The banking and financial sector has expanded dramatically in the last forty years, and the consequences of this accelerated growth have been felt by people around the world. European Banks and the Rise of International Finance examines the historical origins of the financialised world we live in by analysing the transformations in world finance which occurred in the decade from the first oil crisis of 1973, until the debt crisis of 1982. This a crucial and formative decade for understanding the modern financial landscape, but it is still mostly unexplored in economic and financial history. The availability of new archival evidence has allowed for the re-examination of issues such as the progressive privatisation of international financial flows to Less Developed Countries, especially in Latin America and South-East Asia, and its impact on the expansion of the European banking sector, and for the development of an invaluable financial and political history. This book is well suited for those interested in monetary economics and economic history, as well as those studying international political economy, banking history and Financial history.

As the global organisation of central banks, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has played a significant role in the momentous changes the international monetary and financial system has undergone over the past half century. This book offers a key contribution to understanding these changes. It explores the rise of the emerging market economies, the resulting shifts in the governance of the international financial system, and the role of central bank cooperation in this process. In this truly multidisciplinary effort, scholars from the fields of economics, history, political science and law unravel the most poignant episodes that marked this period, including European monetary unification, the paradigm shifts in economic and financial analysis, the origins and influence of macro-financial stability frameworks, the rise of soft law in international financial governance, central bank crisis management in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis, and, finally, the institutional evolution of the BIS itself.

This text focuses on the international banking revolution of the 1960s and provides a fresh historical perspective on the foundations of the subsequent financial globalization. The contributors address four main issues: the revival of London as a world financial centre; the emergence of Euro-banking as a new frontier of growth for credit institutions; the competitive challenge brought home by American banks to their European counterparts; and the strategic response by British and Continental banks.

The banking and financial sector has expanded dramatically in the last forty years, and the consequences of this accelerated growth have been felt by people around the world. European Banks and the Rise of International Finance examines the historical origins of the financialised world we live in by analysing the transformations in world finance which occurred in the decade from the first oil crisis of 1973, until the debt crisis of 1982. This a crucial and formative decade for understanding the modern financial landscape, but it is still mostly unexplored in economic and financial history. The availability of new archival evidence has allowed for the re-examination of issues such as the progressive privatisation of international financial flows to Less Developed Countries, especially in Latin America and South-East Asia, and its impact on the expansion of the European banking sector, and for the development of an invaluable financial and political history. This book is well suited for those interested in monetary economics and economic history, as well as those studying international political economy, banking history and Financial history.

The IMF Working Papers series is designed to make IMF staff research available to a wide audience. Almost 300 Working Papers are released each year, covering a wide range of theoretical and analytical topics, including balance of payments, monetary and fiscal issues, global liquidity, and national and international economic developments.

This pamphlet is adapted from Chapter 1 of Silent Revolution: The International Monetary Fund, 1979-89, by the same author. That book is full of history of the evolution of the Fund during 11 years in which the institution truly came of age as a participant in the international financial system.