Bank for International Settlements (BIS) - News, Articles & Research

Central banks develop prototypes for cross-border CBDC interoperability

The Bank for International Settlements and the central banks of Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa have developed two prototypes for a shared platform that could enable international settlements using digital currencies issued by multiple central banks.

22 March 2022

Company announcement/payments

DeFi, digital currencies, cyber security and green finance top BIS Innovation Hub agenda

In 2022, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub will launch new projects into central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), next generation payments systems and Decentralised Finance (DeFi), expanding its portfolio of explorations seeking to develop new technological public goods for central banks.

25 January 2022

News/crypto

Disagreement among Lords: A busy week for digital currency

We knew policymakers and financial leaders would be at their battle stations come 2022, and the updates rolling in across the crypto, CBDC and stablecoin fronts are coming thick and fast. We’ve rounded up the key updates from the private and public sector to make headlines this week:

14 January 2022

News/payments

Core banking systems get CBDC treatment with Project Helvetia

The Bank for Inetrnational Settlements, working in conjunction with the Swiss National Bank and SIX has successfully tested the integration of wholesale CBDC settlement with the core banking systems of five commercial banks.

13 January 2022

Company announcement/regulation

BIS appoints Raphael Auer as head of the Innovation Hub Eurosystem Centre

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today announced that Raphael Auer will join the BIS Innovation Hub (BISIH) team as the head of the upcoming Eurosystem Centre, expected to open in the first half of 2022.

06 January 2022

News/crypto

Benoît Cœuré: regulators likely to agree on crypto framework in 2022 – FT

In a conversation with the Financial Times, chief of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub, Benoît Cœuré, stated that a global framework for cryptocurrency should be agreed to in 2022.

20 December 2021

News/payments

BIS committee sets up cross-border payments task force

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is setting up a task force on defining common features of cross-border payment service levels.

13 December 2021

News/crypto

French and Swiss central banks hail completed wholesale CBDC trial

The Banque de France, the Swiss National Bank and BIS Innovation Hub are hailing the completion of their cross-border wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) experiment.

09 December 2021

Company announcement/crypto

Multi-CBDC arrangements: transforming words into works by BIS Augustin Carsens

Jointly operated payment systems involving multiple central bank digital currencies (multi-CBDCs) are a way to improve cross-border payments and settlements.

02 December 2021

News/regulation

New York Fed opens innovation centre

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has launched an innovation centre in a partnership with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

01 December 2021

Company announcement/regulation

BIS launches call for comments on access to central clearing and portability

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today invited comments on their new joint consultative report A discussion paper on client clearing: access and portability.

29 November 2021

News/payments

BIS calls for feedback on proposals to extend RTGS operating hours

The Bank for International Settlements is opening a consultation on the propsect of extending and aligning payment system operating hours to improve cross-border payments.

24 November 2021

Company announcement/sustainable

Basel Committee consults on climate risk proposals

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision today issued a public consultation on principles for the effective management and supervision of climate-related financial risks.

16 November 2021

News/crypto

Basel Committee to revisit crypto asset proposals after market pushback

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is to revisit its proposed punitive rules on investments in crypto assets by financial institutions after substantial pushback from trade associations.

09 November 2021

News/sustainable

Blockchain can be a boon for green finance - BIS

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub is reporting a positive case for the use of distributed ledger technology in streamlining the green bond issuance process, while making it easier to track projects' positive environmental impact.

09 November 2021

Company announcement/people

BIS appoints Innovation Hub heads for London, Nordic and Toronto Centres

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today announced three new senior appointments to the BIS Innovation Hub, expanding its network to support central bank collaboration on new financial technology.

08 November 2021

Company announcement/sustainable

BIS and Bank of Italy announce winners of G20 green TechSprint

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Bank of Italy announced today the winners of the G20 TechSprint 2021 challenge during a live award ceremony in Milan.

25 October 2021

Company announcement/regulation

CPMI calls for ideas on ways to expand PvP settlement

Settling FX trades can lead to significant principal risk exposures when one counterparty to a trade sends a currency payment to the other counterparty before receiving the currency it is buying.

07 October 2021

News/crypto

BIS GM issues Facebook stablecoin warning

The rise of Big Tech and its incursions into payments through projects such as Facebook's Diem stablecoin, could concentrate market power and threaten financial stability, challenge bank business models, and fragment the monetary system, warns BIS general manager Agustín Carstens.

06 October 2021

News/crypto

CPMI and Iosco publish guidance, call for comments on stablecoins

International financial watchdogs are close to approving new rules on the use of stablecoins in financial markets, using the 'same risk, same regulation' mantra that has been aplied to discussions over the reining in of Big Tech and non-bank payment companies.

06 October 2021