AFI & SSBs discuss financial inclusion and global standards, collaboration opportunities

Basel/Paris/Luxemourg, 7 – 9 December, 2022 – AFI’s Executive Director Dr. Alfred Hannig and the team of AFI’s European Representative Office  – made visits to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and global financial Standard Setting Bodies (SSBs). The meetings focused on identifying and pursuing specific collaboration opportunities in 2023 and beyond, towards strengthening mutal relationships as knowledge partners and ensuring that perspectives from emerging and developing countries are taken into account in the formulation and implementation of global standards.

Meetings were held with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Financial Stability Institute (FSI) and six of the global financial Standard Setting Bodies (SSBs), including the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI), Financial Stability Board (FSB), Committee on Payments and Markets Infrastructure (CPMI), International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Discussions centered on common priorities and focus areas, particularly on: proportionality and unintended consequences on financial inclusion arising from global standard implementation; virtual asset regulation and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs); policy and regulatory implications of innovative technologies (e.g. SuPTech, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, digital ID); cross-border payments, and climate risks to the financial sector.

The AFI delegation also had meetings with the BIS Innovation Hub and BIS Monetary and Economic Department to explore opportunities for collaboration that will enable peer-to-peer learning with the AFI membership.

The visits build on AFI’s decade-long work on elevating the perspectives of AFI members to the SSBs. AFI is well placed to add value to the discussions with global SSBs on financial inclusion due to expertise in the context of the proportionate implementation of global standards, and AFI’s representation of the global south.