Organisation, governance and activities

This part of the Annual Report reviews the organisation of the Bank for International Settlements, summarises its activities for the financial year 2008/09 and presents its financial results.

The work of the Bank during the financial year was dominated by the need to deal with the challenges posed by the intensifying global financial crisis. Financial stability issues became a main focus and work programmes were redirected to concentrate on this, both in support for the committees hosted at the BIS and in the Bank's research activities.

The market turmoil confronted the Bank with sustained demand to accept deposits and made it difficult to place funds profitably at an acceptable level of risk. As a result of actions taken by the BIS in its banking and risk management practices to address these challenges, the Bank's currency deposit base decreased by 16% during the financial year 2008/09 and the balance sheet total decreased by 18%. The net profit for 2008/09 amounted to SDR 446.1 million, 18% lower than for the previous financial year.