The importance of securities markets in intermediating financial flows, both domestically and internationally, underscores the need for relevant, coherent, and internationally comparable statistics. This need was recognised by the G20 Data Gaps Initiative, launched in the aftermath of the 2007-08 global financial crisis with the support of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors and the IMF’s International Monetary and Financial Committee.

Good securities data, along with monetary and financial statistics, provide important indications on the level of diversification of financial intermediation. The Handbooksupports this analysis by strengthening the collection of securities data through conceptual advice and guidance to harmonize the presentation of securities statistics. It describes the main features of debt and equity securities as well as the institutional units and sectors as issuers and holders of securities, and discusses the statistical recording rules to be applied.

The Handbook is a milestone in that it is the first publication of its kind dealing exclusively with the conceptual framework for the compilation and presentation of securities statistics. Prepared jointly by the BIS, the ECB and the IMF working in close cooperation, the Handbook has also benefited from comments by experts from national central banks, national statistical agencies and international organizations.

It is expected that the Handbook will be widely applied, fostering harmonization of the international securities statistics that support global economic, financial, and macro-prudential analyses.