Financial Stability
Bank of Finland deputy urges banks to meet mobile and internet payments demand
Pentti Hakkarainen says banking sector has not met Finnish population’s demand for mobile, internet or real-time payments; says banks risks losing their data advantage over other institutions
Euro crisis will leave Greece stronger, says Herbert Grubel
Membership of a currency union initially failed to force Greece to reform its economy but the country is now set to emerge from the crisis unshackled from former vested interests; the case of Greece may offer lessons for other democracies
RBNZ closing loan valuation loopholes
Reserve Bank of New Zealand proposes stricter rules on how banks value housing loans and residential properties to prevent them undermining new macro-prudential policy
Scandinavians open macro-pru toolbox to cool overheated housing markets
Rising property prices, increasing household debt and towering banking sectors are pushing Norway, Sweden, and Denmark to consider unconventional measures to pre-empt a crash
Carney new vice-chair of ESRB as King joins Fischer at CFR
Mark Carney takes over from Mervyn King as deputy to European Systemic Risk Board chairman Mario Draghi; King joins US think-tank Council on Foreign Relations as a distinguished fellow
IMF greenlights new wave of funds for ‘resolute' Cyprus
New IMF report says most conditions have been met with a ‘comfortable margin' but warns that the banking crisis' impact on households and corporates could be larger than anticipated
ECB to relax CCBM collateral deposit rules from May 2014
Benoît Cœuré says the rule change will pave the way for support of cross-border, tri-party collateral management services from September next year; warns Sepa deadline looks tight for many
Hungarian economists wary of foreign bank branches
Researchers are concerned that a shift away from foreign bank subsidiaries to branches increases the risks of inadequate supervision and threatens financial stability both at home and abroad
BIS research dismisses fears over high-quality asset shortage
Article says increase in high-quality assets appears sufficient to meet rising demand, but risks could still come from elsewhere
Minutes reveal Riksbank reluctant to give up say on macro-prudential matters
Deputies say democratic accountability is more about who has the right to make decisions than achieving policy objectives; see ‘clear link' between macro-prudential policy and monetary policy
BoE's Tucker clarifies FPC's macro-prudential powers
Article gives details of the inner workings of the Financial Policy Committee, including powers of direction and recommendation, its accountability and powers to hide information from the public
Robert Pringle’s Viewpoint: Looking for a game-changer for the financial system
The world may need to look to central bank governors in countries such as China and India to champion reform of the global monetary architecture
Africa leads growth in financial inclusion, finds IMF study
Most comprehensive financial inclusion data set to date highlights rapid expansion of financial access in Africa; emphasises close links between growth and SMEs' access to finance
IMF backs counter-cyclical fiscal activism in times of crisis
Fiscal stimulus had powerful effects in the wake of the financial crisis, but monetary policy is better suited to keeping the economy on an even keel in normal times, says IMF
BIS research finds capital requirements had minor impact on bank lending
Quarterly review article presents evidence that banks have adjusted to higher capital requirements mainly via retained earnings, rather than by cutting lending, with less of a macroeconomic impact
Central banks behind curve on innovation, says World Payments Report
Central banks are struggling to keep up with rapid growth of innovative new payment systems, report warns; risk to European firms that regulation will cause mobile payments to fall behind
Croatia under threat from falling growth and rising debt
Public debt is capped at 60% but is now approaching that limit; there are further signs of weakness in the Croatian and European real economies
IMF report highlights macro-prudential challenges
Kohn and Viñals talk of key role for central banks in macro-prudential framework; report singles out challenges faced by national authorities in setting up macro-prudential policy frameworks
Sanusi unveils revised Nigerian payments strategy
Central Bank of Nigeria governor underscores progress made already with modernising payment systems in Nigeria, and reveals details of revised payments strategy for 2020
Bank of England publishes banking primer to educate public
Article says role of prudential regulation is to ensure the soundness of banks by ensuring they have sufficient capital and liquidity to avoid disruption of critical services provided to the economy
Regional Fed presidents stand their ground on MMFs
Presidents of the regional Federal Reserve banks push the Securities and Exchange Commission to impose more stringent reforms on money market funds including requiring a floating net asset value
A turning point for Greece and the euro
The seeds of Greece’s financial crisis are also present in many other modern democracies, writes Herbert Grubel. Currency union offers a politically expedient way to prevent such crises
European Parliament greenlights SSM
Lawmakers vote to put the ECB in charge of supervising Europe's biggest banks, as focus turns to arduous process of establishing single resolution mechanism
OTC derivatives reform could ‘fall short’, says Fed’s Dudley
NY Fed president William Dudley says reforms in OTC derivatives market are lagging work on bank regulation; calls for greater global coordination to push reforms as far as they will go