Survey of disclosures about trading and derivatives activities of banks and securities firms

This document consists of a survey of the disclosures made in their 1995 accounts by internationally active banks and securities firms. It is intended to provide large banks and securities firms with a picture of the advances in disclosure practices over the 1993-1995 period and encourage further enhancements at the international level.

The survey follows on the report issued in November 1995 in which the Basle Committee and the IOSCO Technical Committee stressed that meaningful public disclosures play an important role in reinforcing the efforts of supervisors to foster financial market stability.

The survey reveals that, compared with 1994, the participating banks and securities firms continued to enhance their trading and derivatives-related disclosures in their 1995 annual reports. However, despite these improvements at many leading financial intermediaries, there remain disparities, both within and across countries, as regards the type and usefulness of the information disclosed. The report notes that the Basle Committee and the IOSCO Technical Committee will continue to encourage and to monitor improvements in banks' and securities firms' disclosure practices over the coming years.