Koror, Republic of Palau – The Financial Institutions Commission (FIC) participated in the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Association of Financial Supervisors of Pacific Countries (AFSPC) and specialized technical workshop, held September 7–11, 2026, in Nadi, Fiji. The event was co-hosted by the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) and the International Monetary Fund’s Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre (PFTAC) and brought together central bank governors, financial commissioners, and supervisory authorities from across the Pacific region.
The regional gathering opened with the AFSPC Annual Meeting, during which member jurisdictions presented country reports addressing key systemic risks, supervisory developments and priorities, and technical assistance needs. This was followed by a closed-door discussion on issues of common interest and the shared priorities of the Association. The FIC presented Palau’s Country Report, highlighting key systemic risks, domestic supervisory actions, progress in implementing the risk-based supervision framework, and the Commission’s key development priorities and technical assistance needs.
Following the Annual Meeting, delegates participated in a comprehensive three-day technical workshop focused on financial technology (FinTech), modern banking, consumer protection, cyber resilience, and operational risk management.
The FinTech track examined the rapid unbundling and modularization of financial services, whereby consumer-facing applications, electronic money (e-money), and payment networks increasingly operate as distinct components within the financial services ecosystem, alongside or in collaboration with traditional banking institutions.
Delegates examined activity-based and risk-based licensing and supervisory frameworks for emerging financial services and technologies, including open-banking Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), distributed ledger technology (DLT), digital assets, and tokenized sovereign debt.
A key area of discussion was safeguarding of customer funds. Participants examined regulatory requirements for non-bank digital wallet and stored-value providers to maintain customer funds separately from the provider’s own assets through dedicated safeguarding or custodial accounts. Such
requirements are designed to strengthen the legal and operational segregation of customer funds from the provider’s own assets, thereby reducing customer exposure to insolvency and ensuring that safeguarded funds remain available to customers in the event of a provider failure.
The cyber resilience track focused on advanced supervisory and examination techniques for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) risk across the banking and financial services sector. Technical sessions emphasized that cyber resilience is not solely an information-technology function, but an integral component of board and senior management governance, operational resilience, business continuity, and financial stability.
Using real-world cyber incident case studies, delegates examined risks associated with third-party service providers and technology supply chains, cloud-service concentration, and regulatory incident reporting requirements, as well as the use of sector-wide crisis-management exercises to strengthen
operational resilience.
Discussions also focused on establishing enforceable operational resilience requirements and impact tolerances, including maximum tolerable periods of disruption for critical financial services. These measures are intended to ensure that essential services—particularly retail payment and core banking
functions—remain available or can be restored within defined timeframes following significant cyber incidents, technology failures, or third-party service disruptions.
The Commission’s participation in the AFSPC Annual Meeting and Workshop is part of its commitment to strengthening supervisory effectiveness, promoting the safety and soundness of financial institutions,
and enhancing institutional capacity to identify, monitor, and respond to emerging financial risks in a timely, transparent, and consistent manner.
The Financial Institutions Commission (FIC) is the prudential regulatory authority responsible for licensing, supervising, and examining financial institutions operating in the Republic of Palau.
Contact:
Financial Institutions Commission (FIC)
Koror, Republic of Palau
(680) 488-3560
info@ropfic.org