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Governance Benchmarks 2026 – legal matters
Nearly one-fifth of central banks (18.8%) say the law that governs their duties is “inappropriate in scope or wording”, the Governance Benchmarks 2026 show. Comments from respondents and data on independence in different areas suggests that (lack of) financial independence and the involvement of politicians in central bank affairs is a key driver of divergence between those that are satisfied with their laws and those that are unsatisfied.
Governance Benchmarks 2026 – model banks analysis
Data reveals differences between groups in board composition, legal protections and more
Governance Benchmarks 2026 – executive summary
Benchmarks data explores many legal issues, including scope of central bank law, independence and legal protections for governor
Governors still lack immunity
Benchmarks data gives mixed picture on the protections officials can expect from criminal and civil actions
Independence lower where central banks face legal issues
Financial independence a bigger problem where central banks say law is inappropriately worded
Inter-bank working groups
Facilitating connections between central bankers across the globe to promote the exchange of expertise and support collaboration.
Upcoming meetings include: Cyber risk management, social media in communications and upgrading forecast models.
Model banks
Governance Benchmarks 2026 – model banks analysis
Fintech Benchmarks 2026 – model banks analysis
Risk Management Benchmarks 2026 – model banks analysis
Communications Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Monetary Policy Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Reserve Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Financial Stability Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Supervision Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Payments Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Strategic Planning Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Governance Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Fintech Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Charts
Law impacts independence
The benchmarks data highlights a link between central banks that report issues with the scope or wording of their governing law and their degree of independence. Key issues seem to relate to financial matters, including lending to government and financial resources. The red bars show the difference between those that report issues with the law and those that do not – for those facing issues, independence is lower in every category.
For the full breakdown, use the benchmarking service’s interactive charts to explore the data.
Reports
Governance Benchmarks 2026 – legal matters
Fintech Benchmarks 2026 report – the digital asset race
Risk Management Benchmarks 2026 report – tracking op risk
Cross-Benchmarks Staffing Report 2025: tackling shortages
Communications Benchmarks 2025 report – getting social
Cross-Benchmarks AI Report 2025: a question of creative destruction
Monetary Policy Benchmarks 2025 report – risk-based policy
Reserve Benchmarks 2025 report – tariff realignment?
Financial Stability Benchmarks 2025 report – the threat from tariffs
Supervision Benchmarks 2025 report – digital oversight
Payments Benchmarks 2025 report – cross-border connections
Pensions and staff morale least likely to constitute staffing challenge
Degree of concern varies by size of central bank
Majority of central banks posted profit in last year
Largest share of profit-makers have no dividend-sharing contract with government
Half of central banks prohibit senior officials’ shareholdings
Minority of respondents working to adopt other internal policies
Non-executive directors earn five times less than governors
NEDs work an average of 14 hours weekly, Governance Benchmarks 2026 find