Financial Soundness Indicators

Samah Torchani is an accomplished economist at the International Monetary Fund, where she has served since 2016 in the Statistics Department's Financial Institutions Division. She specializes in financial statistics and plays a key role in developing and supervising the Financial Soundness Indicators (FSI) online course content. Her expertise extends to technical assistance and training, particularly in financial statistics methodology. Before joining the IMF, Torchani worked as a Senior Economist at the Bank of Canada, where she focused on macrofinancial linkages and monetary policy. Her research contributions include work on household liquidity constraints and housing markets in Canada. In her current role, she provides technical assistance in financial statistics globally and has authored significant reports, including technical assistance reports on Financial Soundness Indicators. Torchani's work combines practical expertise in financial statistics with a strong foundation in economic analysis, making her a valuable contributor to international financial statistics standards and methodologies.

A. Michael Andrews is a distinguished specialist at the International Monetary Fund, serving in both the Statistics Department and the Monetary and Capital Markets Department, where he has made significant contributions to financial sector policy and statistical methodology. As one of the authors of the Financial Soundness Indicators Compilation Guide revised in 2019, he regularly conducts training for IMF staff and member country officials on financial soundness indicators and bank analysis. His extensive career spans over three decades, including senior positions in both public and private sectors in Canada before joining the IMF in 1999. After establishing his consultancy in 2003, Andrews has continued to share his expertise through various IMF initiatives, particularly in developing frameworks for financial system stability and bank restructuring. His work encompasses teaching specialized courses, providing technical assistance, and contributing to international standards for assessing financial system soundness. Andrews' comprehensive understanding of banking supervision, combined with his experience in both practical implementation and policy development, has made him an invaluable resource in shaping global financial sector policies and statistical methodologies.

Bidisha Das is an accomplished Economist at the IMF's Statistics Department's Financial Institutions Division since 2018, where she specializes in financial sector statistics with particular expertise in monetary statistics, financial soundness indicators, and securities statistics. Her work encompasses providing comprehensive training to member countries on financial sector data compilation, supporting crucial areas of macrofinancial surveillance, financial stability, and financial inclusion analysis. Das has established herself as a leading voice in emerging financial technologies, contributing significantly to the development of international statistical guidelines and methodologies, particularly in areas like FinTech and digital money. Her expertise extends to researching debt statistics of low and middle-income countries, while her work on mobile money and its statistical treatment within monetary frameworks has helped shape understanding of modern financial systems. Through her contributions to capacity development and statistical methodology, Das continues to play a vital role in adapting financial statistics frameworks to accommodate evolving financial landscapes and technological innovations in the global monetary system.