Centre for Central Banking Studies

CCBS mission and approach

High-level mission and strategy

Our Centre was established in 1990 and is one of the oldest providers of international central banking technical co-operation and assistance.

Our mission is to equip central bankers and financial regulators – both in the UK and across the globe – with the frontier skills and expert knowledge they need to tackle the challenges they face.

We do this to promote global and UK economic stability, as well as to support wider international development objectives. Our ambition to be at the frontier of global central banking also directly supports the Bank of England’s international mission.

Working with our colleagues across the Bank of England, we achieve this through:

1. Our programme of international seminars and conferences for central bankers and financial regulators from all over the world. These cover a blend of:
   • novel and emerging areas which are high on the international central banking policy, operational and research agendas;
   • the best-in-class toolkits, techniques and approaches used in modern central banking; and
   • thematic and traditional areas of central banking – where we believe we can help build skills through the sharing of our experience.
2. Our programme of technical co-operation and training with certain central banks in emerging Africa and Asia. This programme has been developed through our partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
3. Conducting our own analytical work and research to push the knowledge frontier and showcasing that internationally.
4. Supporting the Bank’s wider internal and external skill-building activities, most notably, the post-graduate qualifications in global central banking and financial regulation developed with Warwick Business School.

Our approach to international seminars and workshops

Our international seminars and workshops are for central bankers and financial regulators only and are directed at experienced professionals. This approach allows us to promote open and frank debate among our community. Most are open to central bankers and financial regulators from all over the world. Some, however, are by invitation only. Our research and analytics-focused conferences are also open to the academic community.

Most are pitched at the cutting-edge of central banking and financial regulation. They tend to focus on common challenges across central banks, where progress needs global intellectual leadership. In all our work we endeavour to promote best practice, drawing on our own experience in the United Kingdom, as well as in the rest of the world. Where appropriate we also benefit from the perspective of academia and other organisations. Our format is usually a mixture of lectures, panel discussions and case studies.

We promote diversity in all its forms. We offer an inclusive environment and actively encourage the sharing of experience. Our events are much more enriched when we hear from others. We welcome challenge to our own thinking, particularly in our policy seminars.

Moreover, we strongly encourage diverse participation in terms of race; gender; sexual orientation; disability; religion; as well as local minorities in your home countries. We politely ask decision makers to bear this in mind when nominating candidates.

All our international seminars and workshops are free of charge.

Our policy on in-person and virtual seminars

Most of our seminars are offered on a virtual-only basis. This reflects financial and carbon considerations. It also allows for greater participation from colleagues across our central banking and regulatory community. We recognise, however, that some activities benefit from in-person presence. This is where the community can benefit from establishing networks and contacts. So as indicated in the programme, our high-level ‘heads of…’ events and research conferences are held physically in London. If your institution would like an invitation to an in-person high level event, please let us know.

Upcoming seminars, workshops and conferences

The tables set out our forthcoming activity. These are live and will be updated continually. The tables also indicate possible additions to our programme over the coming year. We encourage you to check the programme at regular intervals.

Virtual seminars in 2024

Virtual seminars in 2025 and beyond

In-person workshops and conferences in 2025 and beyond

Virtual seminars

Cutting-edge analytics and toolkits

R for non-econometrics

26–29 November 2024

Event Director:
Andrew Blake

As data sets available to economists evolve, so too must the methods that form the analytical toolkit. Data sets with millions of observations or unstructured text documents, say, need a different approach to simple linear regression. At the same time, excellent texts such as James, Witten, Hastie and Tibshirani ‘An introduction to statistical learning’, McElreath’s ‘Statistical Rethinking’ and Silge and Robinson’s ‘Text Mining with R’ show how to deal with many of the problems that new data sources pose. These offer exciting – and surprisingly tractable – alternatives to traditional econometrics methods.

