The BIS is releasing today its consolidated statistics on the maturity, sectoral and nationality distribution of international bank lending for end-June 1999, together with summary tables. The statistics are available on the BIS website (www.bis.org). They will be reproduced in the statistical annex of the BIS Quarterly Review of International Banking and Financial Market Developments, to be released on 22 November 1999 1 . The BIS international banking data are also included in the joint BIS-IMF-OECD-World Bank quarterly statistical release on external debt, which was introduced at the beginning of this year 2 . The coverage of the most recent consolidated data has been expanded to include positions vis-à-vis the reporting countries themselves and information on net risk transfers 3 .