Bank for International Settlements, BIS

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Members

The BIS is owned by the central banks in 55 countries; Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and by the European Central Bank.


The bank’s head office is in Basel, Switzerland.

 

Mandate/mission

The BIS has the task of fostering cooperation between central banks. The organisation provides a forum for discussions on current economic and financial issues and other questions relevant to central banks and the financial sector. The BIS conducts research work into these fields. Other central tasks for the BIS include mediating and in some cases contributing financial resources in international aid ventures, as well as asset management for central banks.

 

Brief history

The BIS was established in 1930 with the task of dealing with the German reparation payments after the First World War. Since then the BIS’s activities have been largely characterised by the establishment of the G10, although the bank also has important functions in connection with, for instance, the Financial Stability Forum (FSF).

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LAST UPDATED 12/9/2005 
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