The ASEAN Finance and Central Bank Deputies Working Group Meeting (AFCDM-WG) was renamed in 2015 reflecting the adoption of new names of subsidiary body of the ASEAN Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting (AFCDM).

The AFCDM-WG is a senior-level body of Director General-level officials of the ASEAN finance ministries, central banks and monetary authorities that shall serve as a recommendatory body on all aspects of ASEAN finance and central bank cooperation, guided by the AFCDM.

The AFCDM-WG shall support the AFCDM by providing recommendations on matters elevated by the WCs/WGs under its purview and guidance on various initiatives and activities to support financial integration, financial inclusion and financial stability towards AEC 2025.

The AFCDM-WG is comprised of senior officials from the finance ministries, central banks, monetary authorities, or their designated representatives authorized by the AMS to make decisions on all matters under their purview.

It is currently co-chaired by the Ministry Of Finance of the Lao PDR; and the Bank of the Lao PDR.

The ASEAN Senior Level Committee (SLC) on financial integration is as a high‐level committee of ASEAN Central Bank Deputies and Officials which provides guidance on ASEAN financial integration to achieve the goals set forth in the 2025 Vision for Financial Integration.

The SLC comprises of (i) the Deputy Governors of the Troika; (ii) central banks Chair/ Co-Chairs of Working Committee on ASEAN Banking Integration Frameworks; Working Committee on Capital Account Liberalisation, Working Committee on Capital Market Development, Working Committee on Financial Inclusion. Working Committee on Financial Services Liberalisation, Working Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems and the Steering Committee on Capacity Building (SCCB) to support ASEAN financial integration.

The SLC meets twice a year, and is currently co-chaired by the Bank Indonesia and the State Bank of Vietnam.

ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) is a high-level grouping of capital market regulators from all 10 ASEAN jurisdictions, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Established in 2004 under the auspices of the ASEAN Finance Ministers, the primary responsibility of the ACMF is to develop a deep, liquid and integrated regional capital market.

Recognising the differing levels of development of member states, ACMF adopts a pragmatic approach in implementing its capital market initiatives whereby member countries opt-in to join the initiatives based on their market readiness.

The ACMF meets twice a year, and is currently chaired by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and National Bank of Cambodia.

The ASEAN Cross-Sectoral Coordinating Committee on  Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance (ACSCC-DRFI) was established in 2013 by the ASEAN Finance Ministers with the objectives of (i) facilitating the implementation of the ASEAN Disaster Risk Financing Roadmap; (ii) enhancing the collaboration among the relevant sectoral bodies and ensure the effectiveness in implementing the ADRFI Roadmap; and (iii) monitoring the progress of initiatives under the work plan of the ADRFI Program.

The ADRFI comprises of the Chairs and/or Vice-chairs of the AFCDM, AIRM, and the ACDM supported by the ASEAN Secretariat.  To date, the ADRFI is chaired by the Ministry of Finance of Lao PDR.

The ASEAN Forum on Taxation was established in April 2010 by the AFMM to serve as a mechanism to address  tax-related issues pertaining to regional economic integration.

The objective of the AFT is to provide a platform to support regional dialogue on and cooperation on taxation issues for regional economic integration including the creation of sub-groups as deemed necessary by the ASEAN Member States.

The AFT is comprised of of officials from agencies directly involved in tax related matters such as the revenue agencies and policy units of Ministry/Department of Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission, and related agencies. The Ministry of Finance and Economy of Brunei Darussalam is the current chair of the AFT to serve as mechanism to address tax-related issues pertaining to regional economic integration. It builds on the mandate given by the ASEAN Finance Ministers in April 2010 to form a working group on taxation, as well as to strengthen cooperation in taxation matters among ASEAN countries.

AFT is currently co-chaired by the Department of Law, Tax Policy and International Tax Cooperation, General Department of Taxation of Cambodia.

The ASEAN Infrastructure Fund Limited (AIF) is the largest initiative of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in its history based on the member countries’ funding contributions. The ASEAN members founded the AIF, an ASEAN regional infrastructure financing institution, as a safe and liquid investment vehicle to channel funds to well-structured infrastructure projects.  the AIF’s policy objectives (i) fostering infrastructure development in the ASEAN region; and (ii) promoting the use of ASEAN savings in the financing of such infrastructure with a view toward an eventual issuance of bonds eligible for central bank reserves investment.

