Joint Forum history

The Joint Forum¹ was established in 1996 under the aegis of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee), the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) to take forward the work of the Tripartite Group whose report was released in July 1995. The Joint Forum can trace its origins from the Tripartite Group which was formed in early 1993 to address a range of issues relating to the supervision of financial conglomerates. The Tripartite Group was created at the initiative of the Basel Committee and composed of bank, securities and insurance supervisors, acting in a personal capacity but drawing on their experience of supervising different types of financial institutions. The Tripartite Group recognised the trend towards cross sector financial conglomerates and issued a report in July 1995 raising issues of concern in the supervision of financial conglomerates . The purpose of this report, published as a discussion document, was to identify challenges that financial conglomerates pose for supervisors and to consider ways in which these problems may be overcome. To carry this work forward, a formal group was put together, being the basis for today's Joint Forum.

The growing emergence of financial conglomerates and the blurring of distinctions between the activities of firms in each financial sector have heightened the need for cooperative efforts to improve the effectiveness of supervisory methods and approaches. The Basel Committee, IOSCO and IAIS consider the coming together of representatives of each supervisory constituency in the Joint Forum to be of great value in building the cooperative spirit necessary to address the supervisory challenges arising from financial conglomerates.

The Joint Forum held its first meeting in January 1996 and has met regularly three times a year since. It is comprised of an equal number of senior bank, insurance and securities supervisors representing each supervisory constituency. The membership was expanded in 2012 and fifteen countries are now represented in the Joint Forum: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, United Kingdom and United States. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), EU Commission and Financial Stability Institute (FSI) attend in an observer capacity. The Chairmanship of the Joint Forum rotates between the three sector committees and is named for a two-year term.

¹ The Joint Forum was initially referred to as "The Joint Forum on Financial Conglomerates". During 1999, its name was shortened to "The Joint Forum" in recognition of the fact that its new mandate went beyond issues related to financial conglomerates, but also extended to issues of common interest to all three sectors.