There is no binding set of global standards for central bank financial reporting. Working with our firms’ central bank clients around the world, we have also found that their accounting and reporting standards can often diverge from the local, national standards for commercial banks and other private sector entities. Many central banks are empowered to defi ne for themselves a set of accounting rules considered appropriate to their particular structure and circumstances.

Central banks have long been internationally-oriented. But at a time of a globalizing economy and the spread of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for private sector entities, many users of central bank financial statements may be increasingly looking for harmonized accounting practices – a lingua franca for central bank financial reporting.

Thus our idea arose for a comparative study of central bank financial reporting. Our aim was not to determine a body of ‘industry best practice’, but to identify commonalities and explore variations in the financial reporting practices of a sample of central banks. We hope that the results presented here will be a source of ideas for all those directly involved in central bank accounting – the preparers, auditors and users of central bank financial statements. We have also tried to set technical accounting issues in the broader context of the business of central banking, and so our study may also be of interest to a wider audience.

Accountability and transparency

We live in the information era and in a business climate which is continually calling for improved corporate governance. Thus a major theme of our study is the accountability and transparency central banks provide to their stakeholders – for example governments, parliaments, the public, domestic commercial banks and international financial institutions – in their financial statements and in their annual reports in general.

Central banks often find themselves needing to assert their independence from the government (or perhaps more precisely: their independence within the government). Improving accountability and transparency in the annual report may be an effective aid to such efforts.

For more information, download the complete report in Adobe pdf format from the link below: