Relationships with other BIS standing committees

The BCBS was not, and is not, an autonomous committee. As has been amply documented in previous chapters, it was established by, got its mandate from and answers to the G10 central bank Governors. While it has always had a certain latitude to initiate work unilaterally, its work programme is reported to the Governors and they can set its priorities. It cannot communicate conclusions, nor make proposals, to bodies outside the BIS without the general agreement and support of the Governors.

The G10 Governors (and the subcommittees that the Governors establish) are serviced and provided with a Secretariat by the BIS. The relationship between the G10 governors and the BIS, under the General Manager, is somewhat intricate, and has been nicely described by Toniolo and Clement in their book Central Bank Cooperation at the Bank for International Settlements, 1930–1973 (2005). The BIS does not control the BCBS in any sense. The BCBS takes its own decisions, subject to the wishes of the G10 governors and subject to the constraints on resources for the Secretariat made available to them by the BIS (normally agreed by consensus, but subject to negotiation between the Committee’s Chairman and the BIS if resolution is needed).