20.6 The primary objective of an assessment is to identify the nature and extent of any weaknesses in banking supervision. While the process of  implementing the Core Principles starts with the assessment of compliance, assessment is a means to an end, not an objective in itself. The assessment allows the supervisory authority (and in some instances the government) to initiate a strategy to improve the banking supervisory system, as necessary.

20.7 The assessment methodology for the Core Principles includes both essential and additional assessment criteria:

(1) Essential criteria are minimum baseline requirements for sound supervisory practices and are universally applicable to all countries. An assessment of a country against the essential criteria must recognise that its supervisory practices should be commensurate with the risk profile and systemic importance of the banks being supervised; that is, the assessment must consider the context in which the supervisory practices are applied.