This event should get you started on analysing data in ways not found in the econometric textbooks. A number of self-contained applications are likely to be covered, all in R and within a common framework. Methods such as regularised regression, regression trees, multilevel modelling and sentiment modelling are all likely to form part of the course as well as others. Topical, cutting-edge examples from our Advanced Analytics Division will provide example uses of this increasingly important toolkit.

Target group:
This event will likely benefit classically trained central bank econometricians who want an introduction to the insights that other disciplines such as machine learning can bring to analysing economic data.

Forecasting in central banks

11–13 March 2025

Event Director:
Andrew Blake

Central banks are fundamentally interested in forecasting. They need them both to inform policy decisions and then inform stakeholders about the most likely outcomes given those policy decisions. These two requirements conflict: for example, how much should a policymaker factor into their forecast an impact of their expected policy paths? If they don’t, how does anyone know what policy is expected to do?

In this course we will explore a variety of forecasting methods widely used in central banks. These include the use of highly structured models, purely statistical alternatives and those that lie somewhere in between. We aim to explore how much we should trade-off theoretical consistency for forecast accuracy, and what we specifically sacrifice with each approach.

Among other topics we will discuss the forecast process itself, appropriate models for different types of data, the quantification of uncertainty, and the systematic use of judgement. Specific models likely to be included include MIDAS, state-space and BVARs, together with how to use a structural or semi-structural model for forecasting. In the light of the recent Bernanke Review, we will discuss the issues raised by it and why they are important for policymakers. We will discuss some of the specific recommendations such as the use of scenarios and fan charts.

Target group:
Central bank economists who wish to learn about the forecasting techniques commonly employed in monetary analysis. This includes those who wish to learn about some of the newer methods as well as those who have not specialised in forecasting. A sound understanding of econometric technique is required, and some prior exposure to economic models would be helpful. Computer exercises will use common packages, but experience in programming in a language like Matlab will allow participants to work through more of the exercises.

Economic modelling and forecasting

22–26 September 2025

Event Director:
Andrew Blake

Useful economic forecasts require good economic modelling. Building models that contain a clear statement of the assumed structure of the economy inform us about the shocks affecting it. Policymakers can then respond to those shocks. This seminar aims to improve participants’ understanding of current modelling strategies and forecasting techniques. Likely topics include state-space models and the Kalman filter, structural VARs, mixed-frequency (MIDAS) forecast models and DSGE models including Heterogeneous Agent New Keynesian (HANK) models – each will be accompanied by ample computer-based exercises. This workshop has a higher theoretical element compared with ‘Forecasting in central banks’ which focusses more on practical issues.

Target group:
The event is aimed at economists working in quantitatively orientated departments of their central bank. They should have some experience of econometrics and a background in economics. A knowledge of MATLAB programming is essential for this course, as is access to MATLAB on your own computer.

Causal inference using microdata

11–14 November 2025

Event Directors:
Angus Foulis and Jagdish Tripathy

Quantification of causal mechanisms is the ultimate goal of empirical economics. However, in most cases this is challenging, as the underlying data are not generated randomly. A number of econometric techniques have been developed to overcome these challenges. The recent explosion of microdata has allowed these techniques to be applied to a wider range of questions. This course builds these frontier skills and applies them to a range of economic questions of interest for central bankers, using the microdata that are increasingly available to our community. Topics to be covered at the event include: instrumental variables, panel data, (staggered) difference in differences, regression discontinuity, synthetic controls, and directed acyclic graphs and DAGitty.

Target group:
The course is targeted at central bank economists working in quantitative areas. They should have experience with econometrics and an economics background. Some experience with Stata and microdata is preferred.

Machine learning for central banks

25–28 November 2025

Event Director:
Andrew Blake

Central banks use mathematical models for many purposes. Until recently, most of these models were recognisably econometric in origin, and were often employed for important but routine tasks such as forecasting or assessing the stability of policy transmission mechanisms. But there are a number of areas where traditional modelling techniques have proved insufficient – for example predicting the risk of a financial crisis – and central banks have enthusiastically embraced new methods to explore how we can improve our analytical toolbox. At the same time, central banks have invested in the infrastructure to exploit available data from traditional and non-traditional sources, often yielding huge data sets in unfamiliar formats. Taken together, this means that analysts now employ a much greater variety of models in their work and are able to use data systematically in ways that were impossible even a few years ago.

