ECB officials met bankers just before key policy decisions

By Claire Jones
Financial Times, London
Monday, November 2, 2015

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Some of the European Central Bank's top decision-makers met banks 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. ...

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http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7a9d5d9a-8155-11e5-a01c-8650859a4767.html