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 recognized by the G-20 Data Gaps Initiative, launched in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis with the support of the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors and the International Monetary Fund’s International Monetary and Financial Committee. Good securities data, along with monetary and financial statistics, are critical to understand the evolution and structure of financial intermediation. The Handbook on Securities Statistics supports this analysis by enabling the collection of better securities data through clarification of concepts and guidance on harmonized presentation of securities data. The Handbook describes the main features of debt and equity securities, looks at institutional units and sectors as issuers and holders of securities, and discusses the statistical recording rules to be applied.

As a milestone, the Handbook 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 Bank for International Settlements, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund in close cooperation, the Handbook has also benefited from comments by experts from national central banks, national agencies, and international organizations.

We expect that the Handbook will be widely applied, fostering harmonization of international securities statistics that support the analysis of global economic, financial, and macroprudential issues.