The Forum was set up in 1992 upon the initiative of key figures from the financial and academic world and with particular support from the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) and the Belgian Banking Association (ABB), with a view to encouraging analytical research and prospective ideas on financial issues. The Forum was to provide a structure that would bring together long-standing local initiatives in several of the country's cities.
In Brussels, the Forum is based at the headquarters of Febelfin, the Belgian financial services sector's umbrella federation, which takes care of its administration and is responsible for the financial and organisational balance. The regional Fora are run by Regional Committees, largely made up of active members of the financial community in the broad sense of the term. The committees have a wide degree of autonomy for ensuring the functioning, activities and financing of the Forum in the region concerned. Their secretariat is provided by the NBB's regional branches.
In its capacity as a driving force behind the Belgian Financial Forum, the National Bank of Belgium allows the Forum to use the premises of its headquarters and branches for meetings and lectures.