Birth of Euro Goes Smoothly, Banks Report

Eleven European nations ditched their currencies Friday to launch the new shared euro, triggering a military-style operation in banks and brokerages as the financial sector geared up for the euro’s market debut.

The birth of the euro at the stroke of the New Year gave nearly 300 million Europeans a single currency that should rival the U.S. dollar in importance.

On the streets of Europe, the new arrival was greeted with a mixture of horror, hope and indifference.

“This is the start of the unification of Europe. Borders have already gone and the single currency takes us to the next stage,” said Matthieu Wahis, an 18-year-old Brussels student.

But in Dublin, 40 opponents of the euro marched at the now-disempowered Irish central bank, bearing placards proclaiming “Euro--rule by German bankers.” Their leader, Anthony Coughlan, said the euro amounted to national treason.

For 50,000 staff members at banks and businesses, the New Year’s weekend marked the culmination of years of meticulous planning for the changeover to the new currency.

Before the euro goes live on the markets Monday, trillions of dollars of stocks and bonds must be redenominated from their original currencies into euros, computer systems must be reconfigured and mountains of data converted.

Sydney, Australia, will be the first financial center to embrace the new currency when official trading starts. However, Dutch bank ABN AMRO claimed Friday to have struck the first euro deal, selling 5 million euros ($5.85 million) against dollars in Bombay.

Conversion was reported to be going smoothly. A Luxembourg central bank spokesman confirmed a report of a minor hitch in preparation of the recently created bank’s internal accounts, but added: “There are no consequences for the market and no consequences for all other changeover activities.”

In Frankfurt, Dresdner Bank carried out a precise operation to switch its systems over to the new single currency, with uniformed technicians working round the clock in a “command ontrol center” lined with wall charts.

The main test will come Monday evening when banks settle their transactions after the first day of trade in euros.

Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain form the euro zone, an economic giant accounting for nearly one-fifth of world output and trade. European Union members Britain, Denmark, Sweden and Greece are outside the euro zone for now.

While consumers must wait until 2002 for new euro notes and coins, they can open bank and credit card accounts, pay mortgages and use travelers’ checks in euros. Old national currencies will still pay for cash purchases, but the mark, franc and others are now officially mere euro constituents.