This course will discuss different machine-learning models, applied to a wide variety of data sets including text and regulatory data to help with core central bank functions. This may include forecasting of traditional quantities like inflation or hard-to-predict events like financial crises or bank distress, or the timely measurement of data, or even assessing the impact of policy through text analysis. We expect the course to cover key methods ranging from tree-based models through to, say, word embeddings and large language models. We will discuss their implementation using appropriate software and assess how difficult methods are to use. All the methods will be illustrated by a variety of applications from experts discussing their own work. This is a fast-moving field, and we hope the course will capture that in the applications.

Target group:
Analysts with expertise in economics and/or econometrics who are interested in the application of machine learning models to central bank data. Participants should be comfortable with the use of models and data, probably in a traditional econometric environment, and be keen to learn how to use non-standard data sources and machine-learning techniques. At least a rudimentary knowledge of programming in a language like R, Matlab or Python is likely to be useful.

Current priorities and topical issues in central banking and financial regulation

Key current issues in the international monetary and financial system (IMFS)

2–4 December 2024

Event Directors:
Glenn Hoggarth, Grigoria Christodoulou and Mark Joy

This workshop will assess the impact of the various shocks affecting the global economy and the policies taken by central banks in high-income countries and emerging and developing countries to bring inflation back to target on a permanent basis. It will cover the potential trade-offs in the timing and scale of reducing policy rates set against the backdrop of a slow growing world economy, the war in Ukraine and geo-political tensions in the middle east.

It will also take stock of the state of the international financial architecture. Set against the uncertain external environment, very high sovereign debt and volatile capital inflows – especially from non-bank financial institutions – are posing financial risks to a number of emerging and particularly developing countries. More broadly, the IMFS that has developed and, in general, served the global economy well over the past 75 years is at risk of fragmenting.

The workshop will also focus on structural issues affecting central banks individually and collectively. It will consider the role of technology in revolutionising the global payment systems, the potential costs and benefits of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and their impact on the IMFS. It will also cover the role that central banks are playing in assessing the impact on the financial system of climate change and the transition to a net-zero emissions economy. The workshop will conclude by looking ahead to next year’s finance work programme of the G20 and the Financial Stability Board.

Target group:
This event is aimed at those leading or supporting the central bank’s work and engagement on the international economy including at international fora such as the IMF, G20, FSB and the BIS. It will include short set-piece presentations by Bank of England staff or invited experts and a moderated roundtable discussion between participants. We welcome offers from colleagues from a diverse range of jurisdictions to share their experiences.

Artificial intelligence, central banking and financial regulation

11 December 2024

Event Directors:
Mohammed Gharbawi, Matthew Pegg and Seema Visavadia

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), including the release of powerful large language models, have led to a surge of interest in AI, thrusting it firmly onto institutional and regulatory agendas. While the technology (including its ‘generative’ varieties) is expected to drive significant economic benefits, firms, governments, and regulators, as well as the technology firms responsible for creating sophisticated AI systems, have been quick to react pointing to risks ranging from the mundane to the existential. Central banks and financial regulators have an important role in navigating the complexities of this rapidly developing field.

Target group:
Participants should have some expertise in artificial intelligence and its application to central banking and regulation. The event will likely require participation from delegates.

Innovation in payments systems and technology

2–3 April 2025

Event Director:
Matthew Pegg

The advancing digitisation of economies is creating opportunities for innovation in payments. Technology developments and regulatory initiatives have opened the sector to competition, with new institutions and new business models emerging and changing the shape and length of traditional payment chains.

Central banks are modernising their own infrastructure increasing resilience, interoperability, and access. Regulators globally are implementing a roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments.

