key banking risks and global or regional regulatory and supervisory issues that would benefit from further discussion or work at the international level.
The seminar attracted over 56 delegates from 25 countries. Of the 25 countries represented, 12 were MEFMI member states. Uganda was the only MEFMI country not in attendance.
The keynote speeches were delivered by Mr. Lesetja Kganyago, Governor, SARB and Mr. Pablo Hernandez de Cos, Governor, Bank of Spain and Chairman, BCBS. In his remarks, Governor Kganyago noted that although global growth was stabilizing, and the SSA economic growth rate was firm at 3.5%; this progress had little impact to inclusive growth due to the high levels of unemployment. He, therefore, underscored the need for supervisors to strengthen the financial sector – adding that a strong financial sector provided the conducive environment needed for inclusive economic growth and employment. He urged authorities to ensure that there is complete, consistent and timely implementation of supervisory standards in their jurisdictions; while monitoring emerging themes. He also called for the “waking up to the challenge of climate risks” and pointed to the need for supervisors to better understand their impact on the financial sector.
Mr. Hernández de Cos, emphasized the need for implementing the Basel Committee’s post-crisis reforms adding that the benefits to global financial stability of Basel III can only be fully realized if these standards are implemented across jurisdictions in a full and timely manner. He noted that delays and inconsistencies still exist in some jurisdictions and called on all jurisdictions, particularly those with the largest banking systems to lead by example.
The discussions centered on the regional priorities in bank supervision focusing on understanding the top banking risks and global or regional issues requiring further exploration or work at an international level. The sessions also examined operational resilience of banks including cyber risk discussing the latest work, actions and developments by working groups and international standard setters.
The insights from the discussions at the meeting will be used to support MEFMI’s future interventions in banking supervision.