Former BIS chief Crockett dies

Sir Andrew Crockett, the British central banker who was credited with building the Bank for International Settlements into a powerful global hub for central banks, has died, the Bank of England said Tuesday. Crockett, 69, died Monday after an illness in California, the BoE said. Crockett served at the BoE early in his career before moving to the International Monetary Fund in the 1970s and 1980s, returning to the bank in 1989 as executive director. From 1993 to 2003 he was general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, where he was credited with drawing in the participation of China and a number of other rising economies that gave the BIS more clout. "He strongly encouraged the expansion of BIS membership beyond its traditional mostly European base. His work triggered the admission of 19 new member central banks," said Jaime Caruana, the current BIS general manager. "I am deeply saddened to learn of Andrew's death. He was a deeply loved and widely admired international public servant," said Bank of England chief Sir Mervyn King. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, where Crockett was deputy director of research in the 1980s, said he had served the global financial community "with great distinction".