The National Bank of Belgium is the national central bank for Belgium within the Eurosystem. It was the Belgian central bank from 1850 until 1998, established by law of 5 May 1850 and issuing the Belgian franc. The Belgian government has held half of the National Bank's equity since the aftermath of World War II. It thus remains one of relatively few central banks whose equity capital is partly in private hands, with stock being traded on Euronext Brussels. In addition to its monetary role, the NBB is also a financial supervisory authority. Since 2011, it has been Belgium's prudential supervisor. In the area of financial market infrastructure, it stands out as supervisor of Euroclear and lead overseer of SWIFT. It also operates a central securities depository of its own, the National Bank of Belgium Securities Settlement System or NBB-SSS. Additional tasks include the management of foreign currency reserves; the collection, circulation and analysis of economic and financial information; a role of financial ambassador to international economic and financial bodies; and services for the Belgian State, the Belgian financial sector, and the general public. Wikipedia