Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international institution in Basel, owned by central banks, that provides banking services to them and hosts the committees that write global standards for bank capital and payment infrastructure.
Also called: BIS · the central banks' central bank
Founded in 1930 to administer German reparation payments, the BIS is the oldest international financial organisation. Its customers are central banks and international bodies, for which it takes deposits, trades gold and foreign exchange and manages reserve assets. It keeps its accounts in the SDR.
Its wider influence comes from what it hosts. Central bank governors meet in Basel every two months. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures are based there, and the BIS publishes the statistics on cross-border banking and foreign exchange turnover that the rest of the market relies on.
The BIS has no power to set interest rates, fine a bank or bind a government. Its standards reach payment companies indirectly: a committee agrees a principle, national regulators adopt it, banks revise their risk appetite, and a client finds its banking partner will no longer support a structure. Its research on stablecoins and tokenised money is best read as an early signal of where official thinking is going.
In practice
Statements that 'the BIS decided' are usually imprecise. Standards are agreed by committees of national authorities that the BIS hosts, and have legal force only once each jurisdiction implements them.
Commonly confused with
| Term | How it differs |
|---|---|
| International Monetary Fund | The IMF lends to governments and monitors national economies. The BIS serves and convenes central banks and does not lend to countries in crisis. |
See also
- Central BankA central bank is the public institution that issues a country's currency, sets monetary policy, holds its foreign exchange reserves and acts as banker to commercial banks and the government. Most also run the core payment system and lend in emergencies.
- Basel Committee on Banking SupervisionThe Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is the global standard-setter for the prudential regulation of banks. Hosted by the BIS, it writes the Basel framework on capital, liquidity and leverage that national regulators then put into law.
- Committee on Payments and Market InfrastructuresThe Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) is the international standard-setter for payment, clearing and settlement systems. Hosted by the BIS, it brings together central banks to promote the safety and efficiency of the infrastructure that moves money.
- International Monetary FundThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organisation of more than 190 countries that monitors the global monetary system, lends to members that cannot meet their external payments, and issues the Special Drawing Right.
- Special Drawing RightThe Special Drawing Right (SDR) is an international reserve asset created by the IMF. It is not a currency and cannot be spent directly; it is a claim that a member country can exchange for US dollars, euros, yen, sterling or renminbi.