Policymakers'' uneasiness about granting independence to financial sector regulators stems to a large extent from the lack of familiarity with, and elusiveness of, the concept of accountability. This paper gives operational content to accountability and argues that it is possible to do so in a...

Intro -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- PART I: ISSUES IN SURVEILLANCE -- 2. Loan Review, Provisioning, and Macroeconomic Linkages -- 3. Domestic Lending in Foreign Currency -- 4. Toward a Framework for Systemic Liquidity Policy -- 5. Emergency Liquidity Support...

Policymakers are often reluctant to grant independence to the agencies that regulate and supervise the financial sector because of the fear that these agencies, with their wide-ranging responsibilities and powers, could become a law unto themselves. This pamphlet describes mechanisms for making...