Bank for International Settlements

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution, owned by numerous central banks, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It has two representative offices, in Hong Kong and Mexico City.

The institution carries out its work through its Monetary and Economics and Banking departments, its General Secretariat, the committees it houses, and its General Assembly, in which its member central banks have voting and representation rights. The BIS is not accountable to any government.

History

The BIS was founded in 1930. The main actors in the formation of the BIS were the Governor of the Bank of England, Montagu Norman, and his German colleague Hjalmar Schacht, Adolf Hitler's last finance minister.

The bank was initially created with the intention of facilitating monetary transfers that might arise under compensation obligations resulting from peace treaties. The institution was created after World War I to handle money transfers related to German war reparations under the Young Plan. The agreement to establish the bank was made in 1929 in The Hague, and its statutes were approved in 1930. The first board included several Nazi officials.

During World War II, the BIS was accused of helping the Nazis transfer assets from occupied countries. As a result, at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, its dissolution was proposed. Although the closure was approved, it was later delayed and eventually stopped after President Roosevelt’s death in 1945, due to British intervention and support from the new U.S. President, Harry Truman.

Board of directors

The Board of Directors of the BIS is composed of a maximum of 18 members, including six ex officio directors, and elects a chair from among its members.

The ex officio members are the governors of the central banks of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States; they may jointly appoint one other member of the nationality of one of those central banks. The Board of Directors is completed by 11 members elected from among the governors of other member central banks.

 References 

Category:International organizations
Category:Financial organizations