The Bank for International Settlements is the most representative cooperative body among central banks to date, and it is well known to the public through the term "BIS Capital Requirements" that is used to assess the soundness of private commercial banks.
The BIS was established in January 1930 based on the Hague Agreement for dealing with the issue of the reparation payments imposed on Germany after the end of World War I. Its head office is situated in Basel, Switzerland, and 63 central banks from around the world are actively involved as its members. Initially, the role of the BIS was to acquire reparation payments from Germany, and to process capital settlements among countries and overall work related to the distribution of reparation payments. However, the BIS now focuses mostly on its function as a cooperative body of central banks that provides a forum for discussing current issues related to global finance.
The Bank of Korea had participated in the activities of the BIS partially as an observer from 1975 and became a member in January 1997. At that time, it contributed approximately 36.6 million US Dollars and had 3,000 shares allotted to it. It acquired 211 additional shares in 2005, by contributing 4.1 million US Dollars. As of October 2021, the Bank of Korea holds 0.57% of total BIS shares. The Bank of Korea has actively participated in regular meetings hosted by the BIS and in major decision making on the Board of Directors regarding the operation of the BIS since 2019, when its Governor was appointed as a member. Furthermore, The Bank of Korea also takes an active part in the committees including Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, Committee on the Global Financial System, Markets Committee and Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.