Foundations of Central Bank Law

This IMFx course is designed to strengthen participants' understanding of the foundational legal aspects of central bank laws. The course combines conceptual introductions with practical cross-country legislative examples. The course will enhance participants’ capabilities to look critically at the central bank law of their own country and, where appropriate, formulate avenues to improve it.

Presented by the IMF Legal Department’s central bank team, which provides advice to member countries on their central bank laws, the course provides a practitioner's view to central bank laws. The nine modules of the course cover the (1) legal establishment, nature, and ownership of central banks, (2) central bank mandates, (3) decision-making structures of central banks, (4) autonomy, accountability, and transparency of central banks, (5) monetary and exchange rate policy, (6) lender of last resort and other crisis management functions, (7) macroprudential oversight, (8) the banker to the state, (9) currency and payment systems.

Participants explore these topics through video lectures, relevant readings, and testimonies from senior policy-makers. During the lectures, presenters will use examples from countries at different stages of economic development.

Throughout the course, you will have the opportunity to engage with fellow participants from around the world, and with course staff through the discussion forum. Assessments in each course module will test your understanding of key concepts, allowing you to track the progress of your understanding. A post course test brings together the different facets of the course to give a holistic approach as to how the foundational legal aspects of a central should be shaped.

This course is offered by the IMF, with financial support from the Government of Japan.

• Identify the key legal issues that generally need to be covered in central bank legislation, and how international good practices address those issues.

• Interpret and advise on the application of key legal issues and international good practices in domestic legislation.

• Analyze and assess domestic central bank legislation against international good practices.

• Develop and formulate recommendations on how to modify central bank legislation through law reform to align it to international good practices.

• Explain to stakeholders proposed amendments to central bank legislation and defend those proposals in discussions and consultation procedures with stakeholders.