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IOSCO - International Organization of Securities Commissions

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 95% of the world's securities markets.

Objectives

IOSCO members have resolved:

to cooperate in developing, implementing and promoting adherence to internationally recognised and consistent standards of regulation, oversight and enforcement in order to protect investors, maintain fair, efficient and transparent markets, and seek to address systemic risks;
to enhance investor protection and promote investor confidence in the integrity of securities markets, through strengthened information exchange and cooperation in enforcement against misconduct and in supervision of markets and market intermediaries; and
to exchange information at both global and regional levels on their respective experiences in order to assist the development of markets, strengthen market infrastructure and implement appropriate regulation.

Core Standards

The IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation ('IOSCO Principles') (PDF 187KB) as revised in 2010. The New Zealand Securities Commission is a member of the taskforce on implementation of the IOSCO Principles.

The IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation and Cooperation and the Exchange of Information ('IOSCO MMOU' ) to which the New Zealand Securities Commission has been a full signatory since 2003. We also participate in the IOSCO MMOU Screening Group which examines regulators' ability to meet the enforcement and cross-border cooperation requirements necessary for them to become a signatory to the IOSCO MMOU.

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. The New Zealand Securities Commission has been an ordinary member of the Organisation since 1986.

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 the Organization's governing body and is composed of 19 ordinary members elected every second year through the Presidents Committee and its regional constituencies or by virtue of their position of elected chair of one of the two specialized working committees. It meets periodically during the year and subject to the By-Laws of the Organization, it takes all decisions and actions necessary to achieve the objectives of the Organization. The Chairman of the New Zealand Securities Commission, Ms. Jane Diplock, 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 Securities Commission is a member of the Asia-Pacific Regional Committee (APRC) and currently assumes the role of vice-chair on this committee. The Securities Commission is the APRC's elected regional representative to the Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee has established two specialized working committees. The first, the Technical Committee, is made up of eighteen agencies that regulate some of the world's larger, more developed and internationalized markets. Its objective is to review major regulatory issues related to international securities and futures transactions and to coordinate practical responses to these concerns The Chairman of the Technical Committee is currently Mr Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman of the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. The work of the Technical Committee is divided into the following six major functional subject areas:

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

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 is the Emerging Markets Committee. Its objective is to promote the development and improvement of efficiency of emerging securities and futures markets. It does so by establishing principles and minimum standards for emerging market jurisdictions, preparing training programs for the staff of its members, and generally facilitating the exchange of information and the transfer of regulatory expertise. The Chairman of the Emerging Markets Committee is currently Mr. Vedat Akgiray, Chairman of the Capital Markets Board of Turkey. 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 taskforces are also formed as necessary.

See IOSCO news releases and publications.