The bank for central banks

BIS banking services are provided by the Banking Department and are designed to meet the reserve management demands of central bank and other official sector customers. This includes, in particular, accommodating reserve managers' needs in the face of dynamic shifts in market pricing, such as those triggered by the full-scale reassessment of the monetary policy outlook that took place across the major economies in 2022/23. In addition to delivering on reserve managers' core objectives of safety, liquidity and return, this involves reliable execution, around-the-clock service provision and strong customer focus. The BIS's banking activities thus evolve continuously to keep pace with the reserve management community's adjustment to the changing macro-financial environment, placing a strong emphasis on product innovation and competitive pricing across the whole product range.

The BIS offers a broad range of financial services to a global customer base of about 180 central banks, monetary authorities and international organisations. To provide these services, BIS banking operates from three interlinked dealing rooms, located in Basel, Hong Kong SAR and Mexico City. Jointly, the three locations offer services on a near 24-hour basis to all BIS clients, and maintain close contact with reserve managers and other counterparties across the globe, and from the Asian through the European and late US trading sessions.

The Bank's own funds strategy seeks to broaden the BIS's drivers of return by diversifying into a range of additional asset classes, while moderately increasing the risk-return profile.

The Banking Department maintains an active programme of regular client meetings as well as a schedule of larger seminar-style events to share knowledge.