Applying tokenisation technology to conventional money could potentially allow payments to be embedded more efficiently and deeply into our increasingly digital economy. Many central banks are undertaking research, pilots or have launched retail central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and are experimenting with wholesale CBDC technologies. Authorities are also considering challenges and risks for public policy, oversight and regulation posed by stablecoins.

Target group:
Participants should have some expertise in payment systems with a particular focus on innovation in payments as it relates to central banking and regulation. The event will likely require participation from delegates. We welcome offers from colleagues to present on payments innovation in your organisation.

The BIS Innovation Hub London Centre’s recent projects: synchronised FX settlement, financial crime analytics, and ISO 20022 data insights

7 May 2025

Event Directors:
Matthew Pegg and Thomas Schardt (Bank for International Settlements)

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), together with partners, is taking a leading role in co-ordinating the work of central banks on technological innovation in the financial sector to pave the way for the future of central banking. In Spring 2025, the latest projects from the BIS Innovation Hub’s London Centre will have been completed and this seminar will provide an opportunity to hear about and discuss their conclusions. The first project – Meridian FX – a collaboration with the Bank of England and the Eurosystem, explores synchronised settlement for foreign exchange transactions to enhance efficiency and reduce risk. The second project – Hertha – focuses on using advanced data analytics to identify financial crime patterns within real-time payment systems, all while preserving user privacy. Finally, Project Keystone delves into leveraging ISO 20022 data to provide enhanced analytics capabilities for payment systems. An innovative approach was taken in the development of these projects, and the seminar will offer reflections on both their delivery and specific functionality.

Target group:
This seminar will be targeted at individuals who have an interest in delivering innovative technological solutions across a variety of central banking activities. The focus of the projects should also be of note to anybody looking on enhancing payment system functionalities, addressing financial crime, or improving interoperability through data standards.

Market liquidity and central bank tools

May 2025 TBC

Event Director:
Christine Jayaseelan

The last few years have witnessed structural changes to systemic risk which have posed serious threats to financial stability from outside the core banking system and occurring in financial markets in recent years. The strains that emerged in US repo markets in 2019, the 2020 ‘dash for cash’, the failure of Archegos in 2021, the near-collapse of commodity market functioning in Spring 2022 and the UK’s liability-driven investment (LDI) fund crisis later that same year all reflect the risks posed by Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) to financial stability are on a growing trend. While the triggers for several of these events were highly unusual, NBFIs have become increasingly important players in the core markets that lie at the heart of the economic and financial system. But the intermediation capacity in these markets, particularly from dealer banks, has failed to keep pace with their burgeoning size and struggles to meet the consequent demand for liquidity, particularly at times of stress.

This event aims to discuss issues around market liquidity supply and liquidity demand, and the nexus with central bank tools in context of market resilience. We will discuss NBFIs’ leverage and resilience, market structure changes and liquidity provision by NBFIs, NBFIs’ trading behaviour and financial stability. We will also review central bank toolkits and the Bank of England’s new Contingent NBFI Repo Facility.

Target group:
Participants should be from central banks and financial regulators actively working on these topics in their organisations, whether in research, financial stability/macroprudential policy, systemic risk or market-facing roles. The aim of the event is to encourage debate and discussion and to share thinking and approaches. Participants should be ready to participate actively in the discussions.

Artificial intelligence, central banking and financial regulation

30 September 2025

Event Directors:
Mohammed Gharbawi, Matthew Pegg and Seema Visavadia

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), including the release of powerful Large Language Models, have led to a surge of interest in AI, thrusting it firmly onto institutional and regulatory agendas. While the technology (including its ‘generative’ varieties) is expected to drive significant economic benefits, firms, governments, and regulators, as well as the technology firms responsible for creating sophisticated AI systems, have been quick to react pointing to risks ranging from the mundane to the existential. Central banks and financial regulators have an important role in navigating the complexities of this rapidly developing field.

Target group:
Participants should have some expertise in artificial intelligence and its application to central banking and regulation. The event will likely require participation from delegates.

