The BIS statistics on international banking and financial market activity

Note: This document has been superseded by BIS Papers No. 14 - "Guide to the international financial statistics "

The origins of the BIS's activities in the field of international financial statistics go back more than thirty years to the emergence of the phenomenon known as the Euro-dollar market, and the policy concerns it raised for the central banks of the Group of Ten countries, under whose auspices the collection of data began. Since then, international financial market activity has mushroomed, and as the related central bank policy concerns have either grown or changed, the BIS databases in this area have also grown and been adapted. Originally the data were confined to international banking, but they now also cover international securities markets and, increasingly, derivatives markets as well. The aim of this brochure is to describe these data and to explain how the various series are constructed and what they seek to measure.