Abstract

At the Cannes Summit in November 2011, the G20 Leaders agreed to strengthen the regulation and oversight of the shadow banking system, and endorsed the Financial Stability Board (FSB)’s initial recommendations with a work plan to further develop them in the course of 2012. Five workstreams have been launched under the FSB to develop policy recommendations to strengthen regulation of the shadow banking system, including securities lending and repos (repurchase agreements). The FSB Workstream on Securities Lending and Repos (WS5) under the FSB Shadow Banking Task Force is developing policy recommendations, where necessary, by the end of 2012 to strengthen regulation of securities lending and repos. This report documents the Workstream’s progress so far. Sections 1 and 2 provide an overview of securities lending and repos markets globally, including the main drivers of the markets. Section 3 places securities lending and repo markets in the wider context of the shadow banking system. Section 4 provides an overview of existing regulatory frameworks for securities lending and repos, and section 5 lists a number of financial stability issues posed by these markets. Additional detailed information on the market segments and a survey of relevant literature survey can be found in the annexes.