SWISS WARY OF U.S.-BRITISH BANK SUPERVISION PACT
Markus Lusser, vice-president of the
Swiss National Bank, said he was sceptical of the recent
U.S.-British accord on joint bank supervision, fearing smaller
countries could be forced to cooperate.
    In a speech prepared for delivery to a meeting of West
German savings banks, he said such an accord would cover the
three most important financial centres of the world if extended
to Japan as planned.
    "Countries not prepared to cooperate with an agreement of
the group of three could easily be put under pressure," Lusser
said.
    "It would be enough to forbid banks the right to make use of
those financial markets or to place them under a special
status," he added.
    Banks which operate worldwide could scarcely afford to stay
away from these centres and would place their national
governments under pressure to conform.
    Lusser added that he was opposed to the form, though not
the content of the accord. Switzerland itself was not affected,
since capital adequacy requirements here were already stricter
than in Britain or the United States. But he feared such
accords might be substituted for internationally negotiated
pacts.
 REUTER
