BIS Issues Preliminary 3Q 2011 International Banking Statistics

In the third quarter of 2011, after adjusting for the effects of the depreciation of most currencies against the US dollar, cross-border claims of BIS reporting banks rebounded by 2.0% following a decline of 0.6% in the previous period, and cross-border liabilities increased by 2.8%.  The upsurge in assets was mainly focused on interbank business, which grew by 4.2%, while lending to non-banks contracted by 1.8%. Excepting holdings of securities, which dropped by 3.9%, all other instruments rose on the assets side, and lending in euros increased by 3.8%. Most of the increase was recorded with developed countries and offshore centres, as activity with emerging economies in aggregate was subdued.  Reporting banks' international claims on an immediate borrower basis, adjusted for exchange rate movements, increased in the third quarter of 2011 (by 1.4%) after a moderate slowdown of 0.3% in the previous quarter.  Local claims in local currency also rose, by 1.3%.

banks' consolidated foreign claims slowed down by 2.7%, in particular visà-vis the non-bank private sector (-3.9%). Due to the decrease in long term interest rates and the appreciation of the US dollar against almost all currencies during the third quarter, as well as to better liquidity in the market, other exposures resulting from derivatives contracts, excluding credit derivatives, grew by $1.2 trillion after an increase of $800 billion in guarantees in the second quarter.