BISness: Recent Episodes
Bank for International Settlements
Experts from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) explain their work and discuss current issues for the global economy. As a hub for central banks and other financial regulatory and supervisory authorities, the BIS seeks to build a greater collective understanding of the world economy, foster international cooperation and support policy making.
The BIS marked its 95th anniversary in May 2025. Andréa M Maechler and Tobias Straumann talk about its origins and how its role has developed over the years.
Johannes Ehrentraud explains the evolving relationship between banks and tech firms in the financial sector.
Hyun Song Shin summarises the March 2025 BIS Quarterly Review and, along with Gaston Gelos and Frank Smets, answers journalists’ questions about market developments, the state of the global economy and fiscal policy.
Cecilia Skingsley reflects on the first five years of the BIS Innovation Hub and discusses how it can continue to be useful to the central banking community.
Claudio Borio and Hyun Song Shin summarise the December 2024 Quarterly Review and answer journalists' questions about financial market developments and the economic outlook.
Andréa M Maechler explains why price stability matters for consumers, employers, and investors and how central banks provide trust in money on three fronts, among other topics.
Jon Frost of the BIS Office for the Americas and Holti Banka from the World Bank dive into fast payments and central bank digital currencies, exploring their key differences and similarities, and looking into what the future holds.
Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda, Bank of Spain Governor José Luis Escrivá and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde discuss the implications of climate change for the real economy and central banks. Link to event page: https://www.bis.org/events/green_swan_2024/overview.htm
Deniz Igan explains the drivers and implications of the strong growth of housing costs despite a decline in inflation.
Claudio Borio and Hyun Song Shin summarise the September 2024 Quarterly Review and answer journalists' questions about financial market developments and the economic outlook.
Andreas Schrimpf and Vladyslav Sushko explain the drivers and implications of the unwinding of carry trades, which were associated with financial market turbulence in August 2024.
Agustín Carstens outlines the ideal policy constellation for the fastest growth with the lowest inflation and issues a call to action for governments.
Claudio Borio discusses the lessons learned for monetary policy from the extraordinary events of the past 25 years, and looks ahead to upcoming challenges. Read more.
Hyun Song Shin discusses the benefits and challenges for central banks of the latest artificial intelligence technology. Read more.
Should a prudential regulatory regime apply to non-bank financial intermediaries – and if so, what should it look like? Financial Stability Institute Senior Advisors Johannes Ehrentraud and Raihan Zamil discuss this, drawing from their recent FSI Insight paper: Safeguarding the financial system's spare tyre: regulating non-bank retail lenders in the digital era (bis.org).
BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens and Siddharth Shetty, from the Foundation for Interoperable Digital Economy, discuss a vision of multiple interconnected financial ecosystems designed to empower individuals and firms, the Finternet, at the BIS Innovation Summit 2024.
Historian, philosopher and best-selling author Yuval Noah Harari discusses with Cecilia Skingsley, head of the BIS Innovation Hub, the potential impacts of future technologies on human society and the global financial system.
How will the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) affect inflation and the global economy? How do consumers perceive the impact of AI on their everyday lives? BIS economists Iñaki Aldasoro and Sebastian Doerr discuss these issues, drawing from their recent Working Paper The impact of artificial intelligence on output and inflation and BIS Bulletin Survey evidence on gen AI and households: job prospects amid trust concerns.
The Basel Committee at 50; listen to Chair Pablo Hernández de Cos and Secretary General Neil Esho discuss the Committee’s work – past, present and future, as well as the International Conference of Banking Supervisors.
Cecilia Skingsley and Hyun Song Shin explain the BIS’s new project to test the tokenization of commercial and central bank money, in association with seven central banks.
Roberto Campos Neto, Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil, talks to Alexandre Tombini, Chief Representative for the BIS Office for the Americas, about past challenges for the central bank and future priorities, including instant payments and financial inclusion.
