Legal
Palestine Monetary Authority governor resigns early
Government quickly nominates senior PMA official to take place of Azzam Shawwa
US Congress strikes stimulus deal with weaker curbs on Fed powers
Previous wording would have prevented Fed from ever recreating the ‘Main Street’ programme
Is the integrity of Afghanistan’s central bank under threat?
Acting governor fires key staff and is accused of undoing reforms, while World Bank appears ready to suspend funds; administration and other donors show few signs of learning from Kabul Bank scandal
New Isda ‘fallbacks’ critical to making Libor transition a ‘non-event’
New protocol and supplement offer a transition away from Libor rates in 2021, despite CFTC saying 2,400 companies still exposed and Fed extending some US libor contracts until mid-2023
Monetary unions in the making in Africa
EAC, Ecowas and SADC can adopt practical steps learned from EMU to prepare for their own currency unions
BoE considering legal action over hoax press release
Group calling themselves the ‘Yes Men’ claimed credit for the fake
Otmar Issing on the art of central bank communications
EMU architect speaks about Draghi’s “whatever it takes” intervention, forward guidance failures, the Fed’s average inflation target ‘miscommunication’, and why the ECB may be overreaching in its strategy review
Sama changes name again under new central bank law
Law change updates and clarifies central bank’s role and responsibilities
Currency Benchmarks 2020 report – the data behind the cash cycle
Perspectives on staffing, circulation, forecasting, fraud, substrate choice, outsourcing and climate risk
World faces systemic debt crisis, IMF warns
IMF calls for urgent reforms and Japanese finance minister criticises China over debt agreement
Computing platforms for big data and AI
Implementing big-data and high-performance computing platforms is critical to support machine learning applications. Rafael Schmidt and Bruno Tissot offer insights on developing a comprehensive information strategy
CLS proposes second-tier FX settlement system
Stripped-back system for EM currencies mooted to tackle rising settlement risk
Liberian government puts five central bank officials back on trial
Prosecutor alleges former governor and deputy governor carried out “economic sabotage”
Afghan officials allege new governor ‘illegally’ suspended them
Governor alleges corruption by officials but former IMF official condemns “shocking” move
FCA to gain new powers to tackle ‘tough legacy’ issues in Libor transition
Untangling complex legacy issues is looking increasingly difficult as delays mount due to Covid-19
A better way to buy private sector securities?
Central bank asset purchases can do more harm than good and are often conducted on a flimsy legal basis, writes HKU’s Bryane Michael
The complex art of reserve management
The coronavirus lockdown represents another inflection point for central banks seeking to optimise the management of their $12 trillion in FX reserves
The ECB, the lockdown and the monetary financing lock
The eurozone’s central bank may need to break its prohibition on monetary financing to fight the pandemic
Some thoughts on CBDC operations in China
People’s Bank of China deputy governor Fan Yifei outlines why he favours an indirect approach to introducing a CBDC in China
The dawn of a safer and sounder European banking sector
Implementation of two pillars of banking union has led to significant improvements in the safety and soundness of the European banking system
Stability versus solvency
There is still far too much regulatory forbearance on troubled bank debt. More on-site inspections and genuine writedowns are needed to fix the banking system
Custody initiative: Euroclear
The securities depository has debuted instant dollar settlement in central bank money outside the US – a service that has virtually eliminated settlement risk
Watch out for Brexit cliff edge 2.0, experts warn
Measures to mitigate a sharp rupture for financial services could be less likely at end-2020
BoE probes press conference audio feed leak
FCA investigates alleged leak of backup feed to third parties before main broadcast