When we review the past century, we are again impressed by the depth of the London market and the dynamism of market initiatives here. The successful flotation of Japanese government bonds in 1904 epitomizes such characteristics of the London market. We also find, over the century, numerous cases in which Japanese banks and businesses benefited from their participation in the London market.
In the area of intellectual thinking and its applications, we have been quite often inspired by the monetary authorities in the UK in general and the Bank of England in particular. We highly appreciate the close cooperation and the constant exchanges of views between us. BIS Review 41/2004  1  The Bank of Japan has not been a mere beneficiary.