Should central banks worry about women’s level of participation in the economy and the economic profession? Rosanna Costa, President of the Central Bank of Chile talks to Alexandre Tombini, Chief Representative for the BIS Office for the Americas about why they should, while also sharing some highlights on Chile’s current macroeconomic situation.
Claudio Borio and Hyun Song Shin summarise the March 2024 Quarterly Review and answer journalists' questions about financial market developments and the economic outlook.
Central banks were early adopters of AI and machine learning. But as the world ramps up efforts to embrace new technologies, what does this mean for central banks? How can they stay ahead of the curve?
Sebastian Doerr and Douglas Araujo discuss the findings of a BIS Bulletin on AI applications in central banking and the challenges that central banks might face in the future in this area.
What role have central banks played in bringing down inflation? 2023 has seen central banks across the globe respond forcefully to the recent rise in inflation. But given that much of this increase was due to sectoral shocks, what can monetary policy do to counter it? Benoit Mojon explains the findings of a new BIS Bulletin on monetary policy and disinflation, co-authored with other BIS economists.
Artificial intelligence is on everyone’s minds these days. Many are predicting a period of upheaval ahead, while others believe it will be beneficial to economic growth and productivity. But how will all this impact the richest and poorest in society? Jon Frost, Head of Economics for the Americas, and Giulio Cornelli, Senior Financial Market Analyst, shed some light on this question, drawing from their recent research paper Artificial intelligence, services globalisation and income inequality, co-authored with Saurabh Mishra.
Claudio Borio and Hyun Song Shin summarise the December 2023 Quarterly Review and answer journalists’ questions about financial market developments and the economic outlook.
Which trends might shape Asia’s economic outlook? Which challenges do emerging markets currently face? Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Chief Executive Eddie Yue discusses these questions with Chief Representative of Office for Asia and the Pacific, Tao Zhang. The HKMA has been a member of the BIS for over 25 years. Chief Executive Yue also spoke about the evolution of this relationship and about what developments such as digital innovation and climate change might mean for Hong Kong SAR and the wider region.
Do stablecoins live up to their name and can they serve as a reliable means of payment and store of value? Senior Economist Anneke Kosse discusses these questions based on the BIS paper “Will the real stablecoin please stand up?” She also highlights how significant data gaps regarding the users and uses of stablecoins make it difficult to ascertain the risks they pose to the smooth functioning of payment systems and financial stability.
Claudio Borio and Hyun Song Shin summarise the September 2023 Quarterly Review and answer journalists’ questions about financial market developments and the economic outlook.
The last mile to price stability will be most challenging, says Agustín Carstens, discussing the risks to the global economy laid out in the BIS Annual Economic Report.
Claudio Borio offers a historic perspective on the interaction of fiscal and monetary policy to better understand the challenges facing the global economy today, and draw some lessons for the future. Read more.
The special chapter of the Annual Economic Report 2023 lays out a blueprint for the future monetary system underpinned by central bank digital currency, thus opening up a new era in the joint development of the monetary system and the economy. Read more.
Over the past 40 years, income inequality within countries has risen inexorably. A book by BIS authors explains why this has profound implications for the design of macroeconomic stabilisation policies.
In a speech, Agustín Carstens argues that central banks need to think big to reap the greatest benefits from innovation. He discusses the options with Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Read the speech here: https://www.bis.org/speeches/sp230222.htm
How did the 2022 turmoil in the crypto market affect small, retail investors compared with large or insider investors? Was there any spillover to traditional financial markets? Jon Frost, Head of Economics for the Americas, and Giulio Cornelli, Senior Financial Market Analyst, provide some answers based on their recent BIS Bulletin Crypto shocks and retail losses, co-authored with Sebastian Doerr and Leonardo Gambacorta.
Andrew McCormack, Head, BIS Innovation Hub Singapore Centre, discusses Project Nexus, a blueprint for connecting multiple national payment systems into a cross-border network that could enable international payments to happen almost instantaneously. He talks about the successful completion of Phase II, which involved building a working prototype to link three established payment systems, and looks forward to Phase III, which will see five Southeast Asian countries work towards connecting their domestic payment systems. He also talks about the challenges facing the project as well as its ultimate aims. He touches upon innovations in the financial space and looks back on the major insights he gained in his time as head of the Singapore Centre.
