Wednesday 13th July 2005AD
THE CENTRAL BANKER'S PRIVATE BANK

Yesterday we spoke of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). Today we received an email from a valued reader who asked "just who is the Bank of International Settlements?" A good question and one worthy of more than a one-sentence reply. 

Spending time in Basle, doing business and walking its tidy cobbled streets, one begins to get a sense of Switzerland's proud and strong tradition of privacy, neutrality and almost mystery that underpins its banking and financial services to this very day. 

The Bank of International Settlements is often described as the Central Banker's Central Bank. Originally founded in 1930, it was founded by the central banks of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom to settle financial issues stemming from World War I, and collect and distribute monetary repatriations from defeated Germany. 

Very quickly as these issues were dealt with, BIS moved on from its original charter to become more of a "Central Bankers Club", or what can be more accurately described as "the Central Banker's PRIVATE Bank". 

To this very day, ten times a year, the second Monday of each month, BIS directors from the Central Banks of Europe, Chairman of Federal Reserve Bank and a select few others, the world's "financial elite" meet in its unassuming and inconspicuous headquarters opposite the Basle train station. Unusually arriving late on the Sunday evening, proceedings are quietly uneventful, held behind closed doors, and without the glitter, publicity and staged controversy of G7 and similar international financial meetings. 

One wonders; what have been the financial transactions conducted and deals brokered behind BIS's closed doors over the last 75 years? How have these transactions and deals transcended the geo-politics, economics and media attention of the day? Well, what better place to start than to consider international gold flows during times of international tension, a healthy task for tomorrow. 

Best Regards 
Philip Judge
pjudge@anglofareast.com