Annual Report 2004

The OeNB as a Competent Partner in
Ensuring Financial Stability
this period, CEBS focused mainly on
Basel II issues (e.g. elaborating proposals
for a reduction of national discretion
options as proposed in the
European CommissionÕs draft directive
on Basel II and publishing a consultation
paper on Pillar 2). Furthermore,
CEBS conducted numerous
projects in other fields such as accounting,
financial reporting or outsourcing.
In addition to being a CEBS
member, the OeNB is also represented
in the so-called CEBS Bureau,
which advises and assists the CEBS
chair and monitors the budget.
The Banking Supervision Committee
(BSC) of the ESCB continues
to serve as a consultative forum for
the representatives of central banks
and banking supervisory authorities
on macroprudential and financial
stability issues. The OeNB has a proactive
role in this committeeÕs work,
for instance by chairing the Working
Group on Developments in Banking.
The OeNB considers the new institutional
framework for banking
supervision in the EU very well
suited — at least in the short or medium
term — to ensuring a level play-
ing field for banks and to solving
the challenges arising from the diversity
of banks, the current status of
financial market integration and the
new regulatory framework (Basel II).
However, supervisory authority cooperation
and convergence via CEBS
will need to be further intensified.
Guidelines for the
Austrian Banking
Industry
In 2004, the OeNB and the FMA published
a series of guidelines on credit
risk management in view of the forthcoming
changes in the supervisory
framework. Guidelines on the regulatory
framework of market risk management
and a handbook for the valuation
of structured products had been
published earlier (Guidelines on Market
Risk, Structured Product Handbook).
These guidelines give an overview
of the regulatory environment
and outline the technical fundamentals
of effective risk management for
banks, thus contributing to the effective
cooperation of banks and supervisory
authorities.
The know-how provided in the
series makes supervisors competent
partners for banks in the implementation
of Basel II. The information is
presented to banks and other interested
parties in a concise and structured
manner with the aim of promoting
a constructive dialogue between
the banking industry and the
supervisory authorities. The series
consists of ten publications that deal
with issues related to the implementation
of Basel II as well as with general
key topics of credit risk management.
9
9 A German version of the guidelines can be downloaded from www.oenb.at (PDF) or ordered from the OeNB.
English versions of some of these guidelines are also available; others are forthcoming.
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Annual Report 2004