Financial Stability
Kazakh banks should go beyond Basel III, says central bank
Financial stability report calls for banks to boost capital levels above Basel III requirements; encourages largest banks to clean up balance sheets and lend more
RBNZ looks to toughen payments oversight
Reserve Bank of New Zealand deems its oversight powers ‘insufficient’ in internal review; proposes new powers to boost authority over payments industry
Dutch paper analyses changes in unsecured overnight money market
Study examines changes to the ECB’s monetary policy framework in the mid-2000s; finds they reduced volatility in Dutch segment of Target II system
IMF research identifies ‘strong macro-financial linkages’ in eastern Europe
Working paper finds macroeconomic factors closely tied to non-performing loans in central, eastern and southeast Europe; warns of ‘strong feedback effects’ between banks and economy
Sepa migration at risk due to poor preparedness, says ECB
First progress report expresses alarm at some companies planning to migrate very close to deadline; payments could be disrupted if deadline missed, but Benoît Cœuré says ‘there is no plan B’
Basel III insufficient for ‘huge’ Swedish banking system, says Ingves
Sveriges Riksbank governor says Sweden must go ‘over and above’ capital and liquidity standards in Basel III; identifies household debt and bank market-funding as core weaknesses
Dombret warns national banking systems are too-big-to-fail
Bundesbank’s Andreas Dombret says too-big-to-fail problem extends to whole banking systems; says some eurozone systems could have to be downsized
Major part of banking union set for mid-2014, says ECB official
National supervisors made 'gigantic mistakes', says ECB's financial stability head; outlines plans for SSM
RBNZ deputy defends bank resolution policy
Grant Spencer insists the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s resolution policy differs from the controversial Cyprus proposals; says deposit insurance doesn’t prevent bank failures
Higher Basel III pricing deters Asian banks from issuing new Tier II capital
Banks issued debt before the end-of-2012 deadline for Basel II capital, lessening their refinancing requirements for this year
Central Bank of Cyprus governor tells government to scrap small-depositor levy
Panicos Demetriades says government should apply heavier haircut to depositors above €100,000 threshold and spare those below; predicts run when banks re-open on Thursday
French paper quantifies cost of implicit bank insurance
Research examines the cost of implicit insurance given to systemically important financial institutions by EU countries; assesses costs in terms of increased taxes
BoJ researcher finds need for heterogeneous response to credit flows
Working paper shows global common factors account for a ‘quantitatively important’ portion of cross-border credit, but vary between regions; suggests need for tailored policy responses
RBI paper develops method for estimating counterfeit volumes
Researchers redesign inverse sampling statistical method, aiming to measure extent of counterfeiting in India with ‘credible precision’
T2S chief warns regulatory inaction could damage harmonisation process
Jean-Michel Godeffroy says CSD regulation must be passed this year to avoid harmonisation delays; conference panellists raise concerns over costs, limited participation and financial transaction tax
Largest banks $270bn below Basel III core capital limits
Basel Committee finds banks would have missed CET1 requirement under Basel III by $270 billion in June 2012; IMF’s Lagarde condemns ‘uneven implementation’ of rules
Robert Pringle’s Viewpoint: Wider lessons of the Cyprus bail-out
The clumsy attempts to resolve a banking crisis in Cyprus underline the need to make more rapid progress on wider issues afflicting much larger financial markets in Europe
Eurozone rocked by Cypriot depositor haircut plan
Markets take a hit, peripheral bond yields rise and commentators raise fears of contagious bank runs as Cypriot parliament debates plans to take 6.75% haircut from ‘insured’ depositors
Central banks can help promote reference rate choice, says BIS report
Bank for International Settlements working group finds money market appetite for adopting overnight reference rate; says central banks can help promote transparency
Banque de France research proposes framework to address stress-test failings
Researchers use statistical tests for detection of outliers to characterise severity and duration of stressed periods; suggests length of shock depends on the initial variables
Icelandic paper finds country's response to banking crisis was optimal
Research by Central Bank of Iceland looks at various alternatives to Iceland’s handling of the 2008 banking collapse, but finds none yield better outcomes than the baseline scenario
MAS warns on fragmented clearing and reporting
Asian financial markets have made progress in setting up CCPs and trade repositories, but greater harmonisation is needed across borders, Singaporean central bank warns
IMF urges ‘more forceful action’ to end Europe’s woes
Report on European financial stability says situation remains ‘tenuous’ in eurozone; calls on authorities to act fast to repair balance sheets and set up banking union
Central bankers split over whether 3% leverage ratio is enough
Majority of participants in CentralBanking.com poll support implementation of Basel III; readers divided over questions of raising leverage ratio