Central Bank Governance Forum

Updated 20 November 2024

In response to growing interest in the governance of central banks and building on work carried out since the mid-1990s, the BIS established a Central Bank Governance Forum to foster the good governance of central banks as public policy institutions. The Forum operates under a Charter.

The Forum compiles, analyses and disseminates a wide variety of information on governance and organisational arrangements among central banks. Central bankers can obtain a password to the website containing information compiled by the Forum from cbgovernance@bis.org.

The Central Bank Governance Forum consists of the Central Bank Governance Group and the Central Bank Governance Network.

Central Bank Governance Group

The Group serves as a venue for the exchange of views among governors on matters relating to the design and operation of their institutions. The focus is on the institutional and organisational setting in which central banks pursue monetary and financial policies, not the policies themselves. It provides a compact discussion panel for Governors that also acts as a steering committee for the Forum. It is supported by a BIS-based secretariat.

Chair

Lesetja Kganyago, Governor,  South African Reserve Bank

Membership

The Group currently comprises the Chair and eight members – Governors Andrew Bailey (Bank of England), Roberto Campos Neto (Central Bank of Brazil), Victoria Rodríguez Ceja (Bank of Mexico), Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput (Bank of Thailand), Kazuo Ueda (Bank of Japan), Perry Warjiyo (Bank Indonesia), Ida Wolden Bache (Central Bank of Norway), and Frank Elderson (on behalf of the ECB President).

Frequency of meetings

The Group normally meets on the occasion of the bimonthly meetings of Governors of BIS member central banks. There are no public releases of the meeting agendas or discussions.

Reporting arrangements

With effect from January 2010, the Chair reports annually and on an as-needed basis to the All Governors' Meeting, which comprises 60 BIS member central bank Governors.

Secretariat

Sarah Bell is Secretary to the Central Bank Governance Group and heads the Central Banking Studies unit at the BIS, which provides secretariat support to the Forum.

Publications

Central Bank Governance Network

The Network is an informal mechanism to facilitate the flow of information on central bank governance and organisational issues between central banks. It started operations in the autumn of 1999 and currently 56 central banks are represented. The BIS receives numerous requests from central banks for information on the governance and organisational arrangements of other central banks. The Network improves the efficiency of information-gathering. Specialised surveys are conducted through Network members; tailor-made results can be provided quickly, and the information is retained in a central location for future use. The flow of requests provides an insight into the issues of current relevance for central banks, helping inform the Governance Group's deliberations when setting priorities for gathering and analysing information.

Central bank governance information

Much of the central bank governance information that is available at the BIS can be accessed (by registered users) on the password-protected eBIS platform (https://www.ebis.org/). Central bank staff are very welcome to register for this facility by completing a registration form. This can be requested by sending a brief email to cbgovernance@bis.org.