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Harsh standards prompt drop in secured UK loans
Tighter lending conditions have sparked the steepest-ever climb in British housing equity in the last quarter of 2008.
Markets surge on G20 $1 trillion recovery package
Equity markets in Europe and the United States soared on Wednesday on news that global leaders had pledged an extra $1 trillion to spur an economic recovery.
FSF details reform proposals
A leverage ratio, less risky pay deals and closer work on cross-border contingency planning are among the measures for a new global regulatory code outlined by the Financial Stability Forum on Wednesday.
Swiss National Bank - Annual Report 2008
The Swiss National Bank's balance sheet substantially lengthened in 2008, notes the central bank's latest Annual Report.
Canada's Carney: don't cut off banks from markets
Banks should not be divorced from the markets to avoid liquidity problems. Instead the perimeter of regulation should be expanded, said Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of Canada.
IMF to enhance borrowing terms for the poor: Lipsk
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is redesigning its lending policies for low-income countries, said John Lipsky, the first deputy managing director of the fund.
Mexico may tap Fed, IMF credit lines
Felipe Calderon, Mexico's president, said on Tuesday that the country was eligible to take a $40 billion credit line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as speculation mounted that the Bank of Mexico would soon use its $30 billion arrangement with…
Banks reforming pay deals, says industry group
The Institute of International Finance (IIF), a global organisation for the banking industry, has said that financial firms are overhauling their compensation practices to reflect a longer-term outlook.
G20 protests converge on Bank of England
The Bank of England on Wednesday was surrounded by anti-capitalist protesters, converging on Threadneedle Street to vent their anger at the crisis on the eve of the London G20 summit.
Monetary union could improve British stability
The British economy's stability would be enhanced by euro adoption, a new paper from the St Louis Federal Reserve posits.
All US states contract for first time on record
The economies of all of the 50 American states shrank in February for the first time since records began in January 1979.
Soros urges G20 to agree on SDR reallocation
George Soros, one of the world's most renowned hedge-fund managers, has called on G20 leaders to endorse the reallocation of rich country's SDR quotas with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
A solution to the reserves riddle
There has been an anomaly between what is in the national interest and what is in the global interest on the issue of reserves. However, this does not have to be so.
RBA's Richards: housing shortfall welcome
The relative tightness of the Australian housing market is one factor that will support home-building in the period ahead, said Anthony Richards, the head of the economic analysis department at the country's central bank.
Turkey justifies cut to record low
The Central Bank of Turkey cut rates by 100 basis points to an all-time low earlier this month on signs that the global economic outlook continued to deteriorate and the depression was expected to be long lasting, the minutes for the 19 March meeting…
Sepa project must be extended
The scope of the Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) project must be extended to include standardisation in the field of value-added services, such as e-invoicing, a new paper from the National Bank of Denmark states.
Don't rely too heavily on capital-adequacy models
Supervisors should guard against placing undue reliance on the overall level of capital implied by economic capital models in assessing capital adequacy, a new paper from the Bank for International Settlements posits.
Wellink: long-term fix will abate near-term fears
A clear outline of the post-crisis regulatory landscape would help allay short-term fears, Nout Wellink, the president of the Netherlands Bank and the chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, has said. Wellink also indicated that the…
Euro inflation at new low, OECD wants more easing
The OECD on Tuesday urged the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut rates further and apply quantitative easing in a bid to stave off a severe economic contraction. The calls came as it emerged eurozone annual inflation in March had dropped to its lowest…
China vows to expand currency-swap operations
The People's Bank of China pledged on Tuesday to expand its network of swap lines with other central banks days after agreeing a Rmb70 billion ($10.2 billion) arrangement with Argentina.
Europe's and Japan's fiscal actions procyclical
Discretionary fiscal policy tended to be procyclical in continental European countries and Japan, a new paper from the International Monetary Fund posits.
Limits to safety net support - Richmond's Lacker
It is of paramount importance to clearly define the boundaries of future safety net support, said Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Richmond Federal Reserve.
Bank Negara Malaysia - Annual Report 2008
The year 2009 will be a highly challenging year for the Malaysian economy, said Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the governor of the central bank, in the latest Annual Report.
Tucker: macroprudential is more than macro + micro
A macroprudential approach to financial supervision requires more than simply bringing together the central bank's macroeconomists and the regulator's line supervisors, said Paul Tucker, a deputy governor of the Bank of England.