Global green financing has grown 100 times over the past decade. And yet, it is still surrounded by considerable controversy – why is it so? Bank of France’s Jean Boissinot – a leading expert of green finance in the central bank community – explains what green finance can (and cannot) do for environmental sustainability. He also highlights the role and achievements of the Network for Greening the Financial System, a group of central banks and supervisors working together on environmental and climate issues
Cecilia Skingsley looks at her first six months as Head of the BIS Innovation Hub, the path of innovation on the public sector and the role of central banks and the private sector in providing financial services in a rapidly changing world. She says that central banks have to follow and understand not only cyclical changes, but also structural changes, which “can be slow and take a long time, such as globalization (…), or be very rapid and disruptive, such as the pandemic.” She also talks about diversity and being the first policymaker to propose a digital currency in her native Sweden.
Claudio Borio and Hyun Song Shin summarize the March 2023 Quarterly Review and answer journalists' questions about market developments and the economic outlook.
Central banks face difficult trade-offs when deciding the speed and size of interest rate hikes to counter inflation, as well as how long to keep the policy rate at the peak. Egon Zakrajšek, Senior Adviser in the BIS Monetary and Economic Department, discusses the benefits and risks of “front-loading” rate increases, drawing from a recent BIS Bulletin he co-authored with Paolo Cavallino, Giulio Cornelli and Peter Hördahl.
The BIS Innovation Hub is leading practical experiments to show how CBDCs can help deliver faster, cheaper and more transparent cross-border payments. Codruta Boar, advisor at the Innovation Hub, discusses research that she has co-authored with Morten Bech, Daniel Eidan, Philipp Haene, Henry Holden and Wee Kee Toh. Read more: https://www.bis.org/publ/othp51.htm
Claudio Borio and Hyun Song Shin brief the media on the key takeaways of the BIS December 2022 Quarterly Review and answer questions about FX markets, liquidity conditions, monetary policy and crypto assets.
Turnover in global foreign exchange (FX) markets reached $7.5 trillion per day in April 2022 in a volatile market, the 2022 Triennial Survey shows. Vlad Sushko, senior economist at the BIS, discusses a shift towards less “visible” FX trading venues. Read more.
Innovative technologies can foster a greener future by transforming finance. A case in point is the work being done by the BIS Innovation Hub Centre in Hong Kong. Bénédicte Nolens, head of the center, explains how Project Genesis 1.0 and 2.0 aim at making it more attractive to issue and invest in green bonds.
How can policymakers detect future stress risk in financial markets? Our staff developed new market conditions indicators for three key market segments.
Claudio Borio and Hyun Song Shin summarize the September 2022 Quarterly Review and answer journalists' questions about market developments and the economic outlook.
Asia-Pacific has often been at the centre of global developments in recent years. Siddharth Tiwari, departing Chief of the BIS Office for Asia and the Pacific in Hong Kong, explains how the region and BIS involvement there have evolved
Nana Yaa Boakye-Adjei, Senior Consultant at the World Bank, speaks about Financial Inclusion, CBDC and the work she has been doing during her secondment with the FSI at the BIS.
High inflation and mounting growth headwinds raise the prospects of global stagflation and call for quick and decisive action by central banks, says Agustín Carstens, presenting the BIS’s Annual Economic Report.
The recent surge in inflation has underscored the need to “look under the hood” to better understand how relative price changes can morph into broader-based inflation. Claudio Borio summarises the key insights from this fresh perspective.
What will the future of the monetary system look like? Hyun Song Shin, BIS Economic Advisor and Head of Research, presents a blueprint for the future monetary system as the fusion of enhanced technical capabilities around the core of the trust embodied in central bank money, as outlined in a special chapter of the BIS 2022 Annual Economic Report.
