New international banking federation to represent global financial services industry

The new body will be the key international forum to address legislative, regulatory and other issues where there is a common interest and where it affects the banking industry globally. The countries represented by the Federation collectively have more than 18,000 banks with 275,000 branches, including around 700 of the worlds top 1000 banks which alone manage worldwide assets of over US$31 trillion. The federation, which will be based in London, will increase the effectiveness of the financial services industrys response to multi-lateral and national government issues. Board members include Donald Ogilvie, president and chief executive officer of the American Bankers Association, David Bell, chief executive of the Australian Bankers Association and Raymond Protti, president and CEO of the Canadian Bankers Association. The chairman will be Ian Mullen, initially in his capacity as chairman of the European Banking Federation Executive Committee. The federation formally became operational on March 30, 2004.