Despite playing a pivotal role in the liberalization and globalization of finance since the late 1950s, and being the principal center for bank supervision, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is perhaps the most obscure and under-researched of the major global financial institutions.This book offers readers the only available definitive guide to understanding the BIS's identity and institutional make-up, as well as its role in the global financial system. It examines the internal governance and policy outputs of the BIS and provides a critical analysis of its evolution as the principal international center for central bank cooperation and the establishment international rules and standards for supervising internationally active banks. The BIS is often depicted as playing a supportive role to the IMF, G-8, World Bank, OECD, and regional development banks in the management of global finance.Ozgercin illuminates the role of the BIS in the existing architecture of global financial institutions, thus highlighting significant institutional differences. The proposed book will illustrate that compared to the other major global financial institutions, which are linked directly to governments through their treasuries, the BIS constitutes a uniquely independent, market-led approach to global financial governance, emphasizing the self-regulation of market institutions.A comprehensive yet concise and accessible introduction to the BIS, it will be of interest to students from a wide range of disciplines including Politics and International Studies, History, Sociology, Economics, and Finance.