U.S. BANKS UPSET BY JAPAN's MARKET AGGRESSION

After the start of the new year, we stayed in Japan another 10 days. As mother seems to have improved somewhat, and was being well cared for in the hospital, we decided to return to New York.

Shortly thereafter, I was elected to the chairmanship of the Institute of Foreign Bankers, Inc. (later renamed Institute of International Bankers), a function I had to fulfil alongside my responsibilities as AMRO's Executive Vice President for North America. The Institute — which is still active today — acts as a lobbying group for its member banks, 230 at the time. Its function was carried out largely by a retained firm of lawyers in Washington DC. It also organised monthly lunches in New York featuring appropnate speakers.

I used my position to expand the Institute's nominal secretarial office in New York into a proper legal headquarters, with a lawyer and former Washington lobbyist in charge. This gave us better control over the pursuit of our collective interests. Before long, it was brought to my attention that Senator Jake Garn, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, was considering legislation aimed at drastically curbing foreign banks’ permitted activities in the US.

In April, I called on Sen. Garn in Washington to try and make him change his mind, after sending him a letter explaining the purpose of my visit. But it so happened that he had just returned from a week-long flight on the Space Shuttle Discovery as the first member of Congress to do so. When, at the start of our meeting, I sensed that the senator was in no mood to discuss “foreign banking1’, I let the senator control the conversation, which was all about his unforgettable experience in space. I feared that I had failed in my mission, but as we parted, he said that he had read my letter. “I’ll see what I can do for you,” he said. “But it would help if you guys could temper your aggression in our market a bit. I mean, don't overdo it!” I also promised to do what I could.