It traces its origin to 25 June 1992, when Turkish President Turgut Özal and leaders of ten other countries gathered in Istanbul and signed the Summit Declaration and the "Bosphorus Statement".

[9] The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation based in Istanbul, is the inter-parliamentary consultative institution of the organization formed based on the Declaration on the Establishment of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation on February 26, 1993 by 9 founding states.

[11] Representatives of Parliaments of member countries pursue objectives which are stated in the preamble of the PABSEC Rules and Procedures: insure the understanding and adoption of the ideas and objectives of BSEC; provide a legal basis for social, economic, cultural, commercial and political cooperation among the member states; provide support to the national parliaments to reinforce the parliamentary democracy; pass the legislation required for the implementation of the decisions adopted by the Heads of States or by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

Objectives of the bank include promoting regional trade links, cross country projects, foreign direct investment, supporting activities that contribute to sustainable development, with an emphasis on the generation of employment in the member countries, ensuring that each operation is economically and financially sound and contributes to the development of a market orientation.

BSTDB is governed by the Agreement Establishing Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, a United Nations registered treaty.

[14] Unlike the International Monetary Fund and others, the BSTDB does not attach policy conditions by which debtor states can be controlled.

[17] The Bank has a long term credit rating of 'A' from Moody's Investors Service and an 'A3' from Standard & Poor's, both with a stable outlook.