§ Mr. Staintonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make an assessment of the domestic and international effects of the freedom of private sector banks to make substantial loans to countries such as Poland, Romania and Argentina; and if he will explore this situation at forthcoming meetings of the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for International Settlements and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development;
(2) if he will raise at forthcoming meetings of the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for International Settlements and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the adequacy or otherwise of the Bank for International Settlements 1975 concordat known as the Cooke committee.
§ Mr. Bruce-GardyneUnder the Banking Act 1979 the Bank of England has responsibility for prudential supervision of United Kingdom banks. This covers both their domestic and international activities. The Governor and his colleagues have established under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements machinery for the regular discussion of international aspects of supervisory issues. In addition the governors themselves discuss 811W significant developments in the course of their monthly meetings at the Bank for International Settlements. I can assure my hon. Friend that my right hon. Friend discussed international banking developments as appropriate with other Finance Ministers, both at bilateral meetings, and at those international meetings that he attends. Both the IMF and the OECD have recently completed studies of the pattern and prospects for private sector finance generally.