Tower of Basel: The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank that Runs the WorldPublicAffairs, 28 mai 2013 - 360 pages Tower of Basel is the first investigative history of the world's most secretive global financial institution. Based on extensive archival research in Switzerland, Britain, and the United States, and in-depth interviews with key decision-makers -- including Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve; Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England; and former senior Bank for International Settlements managers and officials -- Tower of Basel tells the inside story of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS): the central bankers' own bank. Created by the governors of the Bank of England and the Reichsbank in 1930, and protected by an international treaty, the BIS and its assets are legally beyond the reach of any government or jurisdiction. The bank is untouchable. Swiss authorities have no jurisdiction over the bank or its premises. The BIS has just 140 customers but made tax-free profits of 1.17 billion in 2011-2012. Since its creation, the bank has been at the heart of global events but has often gone unnoticed. Under Thomas McKittrick, the bank's American president from 1940-1946, the BIS was open for business throughout the Second World War. The BIS accepted looted Nazi gold, conducted foreign exchange deals for the Reichsbank, and was used by both the Allies and the Axis powers as a secret contact point to keep the channels of international finance open. After 1945 the BIS -- still behind the scenes -- for decades provided the necessary technical and administrative support for the trans-European currency project, from the first attempts to harmonize exchange rates in the late 1940s to the launch of the Euro in 2002. It now stands at the center of efforts to build a new global financial and regulatory architecture, once again proving that it has the power to shape the financial rules of our world. Yet despite its pivotal role in the financial and political history of the last century and during the economic current crisis, the BIS has remained largely unknown -- until now. |
Table des matières
CHAPTER TWO A Cozy Club in Basel | |
CHAPTER FOUR Mr Norman Takes a Train | |
CHAPTER SIX Hitlers American Banker | |
CHAPTER EIGHT An Arrangement with the Enemy | |
CHAPTER TEN All Is Forgiven | |
CHAPTER ELEVEN The German Phoenix Arises | |
CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Tower Arises | |
CHAPTER FIFTEEN The AllSeeing | |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | |
Autres éditions - Tout afficher
Tower of Basel: The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank that Runs the World Adam LeBor Aucun aperçu disponible - 2013 |
Tower of Basel: The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank that Runs the World Adam LeBor Aucun aperçu disponible - 2013 |
Expressions et termes fréquents
Allen Dulles Allied American asked assets Author interview Bank for International Bank of England bank’s bankers Basel Berlin Beyen BIS’s Blessing Brinckmann British Bundesbank capital chairman Committee Coombs countries country’s crisis currency director dollar Dulles’s economic ECSC Emil Puhl euro Europe Eurozone former French funds Funk Gates McGarrah German Germany’s global economy global financial system governors Harriman headquarters Henry Morgenthau Hermann Schmitz Hitler Hjalmar Schacht IG Farben industrialists institution interest international financial International Settlements J. P. Morgan Jacobssen John Foster Dulles Lamfalussy loans London manager McCloy McGarrah McKittrick meetings million monetary policy Monnet Montagu Norman National Bank Nazi Germany neutral officials Paris percent political postwar powerful president Reichsbank reparations payments Schröder stability staff Switzerland Third Reich Thomas McKittrick Tower of Basel trade transnational Treasury United Wall Street Wallenberg Warburg wrote York Federal Reserve Young Plan