The Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

The Bank for International Settlements
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international organisation which fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks. The BIS fulfils this mandate by acting as: a forum to promote discussion and policy analysis among central banks and within the international financial community a centre for economic and monetary research a prime counterparty for central banks in their financial transactions agent or trustee in connection with international financial operations. The head office is in Basel, Switzerland and there are two representative offices: in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and in Mexico City. Established on 17 May 1930, the BIS is the world's oldest international financial organisation. As its customers are central banks and international organisations, the BIS does not accept deposits from, or provide financial services to, private individuals or corporate entities. The BIS strongly advises caution against fraudulent schemes. Related informationAnnual Report Mission Statement Organisation chart, PDF The BIS in profile Research and statistics The economic, monetary, financial and legal research of the BIS supports its meetings and the activities of the Basel-based committees. The BIS is also a hub for sharing statistical information amongst central banks, and for publishing statistics on global banking, securities, foreign exchange and derivatives markets. Research is carried out primarily by BIS staff, supplemented by visiting researchers from central banks and the academic community. From time to time, the BIS organises special meetings and conferences with central bank researchers and academics. This research finds its way into the Bank's regular publications, such as the Annual Report and Quarterly Review, and into its BIS Papers and Working Papers series, as well as external publications such as professional journals. Seminars and workshops Through seminars and workshops organised by its Financial Stability Institute (FSI), the BIS promotes dissemination of the work undertaken by the supervisory community. The FSI not only familiarises financial sector supervisors worldwide with the recommendations of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, but also provides practical training for senior participants. Cooperation with regional central bank groupings also helps to make information about BIS activities more widely known. This cooperation takes the form of participation Currently more than 5,000 senior executives and officials from central banks and supervisory agencies participate in meetings organised by the BIS every year. The Bank continually adapts its product range in order to respond more effectively to the evolving needs of central banks. Besides standard services such as sight/notice accounts and fixed-term deposits, the Bank has developed a range of more sophisticated financial products which central banks can actively trade with the BIS to increase the return on their foreign assets. The Bank also transacts foreign exchange and gold on behalf of its customers. The Bank's Statutes do not allow the Bank to open current accounts in the name of, or make advances to, governments. The BIS does not accept deposits from, or generally provide financial services to, private individuals or corporate entities.