From black swans to green swans, Luiz Pereira da Silva talks about climate risks and what sustainable finance can realistically do for the transition to net zero, also in the light of the recent increase in energy prices.
What will global growth look like once the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic come to an end? Phurichai Rungcharoenkitkul explains why growth is likely to be slower in future without policy intervention.
Agustín Carstens speaks with Andrew Bailey from the Bank of England, Jerome Powell from the Federal Reserve Board, Joachim Nagel from the Deutsche Bundesbank and Noor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus from Bank Negara Malaysia about innovation and central bank digital currencies. Taken from a panel at the BIS Innovation Summit.
What is cyber resilience and how can institutions and users develop it? Chui Yong and David Whyte offer some insights into this fascinating topic.
Corrinne Ho offers a bird’s eye view on all of the BIS’s workstreams relating to climate change and green finance. From banking services to economic research, from innovation to regulation and capacity building, these activities all share the overarching principle of fostering international cooperation for the public good.
Projektleiter und BIZ Historiker Piet Clement spricht über die BIS 90 Years Ausstellung, die vom 26. Oktober – 4. November 2021 in Basel stattfindet.
Project Manager and BIS historian Piet Clement and exhibition designer Pablo Berger discuss the BIS 90 Years exhibition set to take place from 26 October – 4 November 2021 in Basel.
Johannes Ehrentraud reflects on potential regulatory approaches and policy options for big techs in finance, as described in FSI Brief 12, (co-author), FSI Occasional Paper 17, and other work at the BIS such as BIS Bulletin 45.
Diversity is about inclusion”. This podcast episode is a compilation of excerpts from a livestreamed panel discussion on women in central banking, moderated by Cecilia Skingsley and including panellists Andréa Maechler, Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus and Claudia Buch. See more
Claudio Borio discusses the nexus between inequality and monetary policy, as outlined in Chapter II of the BIS Annual Economic Report.
Agustín Carstens discusses the uneven economic recovery from Covid-19, the challenges for normalising fiscal and monetary policy and the outlook for inflation, as outlined in the 2021 Annual Economic Report.
Benoit Coeuré and Hyun Song Shin discuss Chapter 3 of the Annual Economic Report on CBDCs and how the BIS sees them best evolving for central banks, the public and financial stability.
Barry Eichengreen discusses the origins of the BIS’s views on exchange rates, capital flows and the financial cycle, based on his chapter in a recently published book issued to mark the Bank's 90th anniversary.
Carolyn Rogers speaks on how the pandemic affected banks, supervisors and the Basel Committee, presents the Committee’s work programme for 2021/22 and shares her views on diversity in finance.
Patrick McGuire and Goetz von Peter explain what happened to financial flows during the Covid-19 pandemic year of 2020, using recently updated international banking and global liquidity data. Read more
Ryan Banerjee and Boris Hofmann discuss how zombie firms have fared in the Covid-19 crisis and what lies ahead. Read more
Carlos Cantú and Paolo Cavallino explain how a novel database provides a “deep dive” into the monetary policy responses of central banks worldwide during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more
Bill Dudley explains the BIS’s role in supporting global financial stability and highlights from his time chairing some of the central bank committees in an interview conducted on 18 January 2021, expanding on his chapter in a book marking the Bank's 90th anniversary.
Harold James discusses the role the BIS played in the creation of the Euro, based on his book chapter in a recently published book issued to mark the Bank's 90th anniversary.
Andrew Baker explains the concept of measured contrarianism and how it allowed the BIS to reframe the understanding of financial stability, as described in a recently published book issued to mark the Bank's 90th anniversary.
Jon Frost and Giulio Cornelli tell the story of the Bank of Amsterdam, an 18th century deposit bank, and its lessons for the digital age. Its rise and fall shed light on digital stablecoins and the role of central banks.
Chris Brummer speaks about his chapter on Soft Law and the BIS in a recently published book issued to mark the Bank's 90th anniversary.
Catherine R Schenk speaks about her chapter on governance at the BIS in a recently published book issued to mark the Bank’s 90th anniversary.