The AIF is administered by the Asian Development Bank. ADB has established a bank-wide administration team to undertake all aspects of day-to-day operations of the AIF. Accordingly, ADB’s policies and procedures will apply to all projects financed by AIF.

The ASEAN Insurance Forum was established in 2011 to facilitates collaboration between WC-FSL and AIRM, as well as leveraging on the private sector, to help achieve significant progress in ASEAN insurance integration.

The AIFo published a handbook for ASEAN Insurers offering Cross-Border Marine, Aviation and Goods in Transit (MAT) Insurance in 2019. The Handbook serves as a reference to provide greater clarity to industry on MAT definition, regulatory framework and procedures for offering the cross-border MAT insurance, and consumer protection mechanisms among AMS.

Recently, it has finalized the ASEAN Insurance Integration Framework’s Roadmap which serves as a proposed phases of ASEAN insurance liberalisation by 2021. The Guiding Principles was also developed to guide the implementation of the AIIF.

The ASEAN Insurance Regulators Meeting (AIRM) was established in 1998 by the ASEAN Finance Ministers with the objectives of: (i) assisting the ASEAN Finance Ministers implement the Ministerial Understanding on ASEAN Cooperation in Finance, particularly on Insurance matters; (ii) strengthen ASEAN cooperation in the field of insurance and to advise the ASEAN Finance Ministers on possible apooproaches and areas of cooperation; (iii) executing and implementing the decisions of the ASEAN Finance Ministers on insurance and insurance-related matters; and (iv) performing other duties as requested by the ASEAN Finance Ministers.

The AIRM comprises of the ASEAN Insurance Commissioners or their alternates.  To date, the AIRM is chaired by the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam Central Bank.

The Working Committee on ASEAN Banking Integration Framework (WC-ABIF) focus on facilitating (i) effective operationalization of the banking integration process; (ii) initiatives to promote improvement in regulatory frameworks; (iii) cooperation and financial stability arrangement for regional financial integration.

The WC-ABIF comprises of senior officials, from prudential regulations, banking supervision, financial surveillance and/or financial sector development of the central banks and/or banking authorities.

The WC-ABIF meets twice a year, and is currently co-chaired by the Bank Negara Malaysia and the National Bank of Cambodia.

The Working Committee on Capital Account Liberalisation (WC-CAL) is tasked to implement the Strategic Action Plan to achieve a substantial degree of AMS’ capital account liberalisation and strengthen policy dialogue and information exchange mechanism on capital flows statistics and capital flow measures among AMS. To meet these goals, the WC‐CAL shall monitor and participate in discussions on issues and progress of capital account liberalisation among AMS.

The WC‐CAL comprises of representatives from ASEAN central banks and/or finance ministries. It meets twice a year, and is currently co-chaired by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Bank of the Lao PDR.

Current Capital Account Liberalisation (CAL) Policies

The Working Committee on Capital Market Development (WC-CMD) was established in 2003 to build capacity and lay the infrastructure for development of ASEAN capital markets, with a long-term goal of achieving cross-border collaboration among the various capital markets in ASEAN.

It comprises of representatives from relevant authorities from ASEAN Member States, such as from the Finance Ministries, Securities Exchange Commissions, and Central Banks; as well as the ASEAN Secretariat.

The WC-CMD meets twice a year, and is currently co-chaired by the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The Working Committee on Financial Inclusion (WC-FINC) was established in 2016 to to deliberate and effectively coordinate initiatives to advance financial inclusion in ASEAN through close collaboration with relevant working committees and working groups. It also serves as a platform for sharing of country experiences, expertise and information to facilitate member countries to develop or enhance their national financial inclusion strategies and initiatives.

The WC-FINC comprises of senior officials from the Ministries of Finance and/or Monetary Authorities, Central Banks, financial regulators and relevant sectoral bodies. It meets twice a year, and is currently co-chaired by the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank and the Bank of Thailand. http://aseanwcfinc.com/

The Working Committee on Financial Services Liberalization (WC-FSL) was established in 2003.  Guided by the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025, and the Strategic Action Plan for financial services liberalization and taking into account ASEAN centrality, the WC-FSL sees as an end-game goal a more integrated financial services sector through enhanced and progressive financial liberalization among ASEAN Member States and with Dialogue Partners.

