One Hundred and Thirty Years of Central Bank Cooperation: A BIS Perspective

Abstract

On 27-29 June 2005, the BIS held its Fourth Annual Research Conference on "Past and Future of Central Bank Cooperation". This event brought together some 80 senior officials from central banks, academic institutions and the private sector to exchange views on this topic (see the programme attached). This paper was presented at the conference. The conference was part of the BIS 75th Anniversary programme. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not those of the BIS v

Resetting the International Monetary (Non)System

“…The United Kingdom experienced deep crises in 1961 and, particularly, in 1964-8, which led to a devaluation in November 1967. As a result, it became one of the major regular Fund borrowers, and was also supported by swap arrangements through the Bank for International Settlements (Borio and Toniolo 2006;Toniolo 2005: ch. 11).…”

“…Although the G10 was the major mechanism of dialogue, the regular discussions among authorities of major developed countries in the IMF and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) also contributed to the, in any case, relatively weak cooperation in place. In the latter case, cooperation included the network of swap arrangements developed in the 1960s that eventually linked a dozen central banks of developed countries and the BIS (Borio and Toniolo 2006;Toniolo 2005: 387-8).…”

Central Bank Co-Operation and International Liquidity in the Financial Crisis of 2008-2009

“…While supervisory co-operation has continued, co-operation on monetary policy seemed, at least until recently, to have become less intense. That process has been described succinctly by Borio and Toniolo (2006):…”

International Aspects of Central Banking: Diplomacy and Coordination

“…With the end of the Bretton Woods system in 1973, the BIS began to shift toward forums organized to address various financial-sector issues. Borio and Toniolo (2008) distinguish between crisis response, on the one hand, and work aimed at strengthening the financial system in order to make it less susceptible to crisis, on the other. The most prominent example of the latter during this period was the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), a standing committee established by, and originally reporting to, G-10 central bank governors.…”