> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://tools.osintnewsletter.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://tools.osintnewsletter.com/osint-tools/bis-data-portal.md). # BIS Data Portal Tool Description : Public platform for exploring, analysing, and downloading international financial and economic statistics. | **BIS Data Portal** | **Quick Overview** | | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | URL | | | What it does | Provides access to official statistics from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), including financial, banking, monetary and economic data. | | How to use it | Search by keyword, browse by topic/country, or search directly using a BIS time-series code. Results can be filtered, visualised, compared and exported. | | Cost | Free. | | Account required | No. | | Cookies | Matomo/Piwik analytics cookies and server-side session/security cookies. | | Ownership | Bank for International Settlements, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. | | Use in Reporting | Useful as a primary/official source for financial, banking, monetary and economic statistics. | ### What does BIS Data Portal do? The BIS Data Portal is an official statistical resource operated by the Bank for International Settlements that provides structured time-series data compiled by BIS in cooperation with central banks and other national authorities. It can be particularly useful when you need to establish or quantify international banking exposure, cross-border financial activity, debt securities and issuance, credit levels and credit-to-GDP, global liquidity, derivatives activity, property prices, exchange rates, central-bank assets and policy rates, and payment statistics. **The lowdown:** Simply put, it’s an authoritative financial-data source. ### How to Use: **1. Go to the BIS Data Portal and either use the search bar or select Topics to browse the available datasets. Search for a subject, country or specific time series.** You can use ordinary keywords—for example, credit UK—or a specific BIS series key. The portal also supports operators such as AND, OR, NOT and wildcards. **2. Select the relevant series and examine the metadata, dates and values.** **3. You can then create charts/tables or export the data as CSV or Excel. BIS also provides bulk downloads and an SDMX API for more systematic analysis.** ### Cost * [x] Free * [ ] Partially Free * [ ] Paid ## Data Processing ### Account Required: * [ ] Yes * [x] No ### Cookies: The site uses Matomo/Piwik analytics cookies (\_pk\_id, \_pk\_ref, \_pk\_ses) to measure visitor activity, sessions and referral sources. The site also sets two opaque, session-only cookies that are Secure, HttpOnly and SameSite=None, which appear to support application/session functionality. **Note:** Their exact purpose cannot be established from the cookie values alone. ### Use in Reporting The BIS Data Portal can be used to: * Research international financial and economic statistics. * Examine data relating to international banking, credit, debt securities, derivatives, exchange rates, property prices and global liquidity. * Compare financial and economic indicators across countries and over different time periods. * Identify trends, changes and anomalies in financial markets and banking activity. * Investigate cross-border banking exposures and international financial relationships. * Support research into financial flows, international banking activity and global financial risk. * Download datasets for further analysis, calculations and visualisation. * Use BIS statistical metadata and methodological information to understand how figures were compiled and what they represent. * Provide quantitative evidence to support investigations and reporting concerning banks, financial markets, monetary policy and international finance. **Reporting Note:** BIS Data Portal data is particularly useful as supporting quantitative evidence rather than evidence of wrongdoing by itself. Investigators should check the dataset's definitions, reporting period, revisions and geographic coverage before drawing conclusions, and should preserve the exact dataset/query used so that figures can be reproduced. | **Capabilities** | **Limitations** | | -------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Provides official financial and economic statistics. | Primarily statistical rather than person/entity-level OSINT | | Provides international banking and cross-border exposure data. | Data may be aggregated rather than identifying individual transactions. | | Offers historical time-series data. | Interpretation requires understanding the dataset's methodology. | | Enables search, filtering, charts and tables. | Different datasets have different coverage and reporting periods. | | CSV, Excel, bulk-download and API access available. | BIS does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or fitness of the statistics for a particular purpose. | ### Summary BIS Data Portal is a high-value source for financial OSINT, particularly during investigations involving international banking, financial flows, debt, credit, monetary policy or economic trends. Its greatest strength is source authority and structured historical data required and it’s particularly useful after an initial lead has been identified, as well as during the verification stage of an investigation. ### Ownership The portal is operated by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), an international financial institution headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. BIS statistics are compiled in cooperation with central banks and other national authorities. ### Ethical Considerations * Treat BIS statistics as evidence requiring interpretation, not proof of wrongdoing. * Check the methodology and metadata before drawing conclusions. * Distinguish between residence, nationality and location measures where relevant. * Preserve the original dataset/series identifier and retrieval date. * Do not imply that BIS endorses an investigative conclusion simply because BIS data is used. * Be aware that BIS itself states that its statistics are not guaranteed to be accurate, complete or fit for every intended purpose. ### Related Tools: * [UN Comtrade Data](/osint-tools/un-comtrade-database.md) * [World Bank Data](/osint-tools/the-world-bank-open-data-catalog.md) * IMF Data #### Sources