The umbrella groups that represent both the world’s securities regulators and central banks have launched a review of their existing standards for financial market infrastructure, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) said Tuesday.

The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the Technical Committee of the IOSCO, which initiated the review, note that the markets’ infrastructure “generally performed well during the recent financial crisis, and did much to help prevent the crisis becoming even more serious than it actually was. Nevertheless, the committees believe that there are lessons to be learned from the crisis and, indeed, from the experience of more normal operation in the years that have passed since the standards were originally issued. It thus seems timely to review the standards with a view to strengthening them where appropriate.”

The market infrastructure under review includes payment systems, securities settlement systems and central counterparties.

CPSS and IOSCO said the review will be led by representatives of the central banks that are members of the CPSS and securities regulators that are members of the IOSCO Technical Committee. It will be chaired by CPSS chair, William Dudley, and IOSCO Technical Committee chair, Kathleen Casey.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are also participating in the review, which forms part of the Financial Stability Board’s work to reduce the risks that arise from interconnectedness in the financial system.

The committees aim to issue a draft of all the revised standards for public consultation by early 2011.

IE