Obituary: Sir Andrew Crockett
Sir Andrew Crockett, the distinguished central banker and former general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, died yesterday at his home in California. He was 69. Crockett led the BIS between 1994 and 2003, at a time when closer monetary union between European states and the creation of the European Monetary Institute, the European Central Bank’s predecessor, helped change the role of the BIS.
He is credited with helping guide the organisation through the transition and giving it renewed purpose. Crockett, who was knighted in 2003, had a distinguished central banking career prior to the BIS, having served as executive director responsible for international affairs and financial statistics at the Bank of England between 1989 and 1993.
He had originally joined the Bank in 1966, working in the economics department and cashier’s department before being seconded to the International Monetary Fund in 1972.
He eventually joined the IMF staff permanently in 1974 and was subsequently made deputy director of the IMF research department in 1982. Born in Glasgow in 1943, Crockett was educated at Cambridge and Yale.
Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King yesterday said: “I am deeply saddened to learn of Andrew’s death. He was a deeply loved and widely admired international public servant. Andrew showed great courage during his illness and will be missed by all who knew him, especially those who, like me, had the honour and pleasure of working closely with him.”
Crockett is survived by his wife Marjorie and their three children.