Formerly known as the Committee on Gold and Foreign Exchange, the Markets Committee was established in 1962 following the setting-up of the so-called Gold Pool. Then, members continued to meet for open and informal exchanges of views. Over the years, the focus of these discussions has shifted towards coverage of recent developments in financial markets, considerations of possible future trends, and exchanges of information about the short-run implications of particular current events for the functioning of these markets and central bank operations.
The Committee meets on the occasion of the bimonthly meetings of Governors of BIS member central banks. Special meetings are organised on an ad hoc basis to discuss more structural developments that could have an impact on short-term market dynamics. No public releases of the meeting agendas or discussions are made. Ad hoc reports are made by the Chairman to the Committee of G10 central bank Governors.
To facilitate its discussions and enhance market transparency, the Markets Committee condensed the information on the monetary policy frameworks and market operations of its members into a single and easily accessible document: Monetary policy frameworks and central bank market operations, first published on 17 December 2007 and updated on 23 April 2008.
The Committee comprises senior officials responsible for market operations in the G10 central banks (National Bank of Belgium; Bank of Canada; European Central Bank; Bank of France; Deutsche Bundesbank; Bank of Italy; Bank of Japan; Netherlands Bank; Riksbank; Swiss National Bank; Bank of England; Federal Reserve Bank of New York). Four times a year, senior officials of non-G10 central banks or monetary authorities also participate in the meetings (Australia, Brazil, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Korea, Mexico, Singapore and Spain) as special guests to the Markets Committee.
Hiroshi Nakaso, Director General, Financial Markets Department, Bank of Japan
François-Louis Michaud, Bank for International Settlements
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