Benoît Cœuré and Sir Jon Cunliffe, co-chairs of a central bank working group, discuss the report, Central Bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features.
Jean-François Rigaudy, outgoing Deputy Head of the BIS Banking Department, offers some insights on the evolution of reserve management, and of BIS banking services, from a long career serving central bank customers.
Agustín Carstens discusses the monetary and fiscal response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenges facing central banks ahead. Claudio Borio talks about the steps central banks took as regulators and supervisors. https://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2020e.htm
Hyun Song Shin discusses how central banks, as guardians of the safety and integrity of the payment system, must keep evolving to meet the challenge of rapidly accelerating digital innovation, as outlined in Chapter III of the BIS Annual Economic Report.
Piet Clement explains the origins of the BIS and the roles it has played since opening on 17 May 1930.
Patrizia Baudino speaks about Iceland in 2008 as part of the Financial Stability Institute’s new series on bank crisis management. https://www.bis.org/fsi/fsicms1.htm
Global warming has increased the frequency and severity of natural catastrophes. Geoff Summerhayes explains the challenges related to climate risk assessment and the transition to a low-carbon economy, and the role that financial supervision can play.
"Big data" is an increasingly important topic in the creation, storage, retrieval, methodology and analysis of multiple sources of information – for both the private and public sectors. Bruno Tissot discusses how we can best use big data, the opportunities and challenges it presents, and the policy issues it creates.
Climate change poses new challenges to central banks, regulators and supervisors. Luiz Pereira da Silva reviews ways of addressing these new risks within central banks' financial stability mandate, based on a new research paper, The green swan. "Green swan" risks are potentially extremely financially disruptive events that could be behind the next systemic financial crisis.
Hyun Song Shin explains how the BIS Innovation Hub, a new project designed to support central bank collaboration on new technology and to pool resources, puts central bankers at the cutting edge of innovation. Read the transcript on the BIS website.
Siddharth Tiwari explains India’s experience with designing digital infrastructure and the lessons it holds for improving cross border payments.
Hyun Song Shin offers some key analytical insights on foreign exchange and OTC derivatives markets from the latest BIS Quarterly Review, in which BIS economists take a deeper look at data from the 2019 Triennial Central Bank Survey.
Agustín Carstens discusses whether fiscal policy coordination can help slowing global growth and how Libra sparked an important policy debate.
Amit Seru, the Steven and Roberta Denning Professor of Finance at the Graduate School of Business of Stanford University and 2018 Alexandre Lamfalussy Senior Research Fellow, discusses the policy challenges from tech firms’ entry into payments and financial services and explains how the current surge in fintech innovation matches up to the past.
Ulrike Elsenhuber and Omar Zulaica, from the BIS’s Banking Department, explain how the BIS and central banks are supporting environmental sustainability and the greening of the financial system through the investment of foreign exchange reserves.
Claudio Borio sat down on 19 Sept to discuss the Bank for International Settlements’ latest Quarterly Review, which tells a tale of two opposing forces – trade tensions and monetary policy – and how markets oscillated under their influence.
Catherine Schenk, Professor of Economic and Social History at Oxford and BIS Lamfalussy Senior Research Fellow for 2018-19, explored BIS archives to shed light on central bank swaps. She discusses her findings and the relevance of history as a guide to policymaking.
William Coen recently left his job of Secretary General of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. In this episode of BISness, he looks back at his years at the helm of the global standard setter for the prudential regulation of banks.
BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens speaks about the risks to the global economic outlook, the path to higher interest rates and the best way to achieve sustainable growth, as outlined in Chapter I of the BIS 2019 Annual Economic Report, "No clear skies yet.".
Claudio Borio, Head of the BIS Monetary and Economic Department, explains the particular challenges for emerging market central banks in setting monetary policy and the multiple tools they use.
BIS Economic Adviser and Head of Research Hyun Song Shin discusses the entry of big tech companies into financial services and the new challenges this poses for financial regulators, consumer protection and data privacy.