1.   Asian central bankers, reeling from speculative attacks this month that drove down the value of their currencies, agreed to study ways to boost their value.

2.   Asian markets have been battered since this summer as interest rates soared as government sought to defend their currencies against speculative attacks.

3.   A key difference between China and most other Asian countries is that its currency is not fully convertible and is therefore not vulnerable to speculative attacks.

4.   Brazil countered by raising taxes and doubling interest rates to strengthen its currency from speculative attacks, crimping the prospect for growth in the process.

5.   Brazil increased interest rates in late October to prevent a speculative attack on the real as securities markets plunged around the world.

6.   But it sure does make them vulnerable to this kind of speculative attack.

7.   But there is vague talk of increasing supervision over borrowing banks and of establishing funds that could be used to insure depositors or counteract speculative attacks.

8.   Further, a country does not risk speculative attack because it has not promised to exchange its currency for a specified amount of dollars.

9.   He said the markets will only respect the Maastricht process and avoid speculative attacks against potential member currencies if the convergence criteria are strictly applied.

10.   In many cases, the culprits behind the speculative attacks are domestic companies concerned about their exposure to local currencies six months or a year down the road.