56. Editorial Note

On November 13, 1973, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Arthur Burns announced: “The governors of the central banks of Belgium, [West] Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States at the November meeting held in Basel, Switzerland, discussed the agreement with regard to official gold transactions reached in Washington on March 17, 1968, and decided that the agreement should be terminated.” (The New York Times, November 14, 1973, page 9) Regarding the 1968 agreement, see footnote 5, Document 3.

On November 14, Bundesbank President Karl Klasen sent Burns a letter pledging the Bundesbank’s adherence, with West German Finance Minister Helmut Schmidt’s consent, to Article IV, Section 2 of the International Monetary Fund Articles of Agreement. In his November 14 covering letter, Klasen reminded Burns that they had agreed upon this letter in Basel. (Ford Library, Arthur Burns Papers, Federal Reserve Board Subject Files, Box B52, Gold–BIS Meeting, Nov. 1973)

In a November 20 letter, Burns thanked Klasen for his letter, noting that he would share it with Secretary of the Treasury George Shultz “and with no one else.” (Ibid.)