Glossary
AUTHOR'S NOTE
In this book the following terms are used interchangeably: Third
World, (the countries of) the South, the periphery, the developing
countries. These terms are generally used in contrast to: the Triad,
the main industrialised countries, (the countries of) the North, the
centre, the imperialist countries - also considered as synonymous.
BIS (THE BANK OF INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS)
Founded at Basel as a public company in 1930 to handle German
reparations after the First World War. The BIS manages part of the
foreign currency reserves of the central banks. Its capital of 1.5 billion
francs-or is divided into 600,000 shares mainly underwritten by
European central banks, with the remainder held by private investors
who are entitled to dividends but not votes. The governors of the
affiliated central banks, mainly those of the Group of Ten, meet
regularly to promote good communication and close cooperation.
The federal banks of New York, Canada and Japan regularly send
observers. The BIS plays an important role in gathering data on inter
national banking transactions, published in a quarterly report since
the early 1980s. It is responsible for handling financial risks
associated with the liberalisation of money markets. It also carries out
banking transactions, receiving gold and currency deposits mainly
from the central banks, selling the currency on the markets and
granting loans to certain central banks. Little research has been done
on the BIS, least of all in relation to the IMF.
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