This four-day residential course has been designed to offer legal officers a chance to come together and consider how these changes affect their institutions, and how best to react to this changing landscape. The course addresses four key areas:

Underpinning all these strands is the recognition that legal officers need to be proactive in addressing the legal risks which their institutions are likely to face in a fast-changing world. This training course/seminar offers senior law officers an up-to-date guide to the legal implications of central bank policy-making and restructuring in the light of selected recent experience and emerging international standards of best practice. Some of the detailed topics to be addressed over the week include:

The conference sponsor, Central Banking Publications Ltd, is an independent organisation delivering a range of regular publications, directories, research studies and electronic media services for monetary authorities and financial supervisors worldwide. This independent standpoint naturally encourages free discussion of sensitive issues and potentially allows a broader coverage of issues than courses organised by official institutions.

For this course, Central Banking Publications is able to call on an elite panel of speakers from the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the UK Financial Services Authority and leading practitioners from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and leading City law firms.

We look forward to welcoming you to Cambridge on September 2, 2001.

Yours Sincerely,

William Clarke, CBE, PhD
Chairman, Central Banking Publications Ltd.

MONDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER

IMPACT OF THE EVOLUTION OF CENTRAL BANKS' CONSTITUTIONAL POSITION

Changing constitutional positions of central banks
Professor René Smits
Head of legal department, de Nederlandsche Bank (invited)

A large proportion of the world's central banks have received new mandates, expressed in legislative form, in the past few years. What implications does the trend towards central bank independence have for central banks and their legal advisers? What are the key changes involved and how do different statutes/legal frameworks actually affect governance and performance?

Legal implications of constitutional change
Len Berkowitz,
Senior consultant, Freshfields Brukhaus Deringer and
former adviser to the governor and head of the legal unit, Bank of England

Often, changes in central banks' statutory responsibilities bring a host of second-level issues of implementation. If key functions, like supervision or debt management, are to be undertaken elsewhere, it is critical that information-sharing and coordination protocols are well thought out. The group will examine some of these issues and how they can be resolved.

Independence and central bank reform in emerging markets
Professor Joseph Norton
Centre for Commercial Law studies,
Queen Mary College, University of London

Central banks and supervisors in emerging markets often face particular challenges implementing and interpreting new statutory powers and responsibilities. However, there is increasing pressure from national stakeholders, and international bodies like the IMF, for these authorities to function more independently. This raises profound internal governance issues concerned with the appointment and dismissal procedures for senior staff, the role of decision-making committees and implementing provisions for accountability.

Sovereign immunity and legal risk
Charles Proctor
Partner, Tite and Lewis

As central banks are given more independence to perform their many public policy roles (in monetary policy, and as supervisor, market participant, and agent of the government) central banks are exposed to a variety of legal risks. Increasingly central banks may find themselves forced to account for their actions in a legal setting. We examine key recent cases and the future implications of this trend.

TUESDAY 4th SEPTEMBER

KEY LEGAL ISSUES IN SUPERVISION
&
INTERACTION WITH MARKETS

SPECIAL ADDRESS:
Central banks' legal position in the Eurosystem
Erwin Nierop
Head of financial law division, European Central Bank

Establishing the European System of Central Banks required extensive legal changes in the statutes of Europe's central banks. Erwin Nierop, from the European Central Bank, describes the legal underpinnings of monetary union and the legal requirements which central banks from accession countries entering the eurosystem will have to meet.

Fiscal implications of the lender-of-last-resort function
Professor Geoffrey Wood
City University Business School

Central banks face no more controversial decisions that those involving their lender-of-last resort role. Because decisions to provide emergency liquidity to the banking sector are frequently made in times of crisis, it is critical that central banks have well-thought-out legal and operational contingency plans. This session examines the impact of LOLR on the central bank's core functions and the fiscal implications of such operations.

Implementing Basel II
Stephen Bland
Head of Policy, Banks and Buildings Societies Division,
UK Financial Services Authority

For banking supervisors, the new Basel capital accord presents a hosts of challenges. In many jurisdictions its new structure, and the extensive discretion which banking supervisors will be expected to exercise under it, is particularly problematic. This session examines the key legal implications of the new accord and how bank supervisors and central banks working within differing legal traditions will have to adapt.

Bailing in and debt restructuring
Andrew Yianni
Partner, Clifford Chance

There has been much discussion in the international financial community at the policy-maker level on the issue of avoiding and resolving sovereign financial crises. One key proposal is the insertion of clauses in sovereign debt contracts to force creditors to negotiate. We examine the progress of this radical proposal and the alternative international approaches to its possible implementation.

WEDNESDAY 5th SEPTEMBER

ACCOUNTABILITY, FINANCIAL REPORTING,
AND INTERNAL CONTROLS

Accountability for central banks and supervisors
Dr Rosa Lastra
Senior Lecturer in Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies,
Queen Mary College, University of London

As central banks and supervisors are given more independent mandates, accountability - to parliament, public and via the media - becomes ever more critical. However, precisely what is accountability held to comprise, and how can it be squared with other core functions?

Benchmarking financial reporting
Jeremy Foster
Partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Central banks are under pressure to adopt "best practice" when it comes to financial disclosure. What does this mean in practice? In particular, to what extent can and should central banks adopt the same accounting standards and practices as commercial banks? How does financial transparency contribute to the core functions of the central bank or supervisor?

Internal audit and controls
David Ingram
Head of Risk Management, Bank of England (invited)

Financial reporting, risk management and interactions with markets cannot be undertaken safely without sophisticated internal control systems. This session examines how such systems are developed and how control failures (and the attendant legal, financial and reputational risks which they entail) can be minimised.

ROUNDTABLE:
MINIMISING THE LEGAL RISK PROFILE FOR
CENTRAL BANKS AND SUPERVISORS

Panel discussion, including senior central bankers and legal experts addressing the key steps which central banks can take in order to minimise their legal risk profile

THURSDAY 6th SEPTEMBER

NEW LEGAL CHALLENGES FOR CENTRAL BANKS

Money laundering
Paul Byles
Head of Policy, Cayman Islands Monetary Authority

International pressure for action against money laundering has forced many central banks to revise their anti-money-laundering rules. What are the key changes required of local financial institutions? What changes to central banks' internal controls are needed?

New legal challenges for central banks
Dieter Haferkamp
Member of the directorate, Deutsche Bundesbank (invited)

Dieter Haferkamp, member of the directorate of Deutsche Bundesbank, considers some of the issues likely to face central banks in the near future. What are the long-term implications of central banks' newly autonomous status? How will relations with public, governments and markets develop?