The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has released a 2018 progress report on the implementation of the Comprehensive Program of Ukrainian Financial Sector Development until 2020 (hereinafter the Comprehensive Program). Overall, the NBU is satisfied with the rate at which this strategic document is being implemented and believes that the progress made up until now is adequate, given the complexity and sweeping nature of the objectives. However, specific projects call for additional coordination of stakeholder efforts to complete them in time, in particular as regards promoting priority draft laws concerned with the financial sector.
In 2019, the NBU in conjunction with major stakeholders (the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the National Commission for the State Regulation of Financial Services Markets, and the Deposit Guarantee Fund) will continue to implement comprehensive projects to reform the financial sector and intends to start work on a new strategic document on financial sector reform through 2025.
Key figures from the report:
- 70% of all actions under the Comprehensive Program have been either completed or planned for completion in 2019 (provided the parliament passes the relevant draft laws)
- implementation of 16% of all actions will continue after the Comprehensive Program has been completed, as these actions are related to EU directives that take longer to implement than the Comprehensive Program itself
- 29% of all actions (70 out of 240) have been completed. In particular, these are measures to liberalize currency regulation, implement the macroprudential regulation function in a consistent manner, improve financial monitoring and bank licensing, ensure transparency of banks’ ownership structure, and raise disclosure and reporting standards.
The Comprehensive Program has 16 KPIs that essentially measure its success and positive impact on the financial sector overall.
As of 31 December 2018, most of the KPIs (12 out of 16) already approached their target values. They include:
- a decrease in inflation
- an increase in the level of cashless payments in the economy
- a decrease in dollarization
- an improvement in the banking system’s loan-to-deposit ratio, etc.
At the same time, insurance penetration is on the decline. In addition, there is little change in the dynamics of quantitative measures of the development of capital markets and the occupational retirement provision system. This is a result of the lack of progress in the adoption of laws intended to lay the groundwork for the development of these markets.
For reference:
Comprehensive Program of Ukrainian Financial Sector Development until 2020
On 15 May 2015, the National Reforms Council upheld and approved the Comprehensive Program of Ukrainian Financial Sector Development until 2020. The Program was approved by NBU Board Resolution No. 391 dated 18 June 2015 and by the respective decisions of other financial market regulators (decision of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission No.931 dated 30 June 2015 and ordinance of the National Commission for the State Regulation of Financial Services Markets No.1367 dated 11 June 2015).
The first revision of the document by the financial regulators took place in January 2017 and the second in May 2018. The revised Comprehensive Program pays attention to such issues as development of Ukraine’s payment market, development and regulation of Fintech companies and crowdfunding, development of the national strategy for promoting financial awareness, etc.
The main objective of the Comprehensive Program is to create a full-fledged, efficient, and effective financial market in Ukraine, develop all the market segments, build its infrastructure, and strengthen its resilience.
The Comprehensive Program was developed by the NBU in cooperation with the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the National Commission for the State Regulation of Financial Services Markets, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the Deposit Guarantee Fund, professional associations (the Independent Association of Ukrainian Banks, the Ukrainian Insurance Federation, etc.), financial market experts, and heads of parliamentary factions.
The document complies with the Sustainable Development Strategy for Ukraine until 2020, the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine, the Memorandum of Cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, European Ukraine Coalition Agreement of parliamentary factions, and so on.
The Comprehensive Program sets forth the strategic areas of development for the financial sector, the main principles of perceiving the future, and stages of reform implementation. The Comprehensive Program implementation focuses on three key areas:
A. Ensuring the financial stability and dynamic development of the financial sector.
B. Enhancing the institutional capacity of financial market regulators.
C. Protecting the rights of financial sector consumers and investors.
Overall, the Comprehensive Program contains more than 60 projects that are realized in line with the international project management rules. Therefore, the implementation of the Comprehensive Program is divided into three stages:
stage I – resolving problems of the past and improving the health of the financial sector (2014–2016)
stage II – setting the stage for the system development (2015–2017)
stage III – taking measures for the development of the financial system (2017–2020).