Financial Stability
UK’s PSR announces shake-up in provision of payment services
UK’s payment system regulator to open door to competition in national payment infrastructure; regulator sees benefits to Mastercard’s planned takeover of Vocalink
BIS paper identifies spillovers from targeted macro-prudential policies
Applying tools narrowly to a sector may nevertheless affect other sections of the financial system, authors find
BoE’s Hauser praises plan for integrated retail payments scheme
Faster Payments, Bacs and Cheque Clearing to be integrated into one system, Hauser says; ISO20022 to make interbank payments “much easier” for the UK
Federal Reserve conducts in-depth study into distributed ledger technology
Central bank publishes first paper discussing the benefits of distributed ledger technology in the realm of payments, and clearing and settlement; use of DLT could address “financial frictions”
Route ahead unclear for Italian banks
At least one bank faces major loan book problems; European law may present difficulties with recapitalisation and “bad banks”
Ingves: internal modelling may create too much complexity
Basel Committee chair says complexity created by internal modelling has a range of adverse effects, though more research is needed
Tajik central bank launches consumer protection push
Plan could create stability and growth if it is successful, but resource constraints are a challenge, National Bank of Tajikistan says
Should banks hold cocos or other kinds of buffers?
Richard Heckinger examines the merits of contingent convertible bonds vs other instruments for meeting regulatory requirements
Malawi governor announces plans for central depository system
New system will provide security for transactions taking place in the market, Chuka says; governor hopes project will increase market liquidity in the long run
Singapore fines two foreign banks for 1MDB-related breaches
Investigations continuing into Goldman Sachs’ role, the regulator says
French paper presents macro-prudential early warning system
Authors advocate aggregating results of larger number of models
Netherlands paper explores people’s trust in pension funds
Most workers opt for flat-rate annuity arrangements but there are some deviations, authors find; expectations on expenses and trust appear to have an effect
Bank Negara Malaysia’s new site draws on award-winning designs
Responsive new site launched after in-house team conducts benchmarking exercise on award-winning central bank sites; head of electronic communications explains the evolutionary process
EU could impose negative rate shocks via IRRBB rules
EBA guidance on shocks is “outdated”, says ECB official
Deal on output floors and op risk approach likely – Ingves
Revised standardised approach to credit risk will be “capital neutral” and more compatible with IRB
Unreported assets worth $6–7 trillion, Italian researchers say
“Areas of opacity” remain, despite recent anti-evasion initiatives, authors say; paper estimates the global levels of personal tax evasion and undeclared assets held overseas
MAS warns of risks surrounding households
Prudent financial and debt management is crucial, the regulator says, to entrench the gains made through macro-prudential measures implemented earlier
New Zealand central bank asks for more macro-prudential powers
Capital’s housing prices "among the highest in the world", report says; heightened debt levels among farmers leave sector "vulnerable to future shocks"
Bank of Zambia closes fourth bank this quarter
Commercial bank deemed insolvent by the regulator; Bank of Zambia takes over control of the institution to “safeguard” depositors
RBS falls short in latest Bank of England stress tests
Three banks show signs of “capital inadequacies” in the latest round of tests, with RBS forced to review its capital plan; Carney says global and domestic risk remains “elevated”, prompting the FPC to leave its buffer unchanged
‘Significant’ housing market risks in eight EU states – ESRB
UK outlook “highly uncertain”, while regulatory mandate in Sweden is “not clear”
Dealers urge further clarity on rules for ailing CCPs
New European rules stop short of defining resolution triggers
Central banks may be partly to blame for low real rates, says BIS’s Borio
Ever-bolder attempts to raise inflation could push down on real rates, generating little inflation but worsening the risk of instability, Claudio Borio says
Praet calls for European ‘fiscal backstop’ and deposit insurance scheme
Limited banking union leaves Europe more open to country-specific shocks, ECB economist says