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To: John Hunt who wrote (24280)	12/14/1998 2:17:00 PM
From: Lucky Lady	Respond to of 116997

To: John Hunt who wrote (24280)	12/14/1998 3:54:00 PM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116997

Timetable for Swiss gold sales still unclear 06:48 a.m. Dec 14, 1998 Eastern ZURICH, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The constitutional basis for selling excess Swiss gold reserves to finance a big humanitarian fund may not be laid until 2000, depending on which legal framework lawmakers chose, the finance ministry said on Monday. Two separate pieces of draft legislation that could be used as the legal basis for selling up to 500 tonnes of gold for the so-called Solidarity Foundation are making their way through parliament. The foundation is intended to aid victims of poverty, disasters and human rights abuses. One move is an overall revision of the Swiss constitution, the other is an amendment of the constitution's currency section. Both sever the Swiss franc's outdated link to gold. The Berne government has said either one would lay the legal foundation for selling around 1,300 tonnes of excess gold, of which 500 tonnes is earmarked for the Solidarity fund and the rest for general budget purposes. Swiss voters are expected to address the overall revision in a referendum in the first half of 1999, while a vote on the currency amendment is tentatively set for March 2000, the finance ministry said in a statement. In either event, the government would submit separate legislation enabling the proceeds of gold sales to be used to finance the envisaged seven billion franc fund. ''The cabinet wishes to create the Swiss Solidarity Foundation as quickly as possible,'' the ministry said, adding it had been asked to draw up legislation for this by early 1999 so that it could be submitted once the constituional basis existed. ''If parliament accepts the cabinet's current view -- that the overall revision suffices as the basis for the foundation law -- then (the foundation law) can be presented to parliament after the constitutional referendum next year,'' it said. ''But should parliament say that the new currency article... should be the constitutional basis for the foundation law, then the referendum over the separate currency reform must be awaited,'' it added. ''This reform, originally conceived as an 'express train', cannot take place as planned before the overall revision, but rather afterwards, probably in March 2000.'' ((Zurich newsroom +41 1 631 7340 fax +41 1 202 5538, zurich.newsroom+reuters.com))

To: John Hunt who wrote (24280)	12/15/1998 5:21:00 AM
From: John Hunt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116997

Shipping needs 'Y2K bug' attention dailynews.yahoo.com << ''We all know that we are competing in a race against time,'' he said. ''Our problem is that we do not know how deep the problem is.'' U.S. Sen. Robert Bennett, head of the Senate Committee on the Year 2000, told reporters that for many attending the conference it was the first exposure to the issue ''and that is a little scary.'' ''Some countries had no awareness until a couple of weeks ago,'' said Bennett, a Utah Republican. >>