BIS paper finds international relations critical to financial stability

The Bank for International Settlements has released its perspective on the past 130 years of banking co-operation, collated from presentations at its fourth annual research conference in June. “Past and Future of Central Bank Cooperation” included senior officials from central banks, academic institutions and the private sector exchanging views on this topic.

The paper tries to answer three questions: how did changing international monetary and financial conditions shape the targets and tools of central bank co-operation, what factors influenced its intensity and did structured organisations make a difference to its effectiveness?

The paper finds that while central bank co-operation through history was ultimately directed at ensuring monetary