Central Banking Journal
Economics in Central Banking: Claudio Borio
The Bank for International Settlements’ economics head secures win for his work applying the concept of ‘excess financial elasticity’ to the international monetary and financial system
Transparency award: Czech National Bank
After speeding up its communications procedures, expanding into social media and creating an online blog for senior policy-makers, the Czech National Bank has taken transparency to a new level
Reserve manager of the year: South African Reserve Bank
Adapting its management of growing reserves using innovative approaches that do not compromise on long-standing values has enabled sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest reserve manager to enter the top ranks
Website of the year: Bank of Canada
The central bank has not only successfully increased its online presence in 2014, but it has also actively passed on its expertise to the central banking community
Sovereign investor of the year: Norges Bank Investment Management
The manager of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund offers ever greater levels of transparency coupled with enviable returns with its strategy to diversify into real estate is paying dividends
Asset manager of the year: BlackRock
BlackRock’s cohesive framework, combined with unrivalled geographic, asset class and investment-style capabilities, enable it to remain the pre-eminent asset manager for sovereign institutions
Foreign exchange dealer of the year: Standard Chartered Bank
The emerging markets specialist has played a pivotal role in assisting central banks and sovereign funds to diversify their holdings into emerging market currencies
Global custodian of the year: State Street
Servicing a diverse set of clients on multiple continents, State Street’s capabilities were amply demonstrated by its win of the National Pension Service equities custody mandate in South Korea
Payments and market infrastructure provider of the year: Eurex Clearing
The German company is driving efforts to help the derivatives industry meet new regulatory requirements, while also improving cross-margining services and bolstering its risk management capabilities
Technology provider of the year: Polaris
The Indian technology company’s flexible platform can be tailored to a remarkable range of operations, including helping central banks such as the RBI to upgrade and automate core banking systems
Consultancy and advisory services provider of the year: SkySparc
Skysparc has helped to test and upgrade treasury management systems at major European central banks, proving instrumental in helping tackle growing volumes of securities transactions and cashflows
Banknote and currency services provider of the year: Innovia Security
A consistent, collaborative approach in a wide range of countries, including Canada and the UK, has enabled the polymer pioneer to stay ahead of its peers on banknote service provision
Norges Bank's Øystein Olsen on governance and managing the world's largest SWF
Øystein Olsen, governor of Norges Bank, speaks to Christopher Jeffery about greater transparency and governance, including managing the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund
The shift to a multi-polar world
Extraterritorial reach of US policies could hasten the use of alternative currencies; decision on renminbi inclusion in SDR may be a tipping point for relevance of Bretton Woods institutions
Dealing with an age of turbulence in emerging markets
Nigerian deputy governor details the options available to emerging markets when reacting to changes in developed-world monetary policies and associated fund movements
BIS' William Coen on Basel III and preventing the next crisis
William Coen, the secretary-general of the Basel Committee, speaks about the banking industry’s response to Basel III, supervision versus regulation and preventing the next crisis.
The ECB's approach to central banking without data borders
Data sharing and access to confidential information – on a need-to-know basis – remain a legal, cultural, technical and organisational challenge at the ECB and elsewhere, writes Aurel Schubert
Assessing credit risk post-crisis at a central bank
Eric Wolfe explains how the Bank of Canada has developed its own credit assessment processes to avoid mechanistic reliance on credit rating agencies.
Czech currency intervention and forex reserves
Michal Skorepa and Mojmír Hampl explain how the Czech National Bank’s activities have directly and indirectly affected the value of the koruna, including the impact of direct interventions in 2013
Book notes: What Have We learned? Macroeconomic Policy After the Crisis, by George Akerlof, Olivier Blanchard, David Romer and Joseph Stiglitz
This book brings together the great and the good of the economics profession, policy-makers and academics, to assess what the dust jacket describes as the “brave new economic world"
Book notes: Finding Equilibrium, by Till Düppe & Roy Weintraub
This unusual book describes the early progress in the mathematisation of economics and, in particular, micro-economic model building
Book notes: Fortune Tellers: The Story of America’s First Economic Forecasters, by Walter Friedman
A fascinating book that crosses the traditional boundaries between the history of economic thought and cultural history
Book notes: GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History, by Diane Coyle
A whistle-stop tour of the development of GDP, a workhorse of economic modelling and analysis
The global financial architecture is broken
Central banks have taken over from Bretton Woods institutions in a multipolar world where actors are increasingly fearful of dealing in G-4 currencies, writes Andrew Sheng