Our industry regulator, the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission, was recently recognised as an Associate Member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), an international standard-setting body for securities regulation based in Madrid, Spain.
The VFSC adds its name to over 200 IOSCO members from 130 jurisdictions regulating 95% of the world’s securities markets, jointly committed to enhancing investor protection, ensuring fair and efficient markets, and promoting financial stability by reducing systemic risk.
The application was approved following a three-year process involving detailed assessments and ongoing engagement with IOSCO subcommittees, culminating in final approval by the IOSCO Board.
The VFSC team met all requirements under the leadership of Commissioner Branan Karae (pictured above), who described the accession as “a strategic step that demonstrates our commitment to international standards and cooperation to combat AML, CTF, and other financial crimes (…) Being part of this standard-setting body shows that Vanuatu is serious, willing to engage, and willing to meet global expectations.”
The FMA shares the Commissioner’s enthusiasm. For the past six years, our organization has promoted these same goals among our members, which include Vanuatu’s leading financial dealers and some of the largest employers within its International Finance Centre.
“Our industry’s years of effort under VFSC supervision allowed us to reach key strategic milestones, including OECD compliance recognition and FATF whitelisting. The IOSCO membership is another important acknowledgment of our growing standing within the global financial community,” FMA President Martin St-Hilaire said.
“It reinforces the message we’ve been advancing alongside the VFSC: Vanuatu is steadily establishing itself as a key financial centre in the Pacific.”
As an IOSCO Associate Member, the VFSC will be able to participate in IOSCO committees, and is already invited to attend the upcoming IOSCO meeting in Sydney next month.
“Many international bodies do not know much about the Pacific,” the Commissioner said. “Once you are part of these networks, it becomes much easier to engage, share information, and demonstrate compliance with international standards.”
His team is already working on completing the application for full IOSCO membership, which will lift Vanuatu a few more cogs up the ladder of international prestige.
This development comes at an auspicious time as Vanuatu prepares for its next evaluation by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), with assessors scheduled to visit in November to review continued progress against global standards.
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