Transforming data analytics and Supervision Technology tools (SupTech)

16–17 October 2025

Event Directors:
Carmen Barandela and Matthew Pegg

Financial regulators and supervisors around the world are innovating to keep pace with the advancing digitisation of the financial services industry.

Supervisors are making progress to adopt new data analytical tools to support supervision activities, rapidly identify and probe emerging issues, risk, and policy questions. Investments in technology and supervisor’s digital skills are being made to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of supervision.

This webinar will explore how supervisory technology, SupTech is driving the development and adoption of new data visualisation and analytical tools including text analytics, use of artificial intelligence, machine learning tools and large third-party language models, and building and maintaining supervisor’s digital skills.

Target group:
This seminar is aimed at central bankers and financial regulators with some expertise in, or responsibility for SupTech solutions in their organisation. The event will likely require participation from delegates. We welcome offers from colleagues to present on topics relevant to the development and implementation of SupTech.

Risk-based and forward-looking microprudential supervision

21–22 October 2025

Event Director:
Michael Smart

The prudential regulation and supervision of financial services firms continually adapts to the external environment. The post Great Financial Crisis regulatory regime aims to ensure the safety and soundness of firms, with an increasing focus on financial stability as well as financial and operational resilience. Supervisors of financial services need to balance an efficient use of resources with achieving good supervisory outcomes. The approach to prudential supervision has shifted to forward-looking, risk-based supervisory decisions and the use of supervisory judgement. This seminar will cover new and developing approaches to supervision, in ’business as usual‘ but also crisis management situations. We will focus not only on methodology but also on the emerging risks that supervisors of financial services firms need to be aware of.

Target group:
This seminar is aimed at experienced prudential supervisors or central bankers who are interested in or have contributed to the development of forward-looking risk-based supervision. We welcome offers from participants to share their experiences.

Operational resilience of the financial sector

18–20 November 2025

Event Directors:
Libin Dahir and Matthew Pegg

Operational disruption can affect financial stability, threaten the viability of individual firms and financial market infrastructures, or cause harm to consumers and other market participants in the financial system. The challenges of making the financial sector resilient to this disruption have become more complex in an increasingly hostile cyber environment. Growing digitalisation, interconnectedness and third-party dependencies have also increased the potential for operational risks to impact financial stability in recent years.

The workshop will explore the macroprudential and microprudential challenges of operational resilience and cyber; firms and policymakers must now move beyond preventing operational incidents towards actively responding, recovering and learning from them.

Target group:
The event is aimed at central bankers and regulators with an interest in or responsibility for monitoring, assessing, identifying or mitigating risks related to operational disruption. This responsibility may relate to the supervision of specific firms/financial market infrastructures; the financial stability of the sector as a whole; or the development of relevant policy. We welcome offers from participants to share their experiences.

Key current issues in the international monetary and financial system (IMFS)

2–4 December 2025

Event Directors:
Glenn Hoggarth and Mark Joy

This workshop will assess the impact of the various shocks affecting the global economy and the policies taken by central banks in high-income countries and emerging and developing countries to maintain inflation at target on a permanent basis. It will cover the potential trade-offs in achieving this set against the backdrop of a slow growing world economy, continuing geo-political tensions, high government debts and the potential risk of more frequent supply side shocks.

It will also take stock of the state of the international financial architecture and risks to global financial stability. It will cover the role of international currencies and cross-border capital flows set against the background of rapid technological change and the risk of IMFS fragmentation. The workshop will also focus on structural issues affecting central banks individually and collectively, in particular, innovations in payments systems, the role of central banks in dealing with climate change and the growing role of non-bank finance in the global financial system. The workshop will conclude by looking ahead to next year’s finance work programme of the G20 and the Financial Stability Board.

Target group:
This event is aimed at those leading or supporting the central bank’s work and engagement on the international economy including at international fora such as the IMF, G20, FSB and the BIS. It will include short set-piece presentations – by Bank of England staff or invited experts from other central banks, academia and the private sector – and a moderated roundtable discussion between participants. We welcome offers from colleagues from a diverse range of jurisdictions to share their experiences.

