Volume II · After Gold · Money Research
10 — Rules, Treaties and Institutions of the Fiat Era: A Reference Table
Gold-linked systems also depended on laws, banks, reserves and rules for convertibility; a metal definition alone did not settle bank credit or crisis lending. The post-1971 system uses monetary agreements, national law and supervision to govern currencies, bank capital, exchange rates and crisis finance. The table lists selected agreements and institutions in order; each entry has a different legal scope and national implementation history.
International monetary agreements
| Date | Agreement | What it did | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1971 | Nixon's New Economic Policy | Suspended gold convertibility; 10% import surcharge; wage-price freeze | Ended Bretton Woods |
| Dec 1971 | Smithsonian Agreement (G10) | Dollar devalued to $38/oz; other currencies revalued; bands ±2.25% | Collapsed by March 1973 |
| Apr 1972 | European "snake" | EC currencies fixed to each other within ±2.25% | Shrank to a DM zone; ancestor of the euro |
| Mar 1973 | Generalised floating | Europe and Japan stop defending dollar parities | De facto floating ever since |
| Jun 1974 | US–Saudi Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation | Development and financial cooperation; petrodollar recycling described by a later GAO audit | Not a dollar-for-oil redemption or verified exclusive-pricing treaty. GAO, 1979, pp. 1–2 |
| Dec 1974 | Basel Committee on Banking Supervision created | G10 central banks coordinate bank supervision after Herstatt | Source of all capital rules |
| Nov 1975 | Rambouillet summit (first G6) | Leaders discussed monetary stability and reform before the January 1976 Jamaica agreement. Élysée, 17 November declaration | Economic-policy coordination among the six leaders |
| Jan 1976 | Jamaica Accords (IMF Second Amendment, in force Apr 1978) | Allowed members to choose floating or other permitted exchange arrangements; removed gold as the IMF par-value common denominator and SDR valuation basis, abolished its official price and obligatory IMF gold payments; strengthened exchange-policy surveillance. IMF, *Financial Organization and Operations*, ch. II, “Gold in the Articles” | Changed IMF monetary rules; official gold reserves continued |
| Mar 1979 | European Monetary System / ERM | European currencies fixed within bands around the ECU | Broke 1992–93; led to euro |
| Sep 1985 | Plaza Accord (G5) | Coordinated intervention to lower the dollar | Dollar −40% vs yen/DM; Japan bubble |
| Feb 1987 | Louvre Accord (G6) | Stabilise currencies at current levels | Last managed-rate attempt |
| Mar 1989 | Brady Plan | Latin American bank debt swapped for collateralised bonds with write-downs | Created EM bond market |
| Feb 1992 | Maastricht Treaty (in force Nov 1993) | ECB, price-stability mandate, no monetary financing, convergence criteria | Euro launched 1999 |
| Sep 1999 | Central Bank Gold Agreement | European central banks cap gold sales at 400 t/yr | Marked gold's low point; lapsed 2019 |
| Sep 1999 | G20 finance ministers created (leaders' summit from Nov 2008) | Emerging economies join global economic management | Coordinated 2009 response |
| May 2000 | Chiang Mai Initiative | Asian central-bank swap lines | Self-insurance after 1997 |
| Oct 2008 | Fed swap lines with 14 central banks | Dollar liquidity to the world | Fed as global lender of last resort |
| May 2010 / Oct 2012 | EFSF then European Stability Mechanism | €500 bn eurozone rescue fund | Eurozone's IMF |
| Jul 2012 | ECB "whatever it takes" / OMT | ECB as sovereign lender of last resort | Ended eurozone crisis |
| Mar 2012 | SWIFT disconnects Iranian banks | First use of payments network as sanction | Template for 2022 |
| Oct 2016 | Yuan joins the SDR basket | IMF recognises renminbi as reserve currency | Symbolic; yuan share ~2% |
| Jul 2020 | NextGenerationEU €750 bn | First common EU borrowing | Fiscal union in embryo |
| Feb 2022 | Immobilisation of Russian central-bank reserves (estimated ~$300 bn) | Access to assets in sanctioning jurisdictions restricted; ownership and confiscation are separate questions | Reserve-access risk highlighted; a causal effect on global gold buying needs evidence |
| Dec 2022 | G7 oil price cap ($60, lowered 2025) | Sanctions via shipping insurance | Russian oil rerouted to Asia |
| Jun 2024 | G7 ~$50 bn ERA loan commitment to Ukraine | Future extraordinary revenues associated with immobilised Russian sovereign assets are to service and repay loans | Distinct from confiscating principal or proof of full disbursement. Council of the EU, October 2024 ERA mechanism |
| Jan 2026 | Bulgaria adopts the euro | Eurozone reaches 21 members | Continued enlargement |
Trade agreements
| Date | Agreement | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1986–94 | Uruguay Round of GATT | Created the WTO (Jan 1995); rules for services, IP, agriculture; dispute settlement |
| Jan 1994 | NAFTA (replaced by USMCA, Jul 2020) | Reduced North American trade barriers; unlike the EU single market, did not provide four-freedom integration |
| Jan 1993 | EU single market | Free movement of goods, capital, services, people |
| Dec 2001 | China joins the WTO | The "China shock"; Bretton Woods II |
| 2018–20 | US Section 301 tariffs on China; Phase One deal | First trade war since 1930s |
| Jun 2016 / Jan 2020 | Brexit vote / UK leaves EU | First exit from the single market |
