| Admin History | The City Liaison Committee was set up in 1965. It was originally designed to provide organisational support for City of London representatives on the National Economic Development Council (NEDC). The Committee tended to meet at varying intervals on an ad hoc basis to consider, and give guidance or advice upon, particular problems in which the NEDC representatives were involved. However, by the early 1970s, the Committee had fallen into disuse.
In 1972, the Committee was revived by the then Governor of the Bank of England - Leslie O'Brien. The Governor hoped that the Committee would assist him in gathering City views. Also, it was hoped that the Committee would be of use to those who called for a forum within which to discuss various issues relating to the European Economic Community (EEC) (although this was never intended to be the Committee's primary function). As such, the Governor himself took over the Chairmanship of the Committee and membership of the Committee was broadened to become more fully representative of City interests. Members were generally drawn from the leading members (usually the chairman) of the following City associations and professional bodies:
The Accepting Houses Committee
The Baltic Exchange
The British Bankers' Association
The British Insurance Association
The Finance Houses Association
The Committee on Invisible Exports
The Issuing Houses Association
Representatives of the Legal and Accountancy Professions
Lloyd's
The Committee of London Clearing Bankers
The Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom
The Stock Exchange
The City Members of the National Economic Development Council
The Bank of England
The Bank of England's role was that of a coordinator (the Bank provided the secretariat for the Committee) but the Bank was also able and willing to make a positive contribution in areas where they had competence. Through their involvement, the Bank also hoped that the Committee might contribute to the improvement of contacts between City interests and Whitehall. In 1983/84 a debate was held discussing whether the CLC had lost its usefulness and purpose, and if so, whether it should be disbanded. No agreement was made on this and so the CLC continued to exist, however, it did not meet for a period of five years until the Governor of the Bank of England reconvened a meeting in Feb 1988. Notes giving further consideration of the role and pupose of the CLC were written in Feb 1992 and May 1993, both suggesting that the CLC had a future, however, according to papers in the last file in this series (6A395/17) the last meeting held by the CLC was in 1990. |