Financial Stability
National Bank of Austria vice-governor faces bribery charges
Wolfgang Duchatczek and eight others charged with bribery in connection with note-printing deals with Syria and Azerbaijan
National Bank of Belgium urges care in use of credit conditions surveys
Analysis shows eurozone’s Bank Lending Survey and Belgium’s Survey on Credit Conditions contain useful information – but ‘crucially’ depend on model specification
Bank of Canada reins in risk concerns
Review of Canadian financial system finds risks from European sovereign debt crisis and Canadian housing market are retreating; special report says collateral demand is ‘manageable’
FDIC chief economist highlights factors behind community bank failure
Richard Brown says community banks play a ‘crucial role’ in the US financial system; presents research identifying common factors behind those that failed during various financial crises
ECB’s LTROs had ‘favourable effect’ on sovereign yields
Dutch working paper evaluates the impact of the ECB’s unconventional monetary policy; says LTRO had beneficial short-term effect on government borrowing in most distressed eurozone countries
UK banks on cyber threat alert, says BoE’s Haldane
Chief risk officers at UK banks worried about cyber-attacks on financial institutions; Bank of England official says government must take ultimate responsibility to guard against cyber threats
Canadian paper proposes new DSGE model for analysing credit shocks
Working paper proposes new model that accounts for the effects of defaults on both households and banks; finds the probability of a company defaulting rises with its leverage ratio
UK mulls US-style bank stress tests
Bank of England seeks to improve bank stress tests by including publicly disclosed remedial actions as debate intensifies over independence and the use of a leverage ratio in the UK
Ingves wants Riksbank monopoly over macro-prudential policy
Stefan Ingves dismisses proposals for central bank and financial services authority to share responsibility for macro-prudential responsibility
Belgian supervisor warns against Basel III over-simplification
National Bank of Belgium’s Rudi Bonte calls for the Basel Committee to take a ‘moderate’ stance on the trade-off between simplicity and complexity in its risk and capital rules
National Bank of Denmark tells smaller banks to strengthen their positions
Financial Stability Report for 2013 reveals that while the five nationally systemic banks have plenty of capital, some smaller banks are found wanting
Austria’s Nowotny cautious on single supervisor
National Bank of Austria governor says there are valid reasons for central banks to play a greater role in banking supervision, but voices concerns regarding the single supervisory mechanism
Ibos warns of payments disruption as Sepa deadline set to be missed
Banking association says 2014 Sepa migration target will be missed at current pace, which could see systems shut down and payments fail; harmonisation may be limited even when target met
ECB paper finds cost of macro-prudential policies may outweigh benefits
Working paper finds macro-prudential policies can be effective in deflating asset bubbles, but warns the cost of doing so may be higher than the benefit
BoE markets head warns of collateral balancing act
Andrew Hauser says repo markets must be ‘prudentially sound’ but remain ‘sufficiently deep and liquid’; warns against an ‘excessive’ central bank presence
People: Poloz names special advisor; BoE appoints insurance specialist to PRA
Bank of Canada appoints senior advisor to the governor; UK's Prudential Regulation Authority names final independent director; payments systems Bacs and Chaps appoint new chairmen
Swedish deputy says monetary policy must remain as tool for dealing with financial imbalances
Per Jansson says macro-prudential policies will only complement, and not replace, the Riksbank’s use of its benchmark interest rate to lean against financial imbalances
Omani central bank releases first financial stability report
Reveals the creation of an independent financial stability unit responsible for implementing macro-prudential policies; calls for a new macro-financial model and improved data collection
Parliament launches inquiry into independence of Bank of England’s FPC
Law-makers raise questions over independence of Financial Policy Committee; concerned by Osborne’s recent changes to its membership and remit
Ukraine caps cash use in bid to boost e-payments
National Bank of Ukraine hopes to deliver a wide range of benefits by imposing limits on the size of cash payments
ECB issues draft regulation on systemically important payment systems
Central bank seeks comment on draft regulations implementing CPSS-Iosco Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures, for systemically important payments systems in the eurozone
BoE chief cashier looks forward to further innovations in the use of cash
Chris Salmon, chief cashier and executive director for banking services at the Bank of England, says ‘local recycling' of cash in ATMs poses questions over authentication
Lithuanian governor says banking union does not require treaty change
As Lithuania gears up to take over the EU rotating presidency, central bank governor Vasiliauskas is confident of reaching a compromise on banking union within the existing legal framework
Bundesbank research studies how weak resolution rules impact growth
Discussion paper employs ‘catharsis indicator’ to show that stronger resolution regimes reward good firms and help to allocate credit effectively, boosting growth