International Bank Insolvencies

The globalization of the world economy poses significant challenges for policymakers, regulators and legal professionals. The Asian and Brazilian financial crises have shown that difficulties in the banking sectors of some economies can have serious repercussions across world financial markets. It is clear that a sound legal infrastructure is crucial to promote financial stability in this global market. Particularly in the case of international bank failures, the need for harmonized and effective international insolvency procedures is becoming increasingly apparent.

It is against this background that the Bank for International Settlements organized a workshop on International Bank Insolvencies in the summer of 1998. This unique work presents the edited workshop papers by expert lawyers from over 20 national central banks, the European Central Bank, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Nineteen country reports provide a comprehensive overview of central banks and other institutions responsible for banking supervision and the co-ordination between authorities involved in insolvency procedures. The authors further discuss instruments employed for crisis prevention and resolution and issues arising in the aftermath of a bank failure in the respective jurisdictions. In addition, 12 expert papers discuss issues ranging from specific national experiences to attempts at co-operation and harmonization at regional and international level. The book also includes in annex the text of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency and the EC Finality Directive.

This work constitutes an essential addition to every banking and insolvency law library and will be of great value to legal academics and practitioners, bankers, regulators and policymakers.

Mario Giovanoli is General Counsel for the Bank for International Settlements and Professor of Law at the University of Lausanne. Gregor Heinrich was at the time of the workshop Head of Legal Research and International Co-operation and is currently Head of Secretariat of the Committee on Payments and Settlement Systems at the Bank for International Settlements.