Program areas at IIF
Research on em economic/financial risks and debt-related issues. We provided our members with research on a wide range of topics in 2022, including investigating how geopolitical trends, including the war in ukraine and china's potential re-opening, have shifted cross-border capital flows and impacted global debt dynamics. We researched how high commodity prices, especially energy prices, rising interest rates, high sovereign borrowing needs and slower economic growth pose risks for financial stabilityparticularly for emerging and frontier markets. We deepened our cross-country research offerings while creating relevant country analyses, for example, on china, russia and ukraine, turkey, colombia, brazil, and frontier markets such as egypt. On the policy side, we promoted global efforts to enhance the International sovereign debt architecture while closely monitoring implementation of the recently updated iif principles for stable capital flows and fair debt restructuring a market-based framework for debt crisis prevention and resolution, fostering enhanced debt transparency and esg considerations in sovereign debt markets.
Global policy initiatives on esg, sustainability and climate Finance. Among the many topics we addressed in 2022 was the climate and the capital structure. We also pushed for greater disclosure and taxonomy standardizationwith alignment across jurisdictionsdeploying a politically neutral and transition-supportive communication campaign on the role of esg. We advocated for a pragmatic, non-prescriptive, and appropriately sequenced approach to transition planning, highlighting the importance of transition Finance for our members across sectors, and the need to scale blended Finance for emerging markets. We were highly visible at cop27 and were and remain actively engaged with gfanz, the ngfs and the myriad climate related organizations and arrangements. We also continued our work on advancing voluntary carbon markets to enable participants in the global economy to meet their net-zero transition targets.
Regulatory advocacy and post-pandemic regulatory review. The iif is the leading voice for the financial services industry on global regulatory and policy issues. The iif engages continuously and constructively with global standard setters and other policymakers through formal submissions, staff papers and reports, as well as through regular dialogue, targeted events, industry surveys, and podcasts. We help shape the global policy and regulatory agenda by providing industry input and feedback on critical issues such as sustainable Finance, International capital and liquidity standards for banks and insurers, resolution, non-bank financial intermediation, accounting standards, combatting financial crime, operational resilience, cyber security, and crypto-assets.
Digital regulation and innovation. In 2022, we advocated for our members' ability to use emerging technologies, including distributed ledger technology (dlt), to improve processes and offer a wide variety of products and services, including crypto, in a manner that is competitive with non-incumbent entities, ensuring the safety and soundness of the financial ecosystem. We also advocated that any central bank digital currencies (cbdcs) be fit for purpose, appropriately designed, and maintain the critical role of private sector intermediaries. Open data frameworks, the free flow of data across borders, and use of pivotal technologies such as artificial intelligence were also essential points for advancement. Member services and world-class events. As the world opened and we could operate in a safe and prudent manner, we re-launched our in-person events (the first in two years), starting with the european summit in brussels in may. Over the second half of the year, we were able to stage numerous, highly effective events from london to singapore to frankfurt, with our capstone annual membership meeting occurring in Washington. The Washington event our largest most complex event in years was a huge success: 60 sessions over five days, over 1,300 attendees and including 250+ ceos, chairs, and other c-suite executives. We also had a great turnout of over 245 public sector officials, including the governor of the bank of england, the president of the ecb, and numerous other central bank and Finance ministry officials. For the year, we had more than 9,200 guests in attendance at 104 iif events featuring 770 industry executives.