In order to address highly specialized assistance needs within the financial sector, USAID brings in short term experts with exactly the type of experience required. USAID provides this service through the Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC). The mission of the FSVC is to contribute to the process of building the sound financial infrastructure required to develop transparent, market-oriented economies. FSVC engages world-class professionals on a voluntary basis to assist Macedonian institutions to solve specific and highly technical problems in two core areas: central banking and capital markets. Major additional areas of work include legal framework for the financial system, pension reform and the combating of money laundering.
Through the Financial Services Technical Assistance Project, FSVC has provided assistance to the following institutions in Macedonia: the National Bank, Ministry of Finance, Stock Exchange, Securities Exchange Commission, , Pension Supervision Agency and other key public financial institutions. FSVC promotes international best practices and improves the technical skills of staff through appropriate training and technical assistance.
The current and most recent activities of FSVC include:
Central Banking: Assistance to the Supervision Department has enabled the NBRM to strengthen its capacity to monitor the compliance of banks, saving houses, foreign exchange bureaus and money transfer agents with the provisions of the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering. Assistance has included the development of the regulatory framework, examination methodology and on-the-job training during on-site examinations. FSVC is also developing the capacity of the newly-established Financial Stability Unit, which is responsible for monitoring how shocks and significant trends in the non-bank financial sector impact the stability of the banking system. FSVC also helped the Research Department to develop forecasting tools and a user-friendly model to project inflationary trends in the economy and their impact on price levels.
Municipal Finance: In support of the decentralization process, FSVC volunteers trained 19 local experts to provide advisory services to municipalities that will help them improve their fiscal sustainability and explore the possibility of issuing municipal bonds. These local experts (representing local think-tanks, consultants, and advisors to municipalities and ministries) received training on how to rate the creditworthiness of municipalities.
Capital Markets: FSVC assisted the Macedonian Stock Exchange (MSE) to revise its internal rules and procedures in accordance with the recently adopted Securities Law. The assistance is designed to enable a greater degree of self-regulation among the MSE members and Central Securities Depositary. In addition, FSVC helped the Macedonian Securities and Exchange Commission to clarify the role and responsibilities of Investment Advisors in Macedonia. As part of this effort, FSVC experts designed a detailed educational program for the training and certification of Investment Advisors.
Pension Reform: FSVC recently completed a comprehensive training program for the supervisory staff of the Pension Supervision Agency. The training was designed to enable the staff to begin supervising the operations of private pension funds when they start operations next year. The training covered topics such as on-site and off-site supervision, pension benefits, pension investments, and pension fund accounting and recordkeeping.
This activity is implemented by the Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC)
For more information:
U.S.Agency for International Development
U.S Embassy, Samoilova 21,1000 Skopje, Macedonia
Telephone: +(389) 2 310 2000 Fax +(389) 2 310 2463
USAID Mission contact:
Zdravko Sami
E-mail: zsami@usaid.gov
USAID Development Outreach and Communication office
Biljana Velickovska, DOC Specialist