The economic and financial market disruption caused by Covid-19 represents the first opportunity to test many of the reforms adopted in the wake of the global financial crisis. The system has largely passed that test, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) finds in a new report.
“Greater resilience of major banks at the core of the financial system has allowed the system largely to absorb, rather than amplify, the macroeconomic shock,” the FSB said.
“Bold and decisive actions by authorities sustained the supply of credit to the real economy and helped maintain global financial stability,” the board added, noting that many of these actions utilized flexibility built into the global standards.
The pandemic has also delayed the implementation of some final reforms, with the FSB and global standards setters extending certain implementation deadlines.
“Substantial work remains to operationalize resolution planning for systemically important banks and to implement effective resolution regimes for insurers and central counterparties,” the FSB noted.