18-June-2009
English, , 276kb
This report describes why occupational pensions play a major role in OECD countries and worldwide, complementing retirement income from state sources. Their financial importance is highlighted by the volume of assets they manage on behalf of plan members, USD 22 trillion at the end of 2008. Population ageing has also led many OECD countries to undertake a wide range of pension reforms – the overall effect of which has been to reduce
17-June-2009
English, , 346kb
The OECD’s Competition Committee debated competition issues in the currentfinancial crisis on 17-18 February 2009. Participants included senior competitionofficials, current and former financial markets regulators, leading academics andrepresentatives of the business community. This document presents two keydocuments from that event: an Executive Summary which draws on the debate andthe written materials and the Background Paper for
11-June-2009
English, , 429kb
Government debt issuance procedures and policies differ across OECD jurisdictions, in particular in terms of technical standards for selling techniques, primary dealer systems and other primary market arrangements. However, the increased integration of global financial markets (including the jump in the integration of European government debt markets since the introduction of the Euro) has been an important catalyst in the
11-June-2009
English, , 664kb
Many OECD governments are facing unprecedented challenges in the markets for bonds and bills, as a result of the explosive growth in their borrowing needs. Amidst an unusually uncertain economic outlook, the gross borrowing needs of OECD governments are expected to reach almost USD 12 trillion in 2009. The key policy issue is how to raise smoothly new funds at low cost, while also managing a rapidly growing debt stock. For the time
11-June-2009
English, , 563kb
This article looks at the stages of crisis management and some of the different degrees of transparency on losses and risks in the US and Europe. It also compares alternative approaches to dealing with impaired assets used in the USA and Europe. Exposure to off-balance losses remains a key issue. Europe, surprisingly, has been and remains the major issuer of collateralised synthetic obligations that have been so prominent in the
18-May-2009
English, , 672kb
Government provision of a safety net for financial institutions has been a key element of the policy response to the current crisis. In the process, existing guarantees have been expanded and new ones introduced, including, in particular, in relation to bank liabilities. Among other things, such guarantees create costs that arise as a result of potential distortions of incentives and competition. To limit such distortions it is
6-May-2009
English, , 600kb
Building a workable framework for international investment policy requires developing a mutually-understood vocabulary for key policy terms. This fact-finding study, prepared in support of discussions at a March 2009 “Freedom of Investment” Roundtable hosted at the OECD, explores the meaning of three terms – essential security interests, public order and national security – that are used frequently in international policy dialogue,
5-May-2009
English, , 4,907kb
In the wake of a dramatic financial crisis and with the first waves of baby boomers approaching retirement we hardly need to think about how best arrive at the pension funds’ payout phase. This paper argues that there is a urgent need to raise retirement saving, to reduce defined contribution plan members’ exposure to investment risks and to provide the financial industry with cheap and safe payout instruments. These challenges are