Challenges at the Bank for International Settlements : An Economist's (Re)View

For a number of reasons I am pleased that Elmar has asked me to write a foreword to this volume, which assembles together a number of pieces that he wrote over the course of the decade between 1997 and 2007.

Challenges for governance at central banks.- Insolvency laws - a review of the international dimension.- Collective action clauses: the way forward.- Note on the consequences of a potential default by Argentina to the IMF.- Debt resolution processes for sovereign debt - current policy issues.- The successor states of the former Yugoslavia - mediation under Art. 7, Annex C of the Vienna Agreement on Succession Issues - a major review.- International bank and securities financing in Africa.- The aftermath of the Russian debt crisis.- Banking sector reform in the transition economies - a central banking perspective.- The monetary policy transmission mechanism in Russia.- Exchange rates and monetary policy in central Europe - a survey of some issues.- Financial intermediation: efficiency, fragility and polices for reform.- The monetary policy transmission mechanism in China.- Capital flows in eastern Europe: some lessons from the emerging markets in Latin America and Asia.