| Apr 2025 | US "reciprocal" tariffs under IEEPA | Highest US tariffs since 1930s |
| Feb 2026 | Supreme Court: IEEPA does not authorise tariffs | Emergency tariffs void; refunds; Section 122/232/301 tariffs remain |
National laws and regulatory rules that shaped the system
| Date | Law or rule | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 (effective 31 Dec) | US legalises private gold ownership | Ends Roosevelt's 1933 ban |
| 1980 | US Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act | Phases out deposit-rate ceilings |
| 1982 | Garn–St Germain Act | Deregulates S&Ls; sets up the S&L crisis |
| 1986 | UK Big Bang | Deregulates London; City becomes global hub |
| 1988 | Basel I | 8% capital against risk-weighted assets |
| 1989 | FIRREA | Cleans up S&Ls; Resolution Trust Corporation |
| 1989 | New Zealand Reserve Bank Act | First inflation-targeting mandate |
| 1997 | Bank of England independence | UK central bank sets rates |
| 1999 | Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act | Repeals Glass–Steagall |
| 2000 | Commodity Futures Modernization Act | Exempts OTC derivatives from regulation |
| 2001 | USA PATRIOT Act, Title III | Treasury power over foreign banks' dollar access |
| 2002 | Sarbanes–Oxley Act | Corporate accounting after Enron |
| 2004 | Basel II | Risk-model-based capital; blamed for under-capitalisation |
| 2008 | TARP ($700 bn) | US bank bailout |
| 2010 | Dodd–Frank Act | US financial reform; Volcker Rule; derivatives clearing; resolution powers |
| 2010–19 | Basel III reforms (national phase-ins varied) | Separate capital, leverage, liquidity and funding tests; a conditional bullion credit-risk weight is not a zero-risk or reserve-eligibility ruling |
| 2012 | EU Fiscal Compact | Hardened deficit rules |
| 2014 | EU Banking Union / Single Supervisory Mechanism | ECB supervises big banks |
| 2024 | EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) | First comprehensive crypto law |
| Jan 2025 | US executive order against a retail CBDC; Mar 2025 Strategic Bitcoin Reserve | Separate executive actions on CBDC policy and forfeited Bitcoin; neither approves a named stablecoin issuer |
| Mar 2025 | Germany reforms constitutional debt brake | Defence and €500 bn infrastructure exempt |
| Jul 2025 | GENIUS Act, Pub. L. 119-27, approved 18 Jul | Defines payment stablecoins and permitted US issuers (§§2–3); requires at least one-to-one identifiable reserves from a broader allowed list, published redemption terms, monthly reserve reports/accounting-firm examination and a conditional annual audit for certain issuers above $50 bn (§4). Tokens are not federally deposit/share-insured (§7(e)). General effectiveness follows §20's delayed trigger; enactment alone does not establish present effectiveness or named issuer approval. GPO enacted text |
| Jul 2025 | US One Big Beautiful Bill Act | Tax cuts; debt ceiling +$5 trillion |
| Jul 2026 | European Parliament position on proposed digital-euro regulation | Legislative negotiations continued; ECB pilot planned for second half of 2027, possible issuance in 2029 conditional on law and decision |
Institutions created or transformed since 1971
| Institution | Origin | Role |
|---|---|---|
| IMF (surveillance role) | Jamaica 1976 | Crisis lender and enforcer of conditionality since 1982 |
| Basel Committee | 1974 | Bank capital and supervision standards |
| G7 / G20 | 1975 / 1999–2008 | Coordination of macro policy and crisis response |
| SWIFT | 1973 | Bank messaging; sanctions instrument since 2012 |
| ISDA | 1985 | Derivatives contract standards |
| European Central Bank | 1998 | Monetary policy for the eurozone |
| Financial Stability Board | 2009 | Global coordination of financial regulation |
| European Stability Mechanism | 2012 | Eurozone rescue fund |
| CIPS (China) | 2015 | Yuan cross-border payments outside SWIFT |
| AIIB / Belt and Road | 2015 / 2013 | Chinese alternatives to Bretton Woods institutions |
| Central-bank digital-currency projects | 2020– | Named projects differ; digital euro remains proposed, with possible 2029 issuance conditional on law and a later ECB decision |
The pattern
Many post-1971 rules followed episodes that exposed specific risks: Basel supervision developed after Herstatt, bank-capital reforms followed debt and credit crises, and the European Stability Mechanism followed the eurozone crisis. Other laws have different origins and should not be assigned one crisis trigger without legislative evidence. The GENIUS Act, for example, defines an issuer and reserve framework for a specified payment-stablecoin category; it does not certify every existing token or replace bank-deposit insurance. Institutional rules and their actual implementation matter to monetary stability, but no metal standard had automatically performed all these functions.
Key takeaways
The post-1971 monetary system uses agreements, national law and bank-supervision standards with different scopes. IMF gold reform changed official convertibility rules but did not end every reserve or investment role for gold; Basel standards govern banks and require national implementation. Crisis episodes prompted some reforms, while other laws had different origins and cannot be assigned one trigger without legislative evidence. Announced rescue commitments must be separated from disbursements and fiscal costs, and immobilised reserves from confiscated principal.