The Financial Stability Board (FSB) today published its Annual Report, describing the FSB's work to promote global financial stability in 2025. The Report, presented this year in an updated format, features for the first time a foreword by FSB Chair Andrew Bailey.

In his foreword, Mr. Bailey notes the critical importance of the FSB's work to preserve financial stability in the face of profound shifts in the global landscape. In an increasingly fragmented and unpredictable world, where multilateralism is being tested, FSB members continued to find common ground and displayed commitment to tackle shared challenges, giving reason to be optimistic. “The shocks of recent years have not undermined financial stability”, writes Mr. Bailey, “a testament to the reforms implemented since the global financial crisis.”

At the same time, Mr. Bailey also highlights the need for the FSB to continue to adapt to remain fit for purpose in a rapidly changing world, a theme that will guide the FSB work going forward. The next phase of the FSB strategic review of implementation launched in 2025 will focus on identifying the root causes of a slowdown in G20 reform implementation and on finding ways to promote implementation more effectively.

As described in the main text of the Annual Report, in 2025, the FSB – through its membership and in cooperation with international standard-setting bodies – continued its efforts to strengthen financial systems, enhance the stability of international financial markets and promote implementation of policy recommendations across sectors and jurisdictions.

The FSB's ongoing surveillance highlighted several long-standing vulnerabilities in the financial system, ranging from rising sovereign debt levels to rapid growth of nonbank financial intermediation (NBFI), from elevated asset valuations to significant volatility in crypto markets, as well as financial firms’ operational vulnerabilities.

To address these challenges, in 2025, the FSB finalised work to address the financial stability risks associated with leverage in NBFI and established the Nonbank Data Task Force to tackle data issues that hinder authorities’ ability to effectively assess vulnerabilities in NBFI. Recognising the need for a resilient digital asset ecosystem, the FSB reviewed the implementation of its 2023 global regulatory framework for crypto-assets and stablecoins, urging authorities to address identified gaps and inconsistencies that could pose risks to financial stability. On operational vulnerabilities, the FSB finalised a format for operational incident reporting exchange. As the global standard setter for the resolution of financial institutions, the FSB also continued to advance work on to support authorities' readiness to respond to failures, producing guidance and enhancing operational planning.

Finally, 2025 saw the completion of major policy development initiatives in relation to the Roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments. Going forward, the FSB will intensify efforts to drive jurisdictional implementation of the policy recommendations in order to produce tangible improvements for end-users at the global level.