BIS expands innovation hub network

The Bank for International Settlements launched a major expansion of its network of innovation hubs today (June 30), with several new hub centres established across Europe and North America.

New hubs will open in London, Stockholm and Toronto, plus a shared Eurosystem hub in Frankfurt and Paris. These centres will be hosted by the Bank of England, Bank of Canada and European Central Bank, with responsibility for the Nordic hub shared between the National Bank of Denmark, Central Bank of Iceland, Norges Bank and Sveriges Riksbank.

The BIS says it will also establish a “strategic partnership” with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The location of a hub in Stockholm comes as a victory for the Riksbank, which lobbied to be one of the new hub locations. Swedish lawmakers changed the central bank act to allow the creation of a hub.

“Sweden is a leading innovation nation in various areas, not least in digital currency and payment services in the financial sector,” said governor Stefan Ingves today. “The Riksbank considers that a Nordic Innovation Hub Centre will contribute positively to Sweden remaining in the forefront of innovation.”

The Bank of England welcomed the creation of the London hub. Governor Andrew Bailey said: “Now more than ever it is important the central banking community does all it can to build a more effective, resilient and inclusive financial system, and technology is an important part of that effort.”

The goal of the hubs is to develop “global public goods”, to create shared benefits or tackle shared challenges in the global financial system through the use of technology.

The BIS already hosts hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland. Work currently underway includes regulatory and supervisory technology, global payments, tokenisation, digitalisation of trade, and the monitoring of fast-paced markets.

Benoît Cœuré, chief of the innovation hubs network, said in a statement: “With this expansion, the innovation hub will be well placed to advance work on a broad range of issues of importance to the central banking community, including digital currency and digital payments, cyber security, distributed ledger technology, and artificial intelligence.”