Monday, May 23, 2022
About Toronto Centre
Toronto Centre understands that effective financial regulation and supervision are integral to a healthy, stable economy. Never has this been made more evident than during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, when strong regulatory procedures and practices were found to be lacking in many jurisdictions. At Toronto Centre, our objective is to promote financial stability and access globally by providing practical training to financial sector regulators and supervisors, particularly in emerging markets and low income countries. Stable economies create an environment for economic growth and job creation, while increased accessibility to financial services is an effective means to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Our four main objectives are to promote:
- Increase supervisors’ and regulators’ knowledge and skills to implement sound practices across all sectors
- Develop leaders who have the capability to promote and implement sustainable change
- Enhance financial stability, crisis preparedness, and consumer protection
- Promote sound and inclusive financial systems that will foster sustainable economic growth, reduce poverty, and benefit women and children
With these ends in mind, Toronto Centre delivers capacity-building programs in the areas of banking, insurance, securities, pensions, microfinance, and microinsurance supervision. Programs can cover a variety of themes, such as leadership and change management, crisis-preparedness and management, macroprudential surveillance, risk-based supervision, consolidated supervision, FSAP preparation and follow-up, international core principles, anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism, and deposit insurance.
Toronto Centre’s training programs are highly interactive and practical because we believe this is the best way for our participants to learn and develop the skills that allow them to make meaningful change in their home agencies.
These programs allow regulators and supervisors to:
- Enhance their financial sector knowledge and build the leadership skills required to lead change
- Deal effectively with elected officials, public servants and other stakeholders
- Successfully interact with banks, insurers, securities firms, and other financial institutions and intermediaries.
As an independent, non-profit organization, Toronto Centre benefits from the generous support of several development agencies – in particular, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) – as well as from international financial institutions including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We also collaborate closely with leading regulatory and supervisory agencies, such as the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions of Canada, Central Bank of Sweden (Riksbank), and Monetary Authority of Singapore, as well as with standard setting bodies in the fields of banking, insurance, pensions, securities, and deposit insurance. This includes the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, International Association of Insurance Supervisors, International Organization of Securities Commissions, International Organisation of Pension Supervisors, and International Association of Deposit Insurers. These relationships keep us at the forefront of the latest developments in financial supervision, ensuring that our programs address the most topical challenges and reflect the most current thinking. We are also privileged to work with the experts in management education at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto.
Toronto Centre also works other valued international partners that provide support for specific projects, including Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA), and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).