The Financial Stability Board is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established after the 2009 G20 London summit in April 2009 as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum . The Board includes all G20 major economies, FSF members, and the European Commission. It is based in Basel, Switzerland.BackgroundThe Financial Stability Board emerged from the Financial Stability Forum, a group of finance ministries, central bankers, and international financial bodies. The FSF was founded in 1999 to promote international financial stability, after discussions among Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G7 countries, and a study which they commissioned. The FSF facilitated discussion and co-operation on supervision and surveillance of financial institutions, transactions, and events. FSF was managed by a small secretariat housed at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. The FSF membership included about a dozen nations who participate through their central banks, financial ministries and departments, and securities regulators, including: the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and several other industrialized economies as well as several international economic organizations. At the G20 summit on November 15, 2008 it was agreed that the membership of the FSF will be expanded to include emerging economies, such as China. The 2009 G-20 London summit decided to establish a successor to the FSF, the Financial Stability Board. The FSB includes members of the G20 who were not members of FSF.