Review of BIS governance - report by legal experts

In 2004, the BIS undertook a review of its governance to determine the extent to which it was consistent with current principles of sound corporate governance, taking due account of the specific features of the Bank as an international organisation.

The review was conducted by three leading independent corporate governance experts: Professor Klaus J. Hopt, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Foreign Private Law and Private International Law in Hamburg; Professor Reinier H. Kraakman, Harvard Law School, and Professor Jean-Victor Louis, former General Counsel of the National Bank of Belgium and Emeritus Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

The experts submitted their final report to the BIS Board of Directors in November 2004. The report identified some possibilities for improving the Bank's Statutes and its governance practice. The Board of Directors then established a Board committee to discuss the matters raised in the experts' report and to make proposals for concrete actions. The committee recommended a number of amendments to the Bank's Statutes to improve the Bank's corporate governance and increase its transparency. The amendments were approved by the Board and adopted at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Bank on 27 June 2005.