View the Standard

The Principles contained in this Report provide a blueprint for use by securities and futures regulatory authorities in developing MOUs with their foreign counterparts. The Principles are generally short and are complemented by a few lines of comments that explain their meaning and implications. MOUs are statements of intent which do not impose legally binding obligations on signatories. As such, they have no power to overcome domestic laws and regulations, nor do they affect other channels of cooperation, such as mutual assistance in criminal matters. The strength of MOUs, however, is that they facilitate the exchange of information by accommodating the differences between regulators and by responding to changing legal environments. The Principles set high standards and goals to be incorporated into MOUs in a broad range of securities and futures matters. Principles are grouped under the following headings:  

  • subject matter; 
  • confidentiality;
  • implementation procedures;
  • the rights of persons subject to an MOU request;
  • consultation;
  • public policy exception;
  • types of assistance;
  • participation by the requesting authority; and 
  • cost-sharing.