Benchmarking
Risk Management Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Data breakdowns shed light on op risk drivers and incidents, AI use and department structures
UK’s Orange Book risk approach rarely used by central banks
Only three centralised risk management departments utilise principle
Privacy and security seen as top AI risk
Most risk managers more relaxed about potential financial losses caused by AI
Staff error is largest cause of op risk at central banks
Legacy systems tend to trigger most threats in jurisdictions with greater than average number of incidents
Op risk incidents average over 100 a year among central banks
Financial impact is risk managers’ strongest metric for gauging incidents’ severity
Phishing and ransomware are central banks’ main cyber threats
Teams widely use training, monitoring and privilege management to mitigate cyber threats
CBDCs versus instant payments
Are technological and ecosystem advances using CBDCs and instant payments complementary or substitutes?
Just under half of risk departments are sufficiently staffed
Units with satisfied staffing levels earn below global average annual salary
Mitigation and reporting are leading components of risk strategy
Decentralised teams more likely to embed philosophy in divisional decision-making
Most centralised risk teams prioritise cyber security
Decentralised teams primarily cover credit and counterparty, op and market risks
Risk policies widely reviewed by committee in larger teams
Central banks with larger teams favour risk committees over CROs
Middle income central banks have highest number of risk staff
But ratios of risk management employees to total headcount vary widely
Cross-Benchmarks Staffing Report 2025: tackling shortages
Benchmarking data and central bank comments point to bottlenecks, but HR teams are taking action
2025: The year in central banking
A look back at the biggest and most popular stories of the year
Communications Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Data breakdowns reveal trends in resourcing, social media use and AI adoption
Communications Benchmarks 2025 – executive summary
Benchmark data sheds light on topics including social media use, comms strategies and stakeholder engagement
Communications Benchmarks 2025 report – getting social
Benchmarks highlight growing use of social media and AI among central bank comms teams
Central banks’ social media share ticks up
Social-traditional media split for communications roughly the same across different regions
Local languages widely used in central bank communications
African central banks use more English in communications than counterparts in other regions
Cross-Benchmarks AI Report 2025: a question of creative destruction
Central banks are taking cautious steps towards adopting AI but have not prioritised research into its effects
Journalists and politicians are main critics of central banks
Benchmark respondents comment on their efforts to engage constructively with stakeholders