Handbook on Securities Statistics

BIS Other  | 
12 May 2015
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(1,419kb)
  |  166 pages
  • The joint handbook assists the production of internationally comparable securities statistics.
  • It covers the conceptual framework for statistics on debt and equity securities.
  • Set of detailed presentation tables using the concepts and guidelines.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today jointly released the Handbook on Securities Statistics.

The importance of securities markets in intermediating financial flows, both domestically and internationally, underscores the need for relevant, coherent and internationally comparable statistics. This need was recognised by the G20 Data Gaps Initiative, launched in the aftermath of the 2007-08 global financial crisis with the support of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors and the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee.

Good securities data, along with monetary and financial statistics, provide important indications on the level of diversification of financial intermediation. The Handbook supports this analysis by strengthening the collection of securities data through conceptual advice and guidance to harmonise the presentation of securities statistics. It describes the main features of debt and equity securities as well as the institutional units and sectors as issuers and holders of securities, and discusses the statistical recording rules to be applied.

The Handbook is a milestone in that it is the first publication of its kind dealing exclusively with the conceptual framework for the compilation and presentation of securities statistics. Prepared jointly by the BIS, the ECB and the IMF working in close cooperation, the Handbook has also benefited from comments by experts from national central banks, national statistical agencies and international organisations.

It is expected that the Handbook will be widely applied, fostering harmonisation of the international securities statistics that support global economic, financial and macro-prudential analyses.

The Handbook and an accompanying document prepared by the Working Group on Securities Statistics can be downloaded from the BIS, the ECB and the IMF websites.