Sub-sector: Other monetary financial institutions (S.122)

2.48 Definition:

The sub-sector other monetary financial institutions (S.122) consists of all financial corporations and quasi-corporations, except those classified in the central bank sub-sector, which are principally engaged in financial intermediation and whose business is to receive deposits and/or close substitutes for deposits from institutional units other than monetary financial institutions, and, for their own account, to grant loans and/or to make investments in securities.

2.49 The monetary financial institutions (MFIs) comprise the sub-sector the central bank (S.121) and the sub-sector other monetary financial institutions (S.122), and coincide with the monetary financial institutions for statistical purposes as defined by the EMI (see paragraph 2.41).

2.50 MFIs cannot be described simply as 'banks', because they may possibly include some financial corporations which may not call themselves banks, and some which may not be permitted to do so in some countries, while some other financial corporations describing themselves as banks may not in fact be MFIs. In general, the following financial intermediaries are classified in sub-sector S.122:

  1. commercial banks, 'universal' banks, 'all-purpose' banks;
  2. savings banks (including trustee savings banks and savings banks and loan associations);
  3. post office giro institutions, post banks, giro banks;
  4. rural credit banks, agricultural credit banks;
  5. co-operative credit banks, credit unions;
  6. specialised banks (e.g. merchant banks, issuing houses, private banks).
2.51 The following financial intermediaries may also be classified in sub-sector S.122 where it is their business to receive repayable funds from the public whether in the form of deposits or in other forms such as the continuing issue of bonds and other comparable securities. Otherwise, they should be classified in sub-sector S.123:
  1. corporations engaged in granting mortgages (including building societies, mortgage banks and mortgage credit institutions);
  2. mutual funds (incl. investment trusts, unit trusts and other collective investment schemes, e.g. undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities-UCITS);
  3. municipal credit institutions.
2.52 Sub-sector S.122 does not include:
  1. holding corporations which only control and direct a group consisting predominantly of other monetary financial institutions, but which are not other monetary financial institutions themselves. They are classified in sub-sector S.123 (see paragraph 2.43);
  2. non-profit institutions recognised as independent legal entities serving other monetary financial institutions, but not engaged in financial intermediation. They are classified in sub-sector S.124 (see paragraph 2.44).