2. • The Bank for International Settlements
(BIS) was established in 1930 in Basel,
Switzerland.
• 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.
BIS main building in Basel,
Switzerland
3. • It is an international organization, created pursuant to an international
treaty (The Hague Agreements of 1930).
• Its shareholding members are central banks and monetary authorities.
• The BIS has 60 member central banks, representing countries from
around the world that together make up about 95% of world GDP.
4. Mission:
To serve central banks in their pursuit of monetary and financial
stability, to foster international cooperation in those areas and to
act as a bank for central banks.
5. Monetary and financial stability is a precondition for sustained economic growth and
prosperity.
Reflecting the public good character of this goal, the BIS also makes part of its work
available free of charge to the wider public, including:
• its own analyses of monetary and financial stability issues;
• international banking and financial statistics that underpin policymaking, academic
research and public debate.
The customers of the BIS are central banks and international organisations. As a bank, the
BIS does not accept deposits from, or provide financial services to, private individuals or
corporate entities.
7. Monetary and Economic Department:
Undertakes research and analysis to shape the understanding of policy issues concerning central
banks, provides committee support and organises key meetings of senior central bankers and other
officials in charge of financial stability. In addition, the department collects, analyses and
disseminates statistical information on the international financial system.
Banking Department:
Provides a range of financial services to support central banks in the management of their foreign
exchange and gold reserves and invests the equity of the BIS.
Provides the entire organisation with comprehensive corporate services, including human resources,
facilities management, security, finance, communications and IT.
General Secretariat:
8. The governance and management of the Bank are conducted at three principal levels:
General Meeting of BIS member central banks;
BIS Board of Directors; and
BIS Management
9. Bank of Algeria
Central Bank of Argentina
Reserve Bank of Australia
Central Bank of the Republic of Austria
National Bank of Belgium
Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Central Bank of Brazil
Bulgarian National Bank
Bank of Canada
Central Bank of Chile
People's Bank of China
Bank of the Republic (Colombia)
Croatian National Bank
Czech National Bank
Danmarks National bank (Denmark)
Bank of Estonia
European Central Bank
Bank of Finland
Bank of France
Deutsche Bundesbank (Germany)
Bank of Greece
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Hungary)
Central Bank of Iceland
Reserve Bank of India
Bank Indonesia
Central Bank of Ireland
Bank of Israel
Bank of Italy
Bank of Japan
Bank of Korea
Bank of Latvia
Bank of Lithuania
Central Bank of Luxembourg
Central Bank of Malaysia
Bank of Mexico
Netherlands Bank
Reserve Bank of New Zealand
Central Bank of Norway
Central Reserve Bank of Peru
Bank of Portugal
National Bank of the Republic of
Macedonia
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
(Philippines)
National Bank of Poland
National Bank of Romania
Central Bank of the Russian Federation
Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
National Bank of Serbia
Monetary Authority of Singapore
National Bank of Slovakia
Bank of Slovenia
South African Reserve Bank
Bank of Spain
Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden)
Swiss National Bank
Bank of Thailand
Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey
Central Bank of the United Arab
Emirates
Bank of England
Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System (United States)
10. The Board of Directors may have up to 21 members, including six ex
officio directors, comprising the central bank Governors of Belgium,
France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Each ex officio member may appoint another member of the same
nationality. Nine Governors of other member central banks may be
elected to the Board.
The Board of Directors elects a Chairman from among its members
for a three-year term and may elect a Vice-Chairman.
11. General Manager Jaime Caruana
Deputy General Manager Hervé Hannoun
Secretary General and Head of General Secretariat Peter Dittus
Head of Banking Department Peter Zöllner
Head of Monetary and Economic Department Claudio Borio
Economic Adviser and Head of Research Hyun Song Shin
General Counsel Diego Devos
Deputy Head of Monetary and Economic
Department
Philip Turner
Deputy Secretary General Monica Ellis
Deputy Head of Banking Department Jean-François Rigaudy
Chairman, Financial Stability Institute Josef Tošovský
13. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held no later than four months after 31
March, the end of the BIS financial year. The AGM decides the distribution of the
dividend and profit of the BIS, approves the annual report and the accounts of the
Bank, makes adjustments in the allowances paid to Board members and selects
the Bank's independent auditor.
Extraordinary General Meetings must be called in order to amend the Statutes of
the Bank, change its equity capital or liquidate the Bank.
14. BIS Activities
The BIS promotes international cooperation among monetary
authorities and financial supervisory officials through
its meeting programmes and through hosting
international committees and standard-setting bodies and
facilitating their interaction in an efficient and cost-effective
way.
The BIS research and statistics functions help meet the needs of
monetary and supervisory authorities for data and policy insight.
15. BIS Meetings
Bimonthly meetings
At bimonthly meetings, normally held in Basel, Governors and other senior officials of
BIS member central banks discuss current developments and the outlook for the world
economy and financial markets. They also exchange views and experiences on issues of
special and topical interest to central banks.
Other regular consultations
In addition to the bimonthly meetings, the Bank hosts other regular consultations that
variously include public and private sector representatives. The main result of these
meetings is an improved understanding by participants of the developments, challenges
and policies affecting various countries or markets. An atmosphere of openness, frankness
and informality amongst participants is critical to the success of BIS meetings.
16. REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES
These Representative Offices serve as centres for BIS activities in their respective
regions, strengthening relations and promoting cooperation between the BIS and
regional central banks and supervisory authorities.
The offices also support BIS banking services in the Asia-Pacific region and the
Americas, and provide assistance through regular visits to reserve managers of
central banks.
