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The Committee on Financial Markets (CMF) is the main OECD body which deals with issues in financial markets, i.e. banking, securities, derivatives, and other financial services (except insurance).
Composed of senior Treasury and central bank officials from Member countries, the Committee is part of the international network of policymakers who exercise oversight on market developments in the financial system with the aim of fostering international co-operation on policy issues and greater compatibility of financial regulation.
The mandate of the Committee -- which refers, in particular, to "the study of measures intended to improve the operation of national financial markets and the international financial market"-- is broad and flexible enough to provide scope for promptly adjusting its activities to the changing circumstances of the marketplace and the emergence of new policy issues of interest to regulators and market participants.
As a means of attaining the strategic objectives of the Organisation, the Committee:
provides a forum for discussions by senior policymakers for identifying policies to promote efficiency and to preserve the stability, safety and soundness of the financial system;
carries out reviews of structural changes , reform measures and innovations in the financial services industry and analyses their interactions with the real economy;
contributes to effective market oversight in order to enhance systemic stability and support the adaptation of regulatory/supervisory frameworks to the evolution of the various segments of the financial market;
promotes international trade in financial services and the liberalisation of market access for financial institutions so as to create a fair environment for international competition in world financial markets;
provides Member countries with internationally comparable financial statistics;
co-operates with other committees of the Organisation;
promotes the integration of non-Member countries in the global financial system and encourages the adoption of market-oriented policies in the context of these countries' efforts to build efficient financial markets and modern regulatory frameworks for the protection of investors and the prevention of systemic risks.
Since the financial sector is characterised by constant market-driven innovation and since financial markets are increasingly global in scope, the CMF has maintained regular contacts with representatives of the international private financial community for more than two decades. Meetings held prior to the regular thrice-yearly CMF sessions deal with major issues of common concern to officials and private market executives. Private sector participants are also invited, on a selective basis, to participate in other Committee-sponsored meetings.
Many OECD projects entail co-operation among Committees and among different parts of the Secretariat. The CMF and the DAFFE Secretariats are co-operating with the Economics Department in a full-scale assessment of the impact of structural changes in financial systems on overall economic performance. Likewise, the CMF, in collaboration with the Economics Department and the Directorate for Industry Science and Technology, will be a key contributor to the Organisation's future work on corporate governance, focusing on the inter-relationships between financial market structures and evolving patterns of corporate governance.
The CMF, the Insurance Committee and other OECD Committees are collaborating on a joint project to evaluate the impact of ageing populations on various aspects of economic life. The work of the CMF and the Insurance Committee will mainly focus on the role of funded private pensions in providing income to an ageing population.
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