2010 Reports

International financial architecture seen through the lense of economic crisis: achievements and numerous challenges

Griffith-Jones, Stephany; Ocampo, Jose A.

This paper looks at the process of international financial and monetary reform from the moment of the crisis in Asia until the start of 2010 in terms of the basic objectives which international financial architecture should meet. Those objectives are essentially the following: (i) to regulate the financial and capital markets in all countries, as well as crossborder transactions, in order to avoid the excessive risk accumulation which has caused frequent, costly crises, both in developing as well as in developed countries; (ii) to offer emergency financing during crises, especially to ensure liquidity, complementing the functions of the central banks which act as lenders of last resort at a national level; (iii) to provide adequate mechanisms at an international level to manage problems of excessive leverage; to guarantee the consistency of national economic policies with the stability of the world economy system, and to avoid the macroeconomic policies of some countries having adverse effects on others; and (v) to guarantee an international monetary system which contributes to the stability of the international economy and is seen as fair by all parties. The Monterrey Consensus, approved by the United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development, which took place in 2002, might come closest to the definition of those goals although it does not include any of them explicitly (especially not the last one).