The IMF has agreed to start implementing universal stan dards for banking supervision, a move designed by the world's most powerful central banks to avoid banking and other financial sector crises. Among the 25 'core principles' for effective banking endorsed by the IMF this week are setting central banks free from political meddling and ensuring commercial banks do not engage in risky deals that could trigger huge losses throughout an entire region. Thailand's financial crisis forced the closure of 58 insolvent financial institutions. The Basle Committee, a group of regulator officials that operates as part of the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland, suggested the crisis there might not have been as severe had the principles been observed.