Research and analytics-focused conferences

6^th Workshop on Household Finance and Housing

5–6 June 2025

Event Directors:
Angus Foulis and Jagdish Tripathy

This workshop will bring together leading researchers to present frontier empirical and theoretical work related to the Bank of England Agenda for Research in the broad fields of household finance and housing. The workshop is jointly organised with Imperial College Business School and will feature up to an hour dedicated to each research paper, a policy panel addressing topical issues and keynote sessions by eminent speakers.

Target group:
Academics, central bank economists and financial regulators in the areas of household finance and housing are welcome to attend. Papers included in the programme are by invitation.

This event will be held in-person.

Application and practical information

Full details of our web-based electronic application process can be found in our How to apply documentation. For high-level ‘heads of…’ events please contact us if your organisation is interested in being invited. Please be aware, however, those require physical participation in London, and are for senior (director level) staff.

View forthcoming CCBS events

• View forthcoming CCBS events

Apply to attend an event

Please first register to attend our events using your organisation’s official email address:

• Register for our events

Once registered, you can apply for an event, monitor the progress of your application and apply for other CCBS events too.

• Apply to attend an event

If you need further information or assistance, please email the CCBS Administration Team at:

• ccbsinfo@bankofengland.co.uk

MS Teams

Our virtual events are conducted via MS Teams. A joining link will be sent for all MS Teams events. Further details of how to join the Webinar can be found in our MS Teams documentation.

Administrative information

Costs

The Bank of England makes no charge for participation; our virtual seminars are free to attend.

If attending an in-person event, we provide lunch and refreshments. Participants and their central banks/regulatory authorities are responsible for their own travel expenses, accommodation and other daily living costs. Please note that CCBS does not arrange transfers to and from airports.

Online portal

Successful applicants will gain access to the online portal for their chosen event(s), where they can download the event programme and access other relevant event materials.

To access event material via the online portal please sign-in using your official email address and password. Navigate to ‘My applications’ and once there, please click on the event and scroll to the bottom of the page where you will find the event material.

Recordings and presentations

Participants will be notified if the webinar they are attending is being recorded and whether materials/presentations will be shared with them. If so, they will be informed when they are available and will be able to access via the online portal using the instructions above.

How to receive the latest news on CCBS events

If you are a central banker or financial regulator and would like to receive our marketing emails with the latest news about upcoming CCBS events please sign up here.

Resources

CCBS produces various publications with the aim of presenting particular topics which concern central banks and regulatory authorities in a concise, balanced and accessible manner and in a practical context.

• New evidence on the monetary transmission mechanism workshop 2024
• 4th Workshop on Household Finance and Housing 2023
• CCBS Macro-finance workshop 2023
• Advanced Analytics: new methods and applications for macroeconomic policy 2022
• 3rd Workshop on Household Finance and Housing 2022
• Macro-finance workshop 2022
• Chief Economists’ workshop 2021
• Household finance workshop 2021
• 4 November 2020: Modelling with big data and machine learning: measuring economic instability
• 17 June 2020: Virtual workshop on household finance and housing
• 4 November 2019: Modelling with Big data and machine learning: interpretability and model uncertainty
• 26 November 2018: Modelling with big data and machine learning
• 13 November 2017: Big data empirics and policy analysis
• 27 September 2017: Modelling credit risk
• 1 January 2015: Deriving option-implied probability densities for foreign exchange markets
• 1 January 2015: Understanding the central bank balance sheet
• 1 January 2015: Text mining for central banks
• 1 September 2012: Applied Bayesian econometrics for central bankers updated 2017
• 24 February 2012: State of the art of inflation targeting
• 1 January 2012: Collateral management in central bank policy operations
• 19 June 2006: The Centre for Central Banking Studies
• 16 December 2002: The Centre for Central Banking Studies