The European Association for Banking and Financial History e.V. (EABH) is calling for papers to be presented at its annual colloquium in 2007. The congress will be hosted by the Bank of Valletta and the Central Bank of Malta and will take place in Valletta (Malta), on 1-2 June, 2007. The EABH (f. 1990) is the main European academic forum for research on banking and financial history (see www.eabh.info).

The EABH promotes the production and dissemination of high quality academic research through workshops, conferences and publications, including the Financial History Review, an academic journal currently edited by Duncan Ross, and published by Cambridge University Press. The EABH has organized annual scientific colloquia since 1992, on topics relating to banking, financial and monetary history, with a broader relevance for both business and policy.

 

The subject of the 2007 meeting will be Banking and Finance in the Mediterranean. An Historical Perspective. The conference's aim is to explore, in a number of aspects, the evolution of banking and finance in the Mediterranean from the 19^th century to the present time. The study of the main features of the process of emergence of modern banking and financial systems in the Mediterranean is a necessary prerequisite for a deeper knowledge of the relationship between banking and finance on the one hand, and growth on the other. As a matter of fact, among the structural factors affecting economic growth, banking and financial networks are certainly the most relevant for their potential ability to convey resources to productive investment, coming from national and international capital markets. Nonetheless, an alternative view maintains that the process could move in the opposite direction, thus raising questions that might prove worthy of consideration. Another relevant aspect concerns the interplay of financial and banking activity and the foreign relations among Mediterranean economies. In this respect, the creation of an international financial network can be viewed as a necessary condition for the achievement of a modern economic system, characterized by multilateral flows of capital and trade. A special role, in such a context, is played by the institutional setting. In fact, the action of public institutions can prove crucial for a smooth functioning of the banking system, by contributing to monetary and exchange rate stability, and providing a framework of norms ruling the behaviour of financial intermediaries. Finally, an historical exploration of banking and financial evolution in the Mediterranean cannot but involve an intense use of archival resources. An overview of the wealth of currently available documents in banks' archives constitutes a necessary and useful integration of the present Colloquium.

 

The program committee encourages submissions on historical analysis of banking and financial systems in the Mediterranean area, with a special emphasis on the following issues:

 

1) The rise of modern banking and finance in the Mediterranean;

2) Finance and intra-Mediterranean relations;

3) Money and currency developments in the Mediterranean;

4) Banking and financial archives.

 

The committee will take into account any papers dealing with the above topics, focussed on specific periods or in a longer-time perspective, within the time range specified above. Comparative approaches across countries or areas will be particularly welcome.

 

The programme committee consists of:

 

Charles Borg, Bank of Valletta

John Consiglio, University of Malta

Alfred Demarco, Central Bank of Malta

Michael Galea, Bank of Valletta

Kostas Kostis, Alpha Bank / University of Athens

Juan Carlos Martinez Oliva, Bank of Italy

Luis de Abreu Nunes, Bank of Portugal

 

All submissions will receive acknowledgement of receipt. Notice of acceptance will be sent by Friday, 28 April 2006.

Authors of accepted papers are expected to commit themselves to deliver a final version of their contribution by the end of March 2007.

After the colloquium, the papers presented may be published, under the aegis of the EABH, with a reputable academic publisher.

The deadline for submission of the final papers to be included in the publication will be the end of September 2007.