Legal information - overview

BIS Headquarters in Basel, Switzerland; two representative offices in Hong Kong SAR and Mexico City

The Bank for International Settlements opened for business on 17 May 1930 in Basel, Switzerland, where it still has its headquarters today. Since its founding, the BIS has established two representative offices: in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1998) and in Mexico City (2002).

The BIS was created at the Hague Conference that dealt with the issue of German war reparation payments arising from the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Besides the Agreement Approving the Experts' Plan adopted on 20 January 1930 by that Conference (see League of Nations, Treaty series, vol. 104, 1930, pp. 243-411), which refers to the constitution of the BIS, the key instruments creating the BIS were the following:

The Brussels Protocol (also available in French, German and Italian) relates to the BIS's immunities, including for assets deposited by the BIS with third parties. The Protocol was signed on 30 July 1936 by representatives of 16 governments (many more have acceded since).

The legal status of the BIS vis-à-vis the jurisdictions in which it is either headquartered or has a representative office is regulated by the:

All the above documents linked to on this page are collected in the BIS Basic texts (also available in French, German and Italian).


BIS Innovation Hub Centres

The BIS has also established, as a BIS office,

A BIS Innovation Hub Centre in Singapore in collaboration with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The legal status of the BIS in Singapore is regulated in particular by the following Singapore legislative orders:

A BIS Innovation Hub Centre in London in collaboration with the Bank of England.

The legal status of the BIS in the United Kingdom is regulated in particular by the following texts:

A BIS Innovation Hub Nordic Centre in Stockholm in collaboration with Danmarks Nationalbank, Central Bank of Iceland, Norges Bank and Sveriges Riksbank.

The legal status of the BIS in Sweden is regulated by the:

  • Host Country Agreement concluded with the Government of Sweden on 3 and 5 February 2021 which entered into force on 27 May 2021.
    See also Note Verbale by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs dated 3 June 2021.

A BIS Innovation Hub Eurosystem Centre with locations in Paris and Frankfurt am Main in collaboration with the European Central Bank, the Bundesbank and the Banque of France.

The legal status of the BIS in France is regulated by the:

  • Host Country Agreement (available English and French) concluded with the Government of France on 13 September 2021 which entered into force on 13 January 2023. 
  • Social Security Agreement (in French only) concluded with the Government of France on 13 September 2021 which entered into force on 1 February 2023.
    See also Note Verbale (in French).

The legal status of the BIS in Germany is regulated by the: