The Turmoil and the Financial Industry: Developments and Policy Responses

The situation in financial markets deteriorated over the past year, but government actions have helped to avert an even bigger crisis. While some signs of recovery are on the horizon, the banking sectors in many countries are not yet on solid footing. Recent government programmes that deal with banks’ ‘toxic assets’ are welcome in this regard. But further reaching financial sector reforms such as those recently endorsed by the G20

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Economic Survey of Austria 2009: Facing the financial crisis

Austria entered the most severe recession in decades. This triggered prompt policy measures to stabilise the real economy and financial markets, which will deteriorate significantly the fiscal position.

Economic Survey of the United Kingdom 2009: Policies to overcome the crisis

The United Kingdom, like many OECD economies, is experiencing a severe recession as a consequence of a series of global shocks and any recovery in 2010 is likely to be slow. The financial crisis has severely impaired the supply of credit and house prices have fallen sharply. Unemployment is expected to increase significantly. The large rise in the government deficit is providing support to demand, but the debt-to-GDP ratio will

Economic Survey of the United Kingdom 2009: Financial stability: banking on prudence

The UK financial market has been severely affected by the financial market crisis. The crisis has exposed weaknesses in the supervisory framework as well as that for crisis management and resolution. This chapter reviews the supervisory and regulatory framework and the many reforms that have already been adopted to remedy these weaknesses. It also provides recommendations for further reforms.

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The Role of Stock Exchanges in Corporate Governance

Historically, the main direct contribution of exchanges to corporate governance has been listing and disclosure standards and monitoring compliance. Stock exchanges have established themselves as promoters of corporate governance recommendations for listed companies. Demutualisation and the subsequent self-listing of exchanges have spurred debate on the role of exchanges. Regulators have been concerned about conflicts of interest

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• OECD Journal: Financial Market Trends

Evaluating Risk Sharing in Private Pension Plans

The principal purpose of this article is to analyse the trade-off between the (un)certainty in contributions on the one hand and benefits on the other that is embedded in different pension arrangements. The article employs the funding ratio (ratio of assets to liabilities) and the replacement rate (ratio of benefits to salaries) as key criteria for evaluating the risk sharing characteristics of a private pension plan from the

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• OECD Journal: Financial Market Trends

Financial Literacy and Consumer Protection: Overlooked Aspects of the Crisis

This book proposes policy actions related to the protection and awareness of financial consumers in light of the financial crisis, especially through the Recommendation on Good Practices on Financial Education and Awareness Relating to Credit.

Private Pensions and Policy Responses to the Crisis

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

OECD Sovereign Borrowing Outlook 2009

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

New Challenges in the Use of Government Debt Issuance Procedures, Techniques and Policies in OECD Markets

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