Working Group on Securities Databases
Last Updated: December 12, 2014
In July 2007, the Working Group on Securities Databases (WGSD), originally established in 1999, was reconvened in response to various international initiatives and recommendations to improve information on securities markets. The members of the WGSD are the European Central Bank (ECB) (chair), the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the IMF, and the World Bank. Selected experts from national central banks, who have participated actively in various international groups that have identified the need to improve data on securities markets, have also been invited to contribute to the deliberations of the WGSD.
In 2009, Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors of the Group of 20 Economies (G-20) endorsed a report prepared by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Secretariat and the IMF staff, The Financial Crisis and Information Gaps, which presents 20 recommendations to address data gaps. Three progress reports have been prepared and endorsed by the G-20, including the latest report of September 2012. Recommendation 7 in these reports calls "for central banks and, where relevant, statistical offices, particularly those of the G-20 economies, to participate in the BIS data collection on securities and contribute to the further development of the Handbook on Securities Statistics. The WGSD was called upon to develop and implement a communications strategy for the Handbook."
The core members of the WGSD are the European Central Bank (ECB) (chair), the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Selected experts from national central banks and other international organizations are invited to contribute to the deliberations of the WGSD (Participants lists: Meeting 1, Meeting 2, Meeting 3).
Handbook on Securities Statistics
The Handbook provides a conceptual framework for securities statistics, including classifications for different possible breakdowns. It also provides high-level and detailed presentation tables that should assist in the compilation and dissemination of securities statistics.
The WGSD has produced three parts of the Handbook. Part 1, published in 2009, deals with debt securities issues. Part 2, published in 2010, covers debt securities holdings. Part 3, published in 2012, focuses on equity securities issues and holdings. All three parts of the Handbook are based on the 2008 System of National Accounts and the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, sixth edition (BPM6). They go partly beyond these standards by elaborating on additional breakdowns on issues and holdings of debt and equity securities. Special attention is also paid to valuation and accounting rules, as well as to specific operations related to debt and equity securities.
Data Collection on Securities
The BIS has been collecting and disseminating information on debt securities issues in domestic and international markets since late 1980s. Statistics are collected for more than 50 countries. Following the publication of Part 1 of the Handbook, the BIS has been working with the central banks of these countries to improve the statistics in line with the recommended concepts, breakdowns, and presentation tables of the Handbook.1
As envisaged in the progress report on the G-20 recommendations noted above, the BIS improved its quarterly data collection for debt securities for G-20 economies and selected emerging markets. Data on debt securities issues are reported on a regular quarterly (end-quarter) basis. The BIS will disseminate the data in comparable formats in its publications and on its website: http://www.bis.org/statistics/secstats.htm.
For the euro area, the EU and the EU Member States, the ECB collects and publishes data on debt and equity securities issues. Moreover, the ECB is currently publishing statistics on holdings of debt and equity securities by euro area institutional sectors on a quarterly basis in the integrated framework of the euro area quarterly sector accounts. This includes not only stock data but also transactions and a reconciliation between stock and transactions that will soon separately identify the impact of price changes in the value of the holdings of securities.
The IMF implements the Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS). Following consultations with reporting economies and with other stakeholders, and endorsement of the IMF Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics, the IMF will implement a number of important CPIS data enhancements beginning with the June 2013 measurement date. The enhancements include increasing the frequency (from annual to semiannual) and timeliness (a dissemination lag of less than nine months) of the data, and collecting data on short or negative positions, and on the institutional sector of the foreign debtor, on an encouraged basis.
Communication Strategy
A WGSD's communication strategy supports the dissemination of improved debt and equity securities issues statistics on the WGSD website, on the BIS website, and on the ECB website for the euro area, the EU, and EU Member States. Some aggregate information will be included in the Principal Global Indicators, a website of the Inter-Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics. Regarding data on holdings of debt and equity securities, the institutional sector accounts provide a framework for reporting statistics on holdings of debt and equity securities. The WGSD will make efforts to ensure that securities statistics published at the national and international level will follow the concepts and classifications of the Handbook. It will issue any further guidance and update the Handbook as required.
This website is to be used to promote the work of the WGSD. It therefore includes presentations on the Handbook and its implementation at international meetings, seminars and workshops:
Securitisation process in the Handbook on Securities Statistics 
1 With respect to the euro area, existing harmonized statistics for the euro area and for individual euro area countries are used (http://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/money/securities/html/index.en.html).