Impact Stories

Georgia: Strengthening Financial Sector Supervision

Nowadays Georgia is a country with a relatively well-developed financial sector legislative framework and conservative regulations. Substantial assistance to develop and implement these laws and regulations was provided by international donors during the period of 1995-2006. In 2008 Georgian Financial Supervisory Agency (GFSA, the supervisor of the whole financial sector- commercial banks, microfinance institutions, credit unions, foreign exchange bureaus, money transfer entities, insurance companies and the securities market) applied to the FIRST Initiative for technical assistance to...

Georgia

Banking

Malawi : ROSC Accounting and Auditing Follow-up Developing a Country Action Plan

The long-term vision of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy aims to foster private sector-led growth in the country. With this overarching objective in mind, the Malawian authorities have committed to strengthening corporate financial reporting and improving financial transparency and towards an improved overall business environment. In 2007 the Report on Observance of Standards and Codes, Accounting and Auditing (ROSC A&A) review was conducted in Malawi as a first step in the process of strengthening the underpinnings of corporate financial reporting. The ROSC A&A report...

Malawi

Financial and Information Infrastructures

Indonesia: Strategic Advice on Pension Reform

In August 2004, the Indonesian government requested FIRST to provide technical assistance to help it devise a strategy that could ultimately provide retirement income to its citizens: The National Social Security System. The project was aimed at all segments of the population. For the poorest, and those less capable of saving for their retirement, the goal was to provide a safety net from public funding (tax revenues) that would be on a 'pay as you go' basis. 'Pay as you go' means that no specific funds are set aside by government that can be invested and managed by an asset manager –...

Indonesia

Pensions

Malawi: Strengthening NBFI Framework and Advice on Pension Reform

Non-bank financial institutions (NBFI) cover the entire financial sector other than banking: insurance, pensions, capital markets, building societies, savings co-operatives, burial funds and so on. Regulation of this entire sector is perhaps more appropriate where the financial sector is almost entirely dominated by banking and the rest exists to varying levels but is mostly at an early stage and not contributing a significant proportion of financial sector assets or capital. Some of the economies in Sub-Saharan Africa fit into this category. In 2006, FIRST has engaged with NBFI regulation...

Malawi

Pensions

Uganda: Support for the Implementation of Collective Investment Schemes

The purpose of this project was to analyse the draft of the Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) Act (2003) and various specific regulations under the Act, which were: regulation of investment companies with variable capital; finance and accounting; licensing; unit trust and conduct of business. Pension funds were separately regulated and not brought under the CIS Act and regulations subsidiary thereto. In addition, the consultants compared the CIS regime in Uganda with that of its fellow members of the East African Community (EAC) (Kenya and Tanzania) in order to determine the level of...

Uganda

Pensions

Colombia: Developing Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Collective Investment Schemes

The project, which was initiated in August 2003, aimed to analyse the regulatory and supervisory framework for collective investment schemes (CIS) in Colombia and to make recommendations for reform or improvement. Collective investment schemes are essentially methods for aggregating the savings of retail investors (i.e. those with relatively small amounts to save) in to larger funds. Large funds can make a spread of investments in many areas (could be in shares of quoted companies, bonds and other fixed income securities issued by companies, fixed interest securities issued by central...

Colombia

Pensions

Chile: Strengthening Regulation of Pension Funds

In February 2005, the Superintendence of Pension Fund Administrators (SAFP) in Chile requested technical assistance from FIRST to support the transition of the regulatory and supervisory framework of the pension sector, from one based on quantitative restrictions and controls to a modern system that emphasized the capacity to identify and manage risks. Such request stemmed from the FSAP mission carried out by the World Bank/IMF in May 2004. It was expected that the adoption of a risk-based approach to regulation and supervision of pension funds would lead to improvements in risk management...

Chile

Pensions

Peru: Housing Finance Development

The request for technical assistance was initially made by Fondo MIVIVIENDA (FMV) through the World Bank in February 2005. FMV sought support from FIRST to develop new products and strategies so that it could better tailor its approach to the needs of Peruvian lenders, stimulate increased lending to low-income families, and usher in a new stage in the development of the housing finance market in Peru. This assistance helped FMV to move beyond the initial capital funding that the Peruvian government provided when the institution was founded. This assistance contributed to FMV’s sustainability...

Peru

Housing Finance

Botswana: NBFI Supervision and Strategy

The request for assistance was initially made by the Bank of Botswana as a follow-up to a mission from the IMF in the course of the 2003 Article IV Consultations in Gabarone. The authorities requested technical assistance in setting up a regulatory and supervisory agency to supervise nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs). FIRST has supported several projects in sub-Saharan Africa aimed at improving the regulatory and supervisory structures of NBFIs. The Botswana example is a good one in so far as it demonstrates much of the rationale behind the need for improvement and addresses many issues...

Botswana

Insurance

Kyrgyz Republic: Development of Microfinance Strategy

The National bank of Kyrgyz Republic (NBKR) requested FIRST assistance to design a medium-term microfinance strategy to influence the development of the sector. Following the design of the strategy, a Working Group worked on monitoring and overseeing its implementation. This group consisted of donor, government and microfinance institution (MFI) representatives and they met once a month. A local technical secretary coordinated the meetings and reported to FIRST monthly on the progress. The consultants surveyed the microfinance sector, largely by comprehensive interviews with all stakeholders...

Kyrgyz Republic

Microfinance