The Banque de France, part within the Eurosystem, of the BIS Innovation Hub, to accelerate the collaboration among central banks in innovative financial technologies

The Board of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today  announce (it was approved on 29 June) the expansion of the BIS Innovation Hub with the establishment of new Hub Centres across Europe and in North America in cooperation with member central banks.

In this context, the Banque de France, the Bundesbank and the ECB proposed in a collaborative effort to host the new Eurosystem Hub centre on two locations (Paris – Banque de France, Frankfurt – Bundesbank).

After the decision of the Board of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) yesterday, we are honored and delighted to be selected by the BIS to host, with the Bundesbank and the ECB a new common BIS Innovation Hub centre in Europe.

After the Banque de France received an award in 2019 in Singapour as the most innovative Central Bank in the world,  this decision of the BIS confirm the acknowledgement of the high innovative capacity of the french Central Bank through its open innovation Center “Le Lab” opened since 2017.

 “Le Lab” experimented more than 35 topics since its opening, including for example AI and Blockchain topics. Some experimentations offer now new daily capabilities for The Banque de France or its ecosystem, like the MADRE project to deliver SEPA creditor identifiers to commercial Banks inside a private blockchain network. Other Lab topics help the Banque de France to be more proactive including some concrete studies like CBDC experimentations.

The new BIS Innovation Hub centre Paris implantation will be located close to the Banque de France open innovation Lab in order to promote collaboration and exchanges in both sides.

For Thierry Bedoin, Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer of the Banque de France, “this new BIS Innovation Hub centre in Paris and Franckfurt is a good opportunity to offer more efficiently our innovation know-how to our ecosystem and to other Central Banks in the world. It confirms also our will to collaborate and expand our capabilities for the financial ecosystem”.

The Banque de France staff, in collaboration with the other actors of this new BIS Innovation Hub centre, is now completely engaged to concretize and quickly launch the Paris location and deliver its first works.