Mission Report on the Finance Ministers and Bank Governors Meeting

Authors: Shay Wester and Ian Saccomanno

The Council held its Mission to the AFMGM on April 3 and 4, where 10 member companies discussed strengthening financial inclusion, advancing the integration agreements, and responding to emerging financial technologies with ASEAN's Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.

The briefing paper the Council submitted to the ministers may be found here.
Notes from the Mission's bilateral meetings may be found here.
Some pictures from the Mission may be found here.

Please take five minutes to fill out our post-mission survey at this link.

The Financial Services Committee is now exploring three potential areas for deepened engagement. Please contact Ian Saccomanno at isaccomanno@usasean.org and Shay Wester at swester@usasean.org to discuss the proposals further.

Deepened engagement with the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF)
1. Members met with Eugene Wong from SC Malaysia, chair of the ACMF Deputies Committee, during the Mission and agreed to investigate collaboration related to the ASEAN Trading Link, cybersecurity, ASEAN Collective Investment Scheme, infrastructure finance, and bond market transparency.
2. On May 13, members are invited to meet with Eugene Wong in Hong Kong to narrow down the list of proposed topics. Click here to register for the meeting.
3. The Council hopes to present a plan of engagement during the ACMF Deputies Meeting in July.
Cybersecurity
1. The Council is exploring programs to promote best practices in cybersecurity, public-private information sharing, and the development of cyber risk insurance.
2. The program will likely begin with a forum in Singapore, before expanding to other parts of ASEAN.
Financial Inclusion and Literacy
1. The Council would like to explore ways to expand engagement on financial inclusion and literacy work in the region.
2. The work would leverage the strength of Council members in digital finance.

During their meetings, the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors endorsed their own action plans for advancing financial integration, inclusion, and stability. The full text of the AFMGM Joint Statement may be found here. A summary of key developments follows:

Framework Agreement on Services: The AFMGM welcomed the conclusion of negotiations on the Seventh Package of Financial Services Commitments under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (draft available here), which they planned to sign on May 3. They also called for negotiations of the Eighth Package to begin in 2016.
ASEAN Banking Integration Framework (ABIF): The AFMGM called for intensified implementation efforts and established a Working Committee on ABIF.
ASEAN Insurance Forum (AIFo): The AFMGM welcomed the establishment of the AIFo, saying it will strengthen collaboration between the Working Committee on Financial Services Liberalization and the ASEAN Insurance Regulators’ Meeting.
Capital markets: The AFMGM endorsed the ACMF Action Plan 2016-2020 (available here). They also endorsed the formation of a taskforce comprising the Working Committee on Capital Market Development (WC-CMD), the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF), and the ASEAN Forum on Taxation to resolve tax-related implementation issues in the ASEAN Collective Investment Scheme.
Working Committee on Financial Inclusion: The AFMGM welcomed the establishment of the Working Committee on Financial Inclusion (WC-FINC), which will facilitate greater financial inclusion efforts.