From: Pete Yeatrakas <pyeatrakas@wespay.org> For those of you interested in security of electronic money, you may want to browse the Bank on International Settlement (BIS) page and read a report issued in 1996. BIS is the organization of G-10 central banks (e.g., in the US, Federal Reserve Bank Board) who meet to discuss international payments issues. The excerpt below is the first paragraph from http://www.bis.org/publ/cpss18.htm announcing the study of "security of electronic money," available in pdf format. BIS 1996 annual report (http://www.bis.org/publ/cpss19.htm) also provides detailed information about each country's payment system (currency in circulation, number of ATMs and financial institutions/branches, GDP, population - 1990 through 1995) and concludes with a comparative analysis of those countries (with currency compared in US dollars). This is a valuable resource for the student of European and US payment systems. (BIS home page is http://www.bis.org ) Best Regards, Peter Yeatrakas "Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems SECURITY OF ELECTRONIC MONEY FOREWORD In November 1995, the central bank Governors of the Group of Ten (G-10) countries commissioned a series of studies on specific issues related to electronic money, in view of the potential importance of this new form of money and its implications for monetary policy, consumer protection and payment systems. These studies were carried out by the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS). For the examination of the security aspects of electronic money schemes the CPSS sought the assistance of the Group of Computer Experts, which established for that purpose the Task Force on Security of Electronic Money, chaired by Mr. Israel Sendrovic from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. At their meeting in July 1996 the G-10 Governors discussed the various reports that had been commissioned and agreed on the publication of the present report on Security of Electronic Money. The report is not necessarily intended to represent the official views of the Governors."