The way in which official reserves are managed is changing. Data compiled by the BIS on deposits placed by monetary authorities with commercial banks confirm that reserve managers approach diversification cautiously. Nevertheless, they have steadily shifted into higher-yielding, higher-risk...

The turmoil in global interbank markets in the second half of 2007 raises questions about the robustness of interbank rate fixings. A comparison of alternative fixings for similar interest rates confirms that they diverged to an unusual extent. Nevertheless, the design of fixing mechanisms...

The depth and breadth of money markets in Asia have improved significantly over the past decade, yet many are still characterised by segmentation and a low degree of cross-border integration. Admittedly, the underdevelopment of Asia's money markets worked to the region's advantage during the...

In recent years efforts have been made to deepen financial links between emerging markets within individual regions. Such regional financial integration lags the integration of emerging markets with global markets, but authorities in Asia in particular are taking steps to accelerate the process

This paper seeks to understand why Asian foreign investment is concentrated in financial markets outside of the region instead of in Asian markets. We analyse empirically the geographical composition of the cross-border portfolio holdings of more than 40 source countries. We compare these...

The structure of market making in government bond markets has shifted from a bank-centric model to a hybrid one in which non-bank financial institutions, notably principal trading firms and hedge funds, play an important role alongside banks. This shift has occurred in several countries and,...

Well developed financial markets are a necessary condition for a currency to play a role as a reserve currency. The introduction of the euro greatly improved the functioning of euro financial markets. This paper investigates whether euro financial markets have developed sufficiently to...

This volume is a collection of the speeches, presentations and papers from a conference on "The International Financial Crisis and Policy Challenges in Asia and the Pacific". The event was co-hosted by the People's Bank of China (PBC) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to mark the...