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IOSCO - International Organization of Securities Commissions

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is the preeminent forum for international cooperation among securities regulators and is recognized as the international standard-setter for the securities sector.

Address Oquendo 12, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Telephone 34 (91) 417 55 49
Fax 34 (91) 555 93 68
Website http://www.iosco.org/
Secretary General Greg Tanzer
Date of Organization April 1983

See IOSCO news releases and publications.

Scope of Activities

IOSCO's members regulate more than 90% of the world's securities markets.

Objectives

IOSCO members have resolved:

to cooperate together to promote high standards of regulation in order to maintain just, efficient and sound markets;
to exchange information on their respective experiences in order to promote the development of domestic markets;
to unite their efforts to establish standards and an effective surveillance of international securities transactions;
to provide mutual assistance to promote the integrity of the markets by a rigorous application of the standards and by effective enforcement against offenses.

Core Standards

The Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation (1998)

Categories of Members

There are three categories of members: ordinary, associate and affiliate. In general, the ordinary members are the national securities commissions in their respective jurisdictions. Associate members generally are agencies or branches of government, other than the principal national securities regulator in their respective jurisdictions that have some regulatory competence over securities markets. Affiliate members are self-regulatory organizations or international bodies having a mission related to either the development or the regulation of securities markets.

IOSCO Committees

The Presidents Committee is composed of all the Presidents (Chairmen) of ordinary and associate members and meets once a year during the Annual Conference.

The Executive Committee is composed of 19 ordinary members. It meets periodically during the year and takes all decisions and actions necessary to achieve the objectives of the Organization. Ms. Jane Diplock, Chairman of the New Zealand Securities Commission, is currently the Chairman of the Executive Committee.

Four Regional Standing Committees meet to discuss specific regional problems: the Africa/Middle-East Regional Committee, the Asia-Pacific Regional Committee, the European Regional Committee and the Inter-American Regional Committee.

The Executive Committee has established two specialized working committees. The first, the Technical Committee, is made up of fifteen ordinary members that regulate some of the world's larger, more developed and internationalized markets. Its objective is to develop practical responses to major regulatory issues relating to the operation of securities markets and to establish principles and set standards. The work of the Technical Committee is divided into the following five major functional subject areas:

Multinational Disclosure and Accounting;
Regulation of Secondary Markets;
Regulation of Market Intermediaries;
Enforcement and the Exchange of Information;
Investment Management.

The Technical Committee has set up specialized Standing Committees to address each of these subject areas. These Standing Committees meet several times during the year and carry out, almost on a continuous basis, the mandates that they receive from the Technical Committee.

The second specialized committee, the Emerging Markets Committee, is composed of members not represented on the Technical Committee. Its objective is to develop practical responses to major regulatory issues relating to the operation of securities markets in emerging market jurisdictions, to establish principles and set standards for emerging market jurisdictions, to prepare training programs for the staff of its members, and to generally facilitate the transfer of regulatory expertise. The Chairman of the Emerging Markets Committee is currently Mr. Guillermo Larrain, Chairman of the Superintendencia de Valores y Seguros of Chile. The Emerging Markets Committee has set up specialized Working Groups to address the following functional areas:

Disclosure and Accounting;
Regulation of Secondary Markets;
Regulation of Market Intermediaries;
Enforcement and the Exchange of Information;
Investment Management

IOSCO affiliate members that are self-regulatory organizations (SROs) are members of the SRO Consultative Committee, which has designated contact persons with the Technical Committee Standing Committees and is therefore able to provide substantive input into their work.

Specialized, ad hoc committees are also organized as necessary.

See IOSCO publications and news releases.