Since the inception of the FSAP in 1999, public sector governance issues have been assessed in nearly 45 countries, through over 200 standards assessments. Given the positive impact FSAPs have made and the changes within Austrian supervisory structures with the establishment of the Financial Market Authority (FMA), the Austrian authorities decided to apply for such an assessment themselves.
Second, transparency on the part of all economic agents is deemed to improve the functioning of international markets and lead to greater financial stability. Much has been said, and, more importantly, achieved in the area of transparency in recent years. Indeed, there has been an explosion of codes and standards on different aspects of economic and financial policy.