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Description of Central Bank Modernisation

As central banks around the world upgrade their governance and strategic planning and manage major internal and external reforms, this new compilation of studies by leading experts shows how these challenges can be met.
Introducing a new payments system. Modernising the process of monetary policymaking. Spurring national financial sectors to greater efficiency and competitiveness. Reorganising and streamlining their own functions. These are just some of the tasks on which a modern central bank is typically engaged.

Because each central bank is the only institution of its kind in its national economy, there are no simple "roadmaps" to guide the reform.

Central Bank Modernisation is the first complete analysis of how policymakers can confront and surmount these obstacles. It is edited by Peter Nicholl, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and former governor of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and by Neil Courtis of Central Banking Publications.

The book combines rigorous analysis with practical case studies to illustrate how many leading central bankers have in practice reformed their institutions.

In-depth case studies

The principal elements and stages of the modernisation process are analysed in detail. Then each of these is illustrated by means of fascinating case studies:

• The separation of monetary and supervisory functions – case studies from the UK and Kazakhstan.

• The reengineering of the payments system – how the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina created an RTGS system linked to the EU.

• Taking the long view – how New Zealand's reserve bank became the forerunner of the modern central bank.

• Financial services reform – the State Bank of Pakistan sets an example.

• The creation of a new central bank – how Timor-Leste created a monetary authority from the chaos of the newly independent state.

• The Governor's role – Leszek Balcerowicz, deputy premier and minister of finance in the first non-communist government in Poland, now governor of the National Bank of Poland .

These case studies are authored by the senior staff, often the governor, of the institutions involved.

Other sections of the book examine the main drivers for change:

• demands for transparency and accountability;

• increasing calls for information on economic performance;

• Renewed scrutiny of the appropriate scale and scope of the central bank;

• a new focus on central bank efficiency.

Process improvement

A further section analyses how central banks can develop, maintain and improve their most important functions. These studies allow peer institutions to benchmark their own practices, and draw on tried and tested solutions.

• How the Fed manages its IT;

• How the central banks of South Africa and Canada use strategic management planning to enhance their corporate governance and policy delivery;

• A groundbreaking chapter by Marko Skreb, former governor of Croatia’s central bank, explaining how (and why) central banks should develop their research functions;

• How central banks like the Cleveland Fed, Sweden’s Riksbank and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka have achieved efficiency gains through strategic reviews of key functions.
Who should read Central Bank Modernisation

Policymakers, advisors, researchers and managers in:

* Central banks;
* Ministries of finance;
* Development banks;
* Government auditors;
* Supervisory agencies;
* International financial institutions;
* NGOs;
* Consultants;
* Audit firms;
* Think-tanks and independent research institutes.

For all those involved in central bank and financial sector reform, whether in developed countries or emerging markets, this new book provides an indispensable collection of institutional wisdom, drawing together tried and tested solutions into a single volume.

Title Information

ISBN:

9781902182384

Pages:

230 pages

Format:

Hardback

Product Code:

129054

Publisher:

Central Banking Publications

Published:

31/08/2005

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Contents of Central Bank Modernisation

1. Introduction
Peter Nicholl, Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina

I THE CHALLENGE OF REFORM

2. The challenge of reform
Leszek Balcerowicz, National Bank of Poland
3. Why change?
John Mendzela, Mendhurst Associates
4. Enhancing transparency in central bank reporting
Kenneth Sullivan, International Monetary Fund

II RETHINKING THE SCOPE OF THE CENTRAL BANK

5. Central bank operational efficiency: meaning and measurement
Vern McKinley, Bearing Point and King Banaian, St Cloud State University
6. Restructuring financial supervision: the UK experience
Michael Foot CBE, Central Bank of the Bahamas
7. Unification of financial sector regulators: the case of Kazakhstan
Bryan D. Stirewalt, BearingPoint
8. Alternative models for outsourcing banknote services
Adrian Baxter, Alan Gerard, Bill Melbourn and Barry Noble

III IMPROVING PROCESSES

9. Managing central bank IT
Bruce J. Summers, Federal Reserve Information Technology
10. Do all central banks need a well-developed brain?
Marko Skreb, Independent Evaluation Office, International Monetary Fund
11. Strategic management in central banks: the South African experience
Francois J. van Zyl, South African Reserve Bank
12. Strategic planning: a key to effective corporate governance
Mark L. Jewett and Colleen Leighton, Bank of Canada

IV CENTRAL BANK REFORM IN ACTION

13. Twenty years of modernisation: the Reserve Bank of New Zealand
John Singleton, Arthur Grimes, Gary Hawke and Frank Holmes
14. Payments system reform: a case study of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Peter Nicholl, Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina
15. Timor-Leste: starting from scratch
Luis Quintaneiro, Bank of Portugal
16. The role of the State Bank of Pakistan in reforming the
financial sector
Ishrat Husain, State Bank of Pakistan