Alcance

Countries use a variety of statistical frameworks. We focus on the most widely used, as they represent a basis upon which internationally comparable financial markets data may be compiled. For ease of discussion and comparison, the frameworks relevant to the identified data needs have been divided into three categories:

economic, accounting and supervisory³⁰ standards.

It is important to note that a process of harmonising international standards started in the mid-1980s with the specific objective of harmonising, to the maximum extent possible, the statistical concepts, definitions, statistical units, classifications and terminology³¹ across different economic statistical frameworks. The work on financial flows and positions data involved the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in close co-operation with national compilers and other international bodies, including the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations (UN) and the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

Similarly, since July 1995, the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC)

30 Supervisory data refers to those data collected by bank supervisors for mirco-prudential purposes.

31 Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 1998, Australian Bureau of Statistics, page 5.

has been developing a comprehensive core set of standards according to a work plan agreed with the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

These initiatives by international organisations have contributed to improvements in the international comparability of standards and frameworks over the past decade.

We recommend that these initiatives continue in order to keep pace with developments in financial markets and economies.

2.2.1 Economic frameworks

There are three main economic frameworks.

The System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA93)

‘The SNA consists of a coherent, consistent and integrated set of macro-economic accounts, balance sheets and tables based on a set of internationally agreed concepts, definitions, classifications and accounting rules. It provides a comprehensive accounting framework within which economic data can be compiled and presented in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policy-making.’³² The SNA consists of production³³, distribution and use of income accounts, and an external account that shows the links between the compiling economy and the rest of the world. The SNA makes clear that implementation of its recommendations be undertaken in a flexible manner given the variation in national data requirements and statistical policies.

In relation to user data requirements, as specified in Appendix III, the SNA provides a residency-based framework for the compilation of the national accounts and:

(i) macro-economic indicators (e.g. GDP);

(ii) domestic and external debt statistics, subdivided by public and private sector;

(iii) information on the stocks and flows of sectors of the economy;

(iv) balance of payments, and hence international investment position, statistics;

(v) data on derivatives and repurchase agreements; and

32 SNA93, page 1, paragraph 1.1.

33 Production refers to the activity of producing goods and services, as defined in the SNA93.

(vi) data on the composition of assets, broadly distinguished between instruments according to their liquidity and legal characteristics.

As a result of the harmonisation process mentioned above, statistics compiled under the SNA should be conceptually consistent with those compiled under related frameworks, particularly the balance of payments, government finance, and monetary and banking statistics.

Balance of Payments

The framework for compiling balance of payments statistics is outlined in the fifth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5), 1993. BPM5 provides

‘international guidelines for the compilation of data for an articulated set of international accounts encompassing the measurement of external transactions (balance of payments), on the one hand, and the stock of external financial assets and liabilities (international investment position) on the other.’³⁴ The purposes of BPM5 are primarily to: (i) to provide standards for concepts, definitions, classifications, and conventions; and (ii) to facilitate the systematic national and international collection, organisation, and comparability of balance of payments and international investment position statistics.

Like the SNA, the balance of payments accounts are compiled on a residency basis, that is activity is attributed to the economy where the economic entity is located. The balance of payments statistics are used for national and international policy formulation, analytical studies (e.g. to determine the causes of payments imbalances, external debt problems, international banking flows and stocks) and projections, and constitute an important link in the compilation of data for various components of the national accounts.

34 BPM5, page xi

Other than balance of payments statistics, the user requirements covered by BPM5 are:

(i) externally owned debt (or external debt) statistics, for which the residual maturity may be provided as a supplementary item;

(ii) financial flows and positions with non-residents, by broad sector (monetary authorities, banks, general government and other sectors) of domestic creditor/debtor, and where the sector of non-resident counterparty is a supplementary item;

(iii) international investment position data;

(iv) data on the positions and stocks of financial derivatives and repurchase agreements (the latter not separately identified within the statistics); and (v) in terms of asset statistics, financial assets are decomposed by instrument-type

and the country allocation of assets is discussed, but is not required.

Government Finance Statistics

The IMF publication, A Manual on Government Finance Statistics (GFS) ³⁵, deals with the concepts, definitions, and procedures for the compilation of government finance statistics for use in analysis, planning and policy determination. The Manual focuses on transactions such as taxing, borrowing, spending and lending and there is consistency between the definitions of general government sector used in this Manual and in BPM5.

The data requirements covered under this framework are:

(i) domestic and external debt statistics, subdivided into debt repayable in foreign/domestic currency; and

(ii) financial flows of the public sector.

The GFS Manual is currently being revised in order to provide an updated statistical framework that reflects contemporary issues in fiscal analysis. It is expected that the revised GFS Manual, scheduled to be published in late 2000, will be fully harmonised

35 IMF, 1986.

with SNA93. The new framework will provide for fully reconciled balance sheets for the general government sector, covering all transactions and other economic flow data. Since fiscal policy is often conducted through units outside the scope of the general government sector, the new GFS Manual will introduce the concept of government activity as a separate set of analytical aggregates.

2.2.2 Accounting Standards

As previously mentioned, the IASC has been developing a core set of international accounting standards (IAS 1 – 39) since 1995. These comprise a comprehensive body of principles for enterprises undertaking cross-border offerings and listings. The work programme was largely concluded in early 1999 with the release of IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement³⁶. The IASC standards provide an internationally acceptable framework for financial reporting formats and disclosure;

accounting for groups; and definitions, classifications and general principles to be applied in the compilation of the income statement, balance sheet and specialised financial statements.

Institutions currently apply national and/or international accounting standards to produce their financial accounts. Whether the requested data items of users will be available to the public, or compilers of statistics, from individual institutions depends largely on the disclosure standards in the country in which the institution primarily reports. To add to this, national accounting standards may or may not be consistent with the international accounting standards depending upon the legal and institutional requirements of countries, preferences for disclosure, or of varying degrees of harmonisation with the international standards. For these reasons, it is to the international accounting standards that the appendix and this section refer.

In terms of the identified data requirements of users, the accounting standards specifically address:

36 See the website http://www.iasc.org.uk

(i) the de/recognition and measurement of financial instruments, including derivatives, and the disclosure of securitisations and repurchase agreements (IAS 39);

(ii) the recognition and disclosure of provisioning (IAS 37); and

(iii) disclosure of assets of banks and similar financial institutions in an order that reveals their relative liquidity (IAS 30), the maturities of various kinds of liabilities, net foreign currency exposures, secured liabilities and pledges of assets as security.

2.2.3 Supervisory statistics

The Basle Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has provided guidelines for the reporting of supervisory data by banks to supervisors for micro-prudential purposes.

However, there is no international framework for aggregate supervisory statistics, as this is an area of statistics for which demand is emerging. The main user need that could be addressed through supervisory data is asset statistics, and the issues associated with these statistics are comprehensively addressed in Chapter 4.