Definition: Regional central bank

Category: Balance of Payments, IMF

A regional central bank is an international financial institution that acts as a common central bank for a group of Member countries. Such a bank has headquarters in one country and maintains national offices in each member country. Each national office acts as the central bank for that country and must be treated as an institutional unit that is separate from the headquarters institution. Each national office is a resident unit of the country where is located. The financial assets and liabilities of a regional central bank should be allocated among the national offices. The allocation should be made in proportion to the claims that such offices have over the bank's collective assets. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/statmanuals/files/BoP_Manual_Fifth_Edition_EN.pdf