This publication provides methodological country notes which complement the statistics published annually under the title Banking Statistics – Financial Statements of Banks. Statistics are based on financial statements of banks in each Member country and are presented in the standard OECD framework. Although the objective is to include in the analysis all institutions which conduct ordinary banking business, namely institutions which primarily take deposits from the public and provide finance for a wide range of purposes, the institutional coverage of banks in the statistics is not the same in each country. Moreover, differences across the countries are due to the availability of the data as well as the structural and regulatory features of national banking systems, accounting rules and practices, and reporting methods.

The annual publication Banking Statistics – Financial Statements of banks* provides statistics on financial statements of banks in OECD countries. National Statistics are re-classified and presented according to a standard framework that was agreed by the OECD Working Party on Financial Statistics. These statistical series also include data on the number of reporting banks, their branches and the staff employed by these institutions. Furthermore, general information is provided for some of the OECD countries regarding the structure of their financial system as well as the share of domestic and foreign currencies in their bank assets and liabilities.