【英语财经】欧洲央行高官曾在重大决策前会晤银行家 ECB officials met with banks before big policy moves

Some of the European Central Bank’s top decision-makers met bankers and asset managers days before major

policy decisions, and on one occasion just hours before, copies of their diaries reveal.

The diaries, which cover meetings of the six members of the ECB’s executive board between August 2014 and August 2015, were given to the Financial Times under Freedom of Information rules and reveal engagements with the private sector, officials and the media.

The disclosure of the meetings comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of the contacts between central bankers and the financial services industry. Earlier this year, the ECB launched its own review of the issue, setting out new principles for how its officials should interact with the private sector.

The meetings offer a sharp contrast with the Bank of England, which prohibits members of its rate-setting committee from talking to media and “other outside interests” on monetary policy matters in the week before a policy

decision.

The diaries show two members of the ECB’s executive board, Beno?t C?uré and Yves Mersch, met UBS

bank the

day before a two-day policy meeting

of the central bank’s rate-setting

governing council on September 3 and

4 2014.

Mr C?uré also met BNP Paribas

bank on the morning of September 4, the day the ECB’s governing council surprised markets by cutting interest rates. It also announced it would begin buying private sector assets to save the eurozone’s economy from the threat of deflation. UBS and BNP Paribas declined to comment.

Mr C?uré met asset manager BlackRock

the day before a policy meeting in March this year, when the council unveiled the details of how it would carry out its ￠1.1tn asset purchase, or quantitative easing, programme. BlackRock declined to comment.

Vítor Constancio, the ECB’s vice-president, and Peter Praet, its chief economist, met Algebris, a hedge fund, at the height of this summer’s Greek crisis, when the governing council held daily conference calls on whether to continue sanctioning emergency loans to keep Greece’s banks afloat. Mr Constancio and Mr Praet met Algebris on June 23. Mr Praet also met BNP Paribas Fortis on June 22 and bond fund Pimco

on

June 25. Algebris and Pimco declined to comment.

All members of the ECB’s executive board declined to comment.

欧洲央行(ECB)一些最高决策者的日记披露，在做出重大政策决定几天前（有一次是在仅仅几小时前），他们曾会晤银行家和资产经理。

这些日记涵盖了欧洲央行执行委员会(executive board)六名成员在2014年8月到2015年8月期间的会议。它们是按照信息自由(Freedom of Information)规则透露给英国《金融时报》的，披露了这些决策者同私营部门、官员及媒体的接触。

这些会晤披露之际，对央行官员与金融服务业界接触的审查正在加强。今年早些时候，欧洲央行启动了其对这个问题的审核，为其官员与私营部门的互动制定了新的原则。

这些会晤与英国央行(BoE)形成了鲜明对比，后者禁止利率制定委员会的成员在决策前一周内同媒体及“其他外部利益方”谈论货币政策事务。

上述日记显示，欧洲央行执委会两名成员伯努瓦?克雷(Beno?t C?uré)和伊夫斯?梅尔施(Yves Mersch)，曾在负责制定利率的欧洲央行管理委员会于2014年9月3日和4日召开两天会议之前一天，会晤瑞银(UBS)人士。

克雷还曾在9月4日早晨会晤法国巴黎银行(BNP Paribas)人士。就在当天，欧洲央行管理委员会出乎市场意料地宣布降息。该行还宣布会开始买入私营部门资产，以拯救欧元区经济免受通缩威胁。瑞银和法国巴黎银行拒绝置评。

在今年3月一次政策会议前，克雷还曾会晤资产管理公司贝莱德(BlackRock)的人士。会后，欧洲央行管理委员会披露了将如何执行其1.1万亿欧元资产收购计划（即量化宽松计划）的细节。贝莱德拒绝置评。

在今年夏天希腊危机最严重的时期，欧洲央行副行长维托尔?康斯坦西奥(Vítor Constancio)和首席经济学家彼得?普雷特(Peter Praet)曾会晤对冲基金Algebris的人士。当时，欧洲央行管理委员会每天都召开电话会议，讨论是否继续批准紧急贷款，使希腊各银行能够撑下去。康斯坦西奥和普雷特曾在6月23日会晤Algebris人士。普雷特还曾在6月22日会晤富通银行(BNP Paribas Fortis)的人士，并在6月25日会晤债券基金太平洋投资管理公司(Pimco)的人士。Algebris和Pimco拒绝置评。

欧洲央行执委会所有成员均拒绝置评。

译者/简易