International financial regulators celebrate 10 years

The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its arrival in Spain with a reception at its premises this afternoon in Madrid.

The event, which was attended by dignitaries from the diplomatic corps, government, finance and business, was a fitting tribute to the success IOSCO has enjoyed during its time in Madrid and also to the generosity of its hosts – the Government of Spain and the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV).

In addition to this afternoon’s reception, the leading IOSCO officials – Jane Diplock, Hans Hoogervorst and Greg Tanzer – accompanied by Fernando Restoy, Vice President of the CNMV, attended an audience with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, President of the Government of Spain, at the Moncloa Palace.

The keynote speaker at the event was Elena Salgado, Second Vice President and Minister of Economy and Finance

Jane Diplock, Chairman of IOSCO’s Executive Committee, reflecting on IOSCO’s move to Spain and its achievements since then, said: “IOSCO represents a level of international trust and cooperation that is virtually unrivalled in any other sphere. It is appropriate then that we are gathered here in the international city of Madrid to mark our first 10 years of residence.”

“To say that we are grateful for the Spanish Government’s support, hospitality and generosity in establishing IOSCO here would be an understatement. Madrid has provided us with the springboard to develop as the internationally influential organisation that we are today. In those 10 years IOSCO has transformed itself from an aspirational forum to an operational organisation playing a key role in the global financial architecture.

“IOSCO has shown that regulators can successfully join forces to develop standards, coordinate regulatory efforts, and cooperate over enforcement and, increasingly, supervision. The recent global financial crisis highlighted the importance of this cooperation, and the international financial community has recognised IOSCO’s significant contribution to addressing the crisis.

“The political will for embodying international regulatory standards in jurisdictions’ policy frameworks has sometimes been lacking. So G20 commitments in the last two years to promote IOSCO’s regulatory standards are significant and very welcome.”

While Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman of IOSCO’s Technical Committee, looking forward to IOSCO’s continuing key role in dealing with the aftermath of the financial crisis and planning for the future, said:

“IOSCO is making a great contribution to the efforts of the global economic community to find a way out of the current crisis. We are helping to lay a solid foundation for future economic growth and that is an exciting and important task.

“There is nothing more challenging and rewarding for a regulator, or an organisation of regulators like IOSCO, than to contribute to the resolution of a crisis. IOSCO as a standard setter has an important role to play. Indeed, since – and in many cases even before – the outbreak of the crisis, IOSCO has undertaken an enormous amount of work to improve standards for conduct of business and market infrastructure. We have developed and strengthened standards for securitisation, credit rating agencies, hedge funds and due diligence.

“Furthermore, IOSCO has concluded that issues of systemic risk do not exclusively belong to the domain of prudential regulators. Since conduct of business issues clearly played an important role in the crisis, IOSCO rightly identified systemic risk as an integral part of its responsibilities. One way IOSCO is currently tackling systemic risk issues is through its very active participation in the Financial Stability Board’s work on coordinating worldwide efforts to build a solid infrastructure for the derivatives market.

So in supporting IOSCO, the Spanish Government is supporting a key actor in financial reform and for this unwavering support, the Spanish Government and our colleagues of the CNMV deserve our sincerely felt appreciation and gratitude.”

Fernando Restoy, Vice President of the CNMV, said that: “It is an honour and a pleasure to have IOSCO’s headquarters in Madrid. The organisation has indisputably made huge progress towards the objectives included in its bylaws; namely, to contribute to the development of securities markets; to improve their efficiency; to coordinate the enforcement of securities regulation; and to implement common standards. No doubt those objectives, together with the new focus on systemic risk, are even more relevant after the financial crisis, as acknowledged by the assignments given by the G20 to IOSCO and its key role in the Financial Stability Board.”