The WC-FSL’s objectives are as follow:

To provide a forum for ASEAN Member States to share information and exchange experiences of financial services liberalization among AMS;

To carry out the process of financial services liberalization among AMS; and

To facilitate financial servicers liberalization by ASEAN with its Dialogue Partners.

The WC-FSL comprises of  representatives from Finance Ministries, Central Banks or Monetary Authorities, and other relevant agencies of AMS.  It is currently Co-chaired by the Department of Finance Philippines and the Lao PDR’s Ministry of Finance.

The Working Committee on Payment and Settlement System (WC-PSS) was established to 2010 to prepare the payment and settlement systems of ASEAN member states in embracing the ASEAN Economic Blueprint 2025 by conducting studies and providing policy recommendations for the development of the payment and settlement systems, as well as the harmonization of the ASEAN payment and settlement systems.

The WC-PSS comprises of representatives from all the ASEAN Central Banks and Monetary Authorities and meets, at minimum, twice a year to prepare the required deliverables. It is currently co-chaired by the Bank Negara Malaysia and the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank.

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The ASEAN Taxonomy Board (ATB) was established to develop, maintain and promote a multi-tiered ASEAN Taxonomy that provides an overarching guide for all ASEAN Member States, complementing their respective national sustainability initiatives, and serves as ASEAN’s common language for sustainable finance. The ATB is established by the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF), ASEAN Insurance Regulators’ Meeting (AIRM), ASEAN Senior Level Committee on Financial Integration (SLC), and ASEAN Working Committee on Capital Market Development (WC-CMD), under the auspices of the ASEAN Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM). The 7th AFMGM on 30 March 2021 endorsed the establishment of the ATB and the development of a multi-tiered taxonomy that takes into account the region’s needs, as well as international aspirations and goals, and facilitate an orderly and effective transition towards a sustainable ASEAN.

ASEAN Taxonomy Board Issues Supplementary Document to the ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance

The ASEAN Taxonomy Board (ATB) is pleased to announce the release of a Supplementary Document to the ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance (ASEAN Taxonomy). This important addition provides practical use cases for the Foundation Framework, specifically designed to assist small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The Supplementary Document aims to guide SMEs in implementing the Foundation Framework by offering clear and actionable examples to assess activities in the agriculture and renewable energy sectors. The use cases provided are intended to serve as a guide and can be adjusted to fit the specific context of the user’s circumstances, where applicable.

This Supplementary Document is meant to be read in conjunction with the ASEAN Taxonomy main document.

(Update 20 December 2024) The ASEAN Taxonomy Board (ATB) is pleased to issue this updated Supplementary Document outlining the use cases for the Foundation Framework of the ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance (ASEAN Taxonomy). This Supplementary Document aims to provide practical guidance on using the Foundation Framework to assess economic activities undertaken by small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) in agriculture, energy, and construction and real estate sectors.

The ATB has developed a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document in response to stakeholder feedback to promote understanding and adoption of the ASEAN Taxonomy. This FAQ serves as a practical guide to address common queries, clarify the taxonomy’s purpose and application, and support its socialisation and uptake across the region. The FAQ is designed as a living resource, regularly updated to incorporate the latest developments, insights, and feedback from stakeholders. 

The 18th ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Meeting in 2014 established the ASEAN Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM) as a ministerial body to provide a strategic channel to deliberate on key issues of common interest and to widen the extent of discussion and policy dialogue on monetary policy and financial stability issues. The AFMGM is later recognised in 2018 as a Ministerial Body in the ASEAN Charter.

Since then, the AFMGM has convened Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in ASEAN to discuss global and regional economic developments and outlook and to provide guidance in advancing ASEAN’s initiatives on financial integration, financial inclusion, financial stability, digitalization, and sustainability, as well as in enhancing collaboration with development partners.

The AFMGM is currently chaired by the Lao PDR Ministry of Finance (LMOF) and the Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL).

the ASEAN Treasury Forum (ATF) is composed of officials from agencies directly involved in treasury-related matters, that may include budget execution, cash management, debt management, investment management, accounting and reporting, and other treasury-related functions. AMS will coordinate internally and designate the members of their delegation to the ATF. Depending on Issues to be discussed, experts from other sectors and international organizations may be involved in discussions and exchange of views and dialogue. It is currently co-chaired by the Indonesia Ministry of Finance and the Lao PDR’s Ministry of Finance.