The BIS, founded in 1930 to help manage German reparation payments and to coordinate activities among central banks, served as little more than repository for gold reserves in the years following World War II. As central banks have gained status in recent years, and thanks to imaginative leadership, the BIS has reawakened and taken on a number of important roles, including setting international regulatory standards for global banking.
在没有进行认真改革的情况下，这两家机构都将像最近复苏之前沉睡了40年的国际清算银行那样陷入深深的冬眠之中。国际清算银行于1930年成立，目的是协助管理德国重建资金和协调央行的各项活动，它在二次大战后多年之中也不过起到了黄金储备保管箱的作用。随着近年来中央银行地位的回升，也多亏有充满想象力的正确领导，国际清算银行已经从沉睡中苏醒过来，并发挥了几种重要作用，其中包括为全球银行业制订国际制度标准。