Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
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Bank for International Settlements (BIS): the international organisation owned by central banks. It is often called the "bank for central banks" because it provides banking services to them, hosts the Basel Committee and other standard-setting committees, publishes research and statistics, and runs Innovation Hub centres that test financial technology for monetary and financial stability.
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Links last checked Nov 5, 2026.
What the BIS is
There is only one BIS. It is not a commercial bank and does not take deposits from the public. Its customers are central banks and other official monetary authorities. It is owned by 63 shareholding member central banks that together account for about 95% of world GDP (bis.org).
Offices and Innovation Hub centres
- Headquarters — Basel, Switzerland (the Tower).
- Representative Office for Asia and the Pacific — Hong Kong SAR (opened 1998).
- Representative Office for the Americas — Mexico City (established 2002).
- BIS Innovation Hub centres (from bis.org): multidisciplinary teams in Frankfurt/Paris (Eurosystem Centre), Hong Kong SAR, London, Singapore, Stockholm (Nordic Centre), Switzerland (Swiss Centre, offices in Basel and Zurich), and Toronto. The New York Innovation Center (NYIC) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is a strategic partnership with the Hub, not listed among the Hub centres themselves.
History (short timeline)
- 1930 — Founded under the Hague Agreements to handle German WWI reparations under the Young Plan; opens in Basel on 17 May 1930. Oldest international financial institution. source
- 1939–1945 — During WWII the Board suspends meetings; the Bank continues limited technical work. Controversies later arise over wartime gold dealings. source
- 1944 — Bretton Woods Conference votes to liquidate the BIS "at the earliest possible moment". The resolution is never carried out. source
- 1948 onward — Post-war focus shifts to European reconstruction and central-bank cooperation; the Bank becomes the standing meeting place for central bankers. source
- 1988 — Basel I (Basel Capital Accord): first international bank capital standard from the Basel Committee hosted at the BIS. source
- 2004 — Basel II: revised capital framework with three pillars (minimum capital, supervisory review, market discipline). source
- 2010 — Basel III: higher capital standards announced after the Great Financial Crisis. source
- Today — The "bank for central banks": banking services for central banks, host of the Basel Process committees, statistics, research and the BIS Innovation Hub. source
bis.org
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