A stir in Germany and a press agent in South Africa

9:25p EDT Sunday, January 7, 2001

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

The French news agency, Agence France Presse, has
just distributed a news story about our lawsuit against
the Bank for International Settlements, whose board is
scheduled to meet tomorrow to vote formally on the
expropriation of its private shareholders.

Odds are that the AFP story will be published in
newspapers throughout France.

Here is a rough translation of the key part of the
AFP story:

quot;The BIS remains serene. 'If the shareholders want to
attack us in court, it's their right; we will put forth
our arguments,' a spokesperson for the BIS indicated.
One of the shareholders, the American Reginald Howe,
has already taken this step, and last December 7 filed
a complaint before a court in Massachusetts against the
BIS and the bank advising it in this buy-back
operation, J.P. Morgan. In Paris, things are moving
too, Deminor having announced action this week before
the Commission on Operations of the Bourse and the
Council on Financial Markets.quot;

* * *

GATA has received a contribution by bank wire from
someone whose initials are D.G.H. We'd be grateful if
he would contact us by email or surface mail and
provide his address so we might thank him properly.

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer