​This note introduces the inaugural publication of South Africa’s locational banking statistics (LBS) on pages S–26 and S–27 of the South African Reserve Bank’s(SARB) Quarterly Bulletin. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) developed LBS statistics under the guidance of the Committee on the Global Financial System, together with central banks, to provide a comprehensive and consistent source of statistics on banks’ cross-border financial exposures to enhance the analysis of macroeconomic and financial stability issues. South Africa joined the initiative in 2009 and became the 43rd member of the group of reporting countries. In 2011, the Committee on the Global Financial System proposed major enhancements, which South Africa implemented fully in September 2013. The data are published in the Quarterly Bulletin on a quarterly basis, with a one-quarter lag, as from the third quarter of 2013.