Unified financial supervisory system to be set up in Armenia

Mediamax news agency
2 Feb 05

YEREVAN

A conference of the regional group of the Basel Committee on Banking
Supervision of Central Asian and South Caucasus countries and Russia
opened in Yerevan today.

The chairman of the regional group, Juma Eshov, noted that
representatives of countries with similar problems in their banking
systems were taking part in the conference, Mediamax news agency
reports.

He stressed that the problem of money laundering was the conference’s
main theme.

Armenian Central Bank Chairman Tigran Sarkisyan gave a presentation to
the conference participants on the situation in the Armenian banking
sector. He said that the assets ratio of the banking system to GDP was
19 per cent and that loans accounted for 7 per cent. The central bank
carries out a policy of strict supervision which ensures the
transparency and reliability of banks, Tigran Sarkisyan said. In
addition, he noted that a similar policy was increasing investors’
interest in Armenian commercial banks. Today, foreign capital accounts
for 54 per cent of capital in the Armenian banking sector.

Tigran Sarkisyan said that a unified financial supervisory system
would be established in Armenia in the near future, including, in
particular, supervisory bodies for insurance companies, the pension
fund and the securities commission.