Bank for International Settlements

Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international institution, which serves as a bank for central banks and fosters international monetary and financial cooperation. The BIS is owned by 63 member central banks from countries that together account for about 95% of world GDP, and had 662 staff as of March 31, 2026, within a total workforce of 1,200 that also includes 450 contract workers and 88 secondees, assignees and graduates. Founded in 1930, it is the world's oldest international financial organization. It was created at the Hague Conference that dealt with the issue of German war reparation payments arising from the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Bank for International Settlements provides a broad range of financial services specifically designed to assist central banks and other official monetary institutions in the management of their foreign exchange and gold reserves. It also offers a range of asset management services in sovereign securities or high-grade assets. The Bank's Statutes do not allow the Bank to open current accounts in the name of, or make advances to, governments. The size of the BIS balance sheet is driven by deposits from customers. As of March 31, 2026, its balance sheet total was SDR 482 billion, up from SDR 431 billion a year earlier, with currency deposits of SDR 380 billion and gold deposits of SDR 48 billion. Moreover, the Bank has 104 tonnes of fine gold in its investment portfolio. The BIS assets include government and quasi-government securities and investments with commercial banks. The Bank is headquartered in Basel with representative offices in Hong Kong SAR and Mexico City, and it also operates seven BIS Innovation Hub Centres, the Financial Stability Institute and the Cyber Resilience Coordination Centre.

Head office address:
Centralbahnplatz 2
Basel, Switzerland
Phone number: +41 61 280 8080
Fax: +41 61 280 9100
SWIFT: BISBCHBB
Website: www.bis.org

Hong Kong office:
78th floor, Two International Finance Centre
8 Finance Street, Central
Hong Kong
Phone: (+852) 2878 7100

Mexico office:
Torre Chapultepec
Rubén Darío 281 - 17th floor
Col. Bosque de Chapultepec
Del. Miguel Hidalgo
11580 México, D.F., México
Phone: (+52) 55 91380290