Speech delivered to the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, available at: rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/speech/2006/speech2006-03-22  2  Our Transformation as a Prudential Regulator  UNCLASSIFIED  Ref #X798971 v1.2  UNCLASSIFIED  The History of Te Pūtea Matua’s Role in Prudential Regulation and Supervision Well before their more familiar role of setting interest rates to achieve price stability, central banks globally have been tasked with maintaining financial stability.
The existence of central banks was born out of being the strongest financial institution, acting as the banker to the crown (government) and to the banking system (private banks). This history goes back to Sweden’s Riksbank (established 1668), England’s Bank of England (established 1696), the United States’ Federal Reserve (established 1913), and, for New Zealand, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (established 1934).