FSVC Helps Launch Tunisia’s First-Ever Public Access-to-Information Platform

Presentation page of informini.org, an online platform where citizens and civil society organizations can submit their requests to the Tunisian Government for information on public services.

On July 30, FSVC and its local partner, the Tunisian Association of Public Auditors (ATCP), launched informini.org, Tunisia’s first-ever access-to-information platform in Arabic and French, which empowers citizens to submit information requests electronically to over 300 government institutions in Tunisia.

The Government of Tunisia adopted a Right-to-Information law in 2016 but, until this platform, Tunisia lacked a simple, user-friendly platform that enabled citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs) to submit their requests to the Government for public information.

Thanks to informini.org, they will also be able to follow up on past requests and correspondence on the platform. The platform can also serve as a powerful tool for right-to-know campaigners, such as journalists and activists, to advocate for greater transparency. Overall, informini.org will help increase the availability of public information, the transparency and accountability of the Government, and thereby encourage greater participatory and responsive governance in Tunisia.

Egypt: FSVC Partners with Bloomberg to Increase Capital Market Liquidity

From left to right: Carlos Costa-Rodrigues, Attorney-Adviser, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Office of International Affairs; Michelle Bond, Deputy Head of Global Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy, Bloomberg, LP; and Edward Sia, FSVC Director. Cairo, Egypt, August 2018.

On August 5-9, FSVC partnered with Bloomberg to organize a capital markets training program for the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA). The training focused on best practices in capital markets supervision and regulation, and on investor protection, to ensure the development of sound capital markets in Egypt. The training also presented new products and financial technologies that can help increase liquidity and improve market access.

Presentations were delivered by experts from Bloomberg, Blockchain, the National Organization of Investment Professionals, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The development of a world-class capital market will help diversify the Egyptian economy and increase economic growth.

FSVC/Carnegie Symposium: Policy Recommendations to Tackle De-Risking

From left to right: Yan Liu, Assistant General Counsel, Legal Department, International Monetary Fund; Chad Kilbourne, FSVC Managing Director; Andrew Spindler, FSVC President & CEO; and William Mills, CEO for North America at Citi. Alexandria, VA, July 2018.

After FSVC and Carnegie Corporation of New York hosted their annual symposium in July in Alexandria, VA, participants reflected on possible policy recommendations to address challenges confronting the global financial system.

FSVC President & CEO Andrew Spindler drafted a paper outlining a multi-pronged approach to address the issue of “de-risking”, which can be defined as the reluctance of large international banks to maintain correspondent accounts with banks in numerous emerging market countries. De-risking affects many of the countries with which FSVC works, from Angola to the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

The suggested approach includes: 1) seeking clarification from U.S. policymakers and financial regulators regarding the substance and intent of relevant regulatory policies; 2) encouraging large international banks to weigh more carefully the social consequences of their decisions about correspondent banking accounts; 3) building AML/CFT capacity in the emerging market countries themselves; 4) developing new institutions and/or consortia to facilitate international payments flows; and 5) pursuing new financial technologies (fintech) that may reduce the reliance of emerging market countries on correspondent bank accounts.

With assistance from Board members, FSVC is now circulating this paper among U.S. policymakers. The full paper can be found here.

Save the Date: FSVC Panel Discussion and Reception
Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Please save the date for an FSVC panel discussion focused on:

The Opportunities and Challenges
Posed by New Financial Technologies
for Emerging Market Countries

Speakers will include William J. Burns (President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State); Adam J. Szubin (Former Acting U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence) and Andrew Spindler (FSVC President & CEO).

A reception will follow.

Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Time: 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: The University Club, 1 West 54th Street, New York, NY

More details to come.