Financial Stability
New York Fed’s Musalem: culture is as important as capital
Head of the New York Fed’s integrated policy analysis group highlights potential for ‘dissonant sub-cultures’ at firms that otherwise promoted values and codes of conduct
Distributed ledgers could impact FMIs, report finds
Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures report on digital currencies sees potential for technology to have a ‘much broader application beyond payments’
Eurozone banks face 'in-depth' scrutiny of risk handling, Nouy says
Banks’ handling of risk is being subjected to in-depth analysis by the ECB’s single supervisory mechanism, Danièle Nouy says
HKMA promotes 'entirely paperless' e-cheques in PR push
Central bank to raise awareness through multimedia infomercials ahead of December 7 launch; e-cheques will lead Hong Kong into new era of electronic payments, says HKMA deputy
Sweden faces ‘economic crisis’ unless government calms housing market, governor warns
Sweden’s government needs to take urgent action to calm rapidly rising house prices or face a possible economic crisis, Stefan Ingves warns; attacks lack of clarity over macro-prudential policy
Central Bank of Kenya to reassess supervision following bank collapses
Central bank begins review of banking supervision following collapse of two domestic banks; new bank licensing on hold until further notice
Al-Wazir reflects on eight tough years at the PMA
After two terms leading the Palestine Monetary Authority, Jihad Al-Wazir tells Daniel Hinge about his efforts to manage operations in a warzone and improve the central bank against the odds
Terror attacks may have made European capital revival harder, Visco says
Terror attacks may hinder revival of European Union’s rate of capital accumulation, Ignazio Visco tells audience in Paris; capital market reforms present tough long-term challenges
Policy-makers must be prepared to handle Fed rate rise, Fischer says
Emerging market central bankers must be sure US rate rises do not have ‘major consequences’, Fed vice-chairman says; shift to more consumer-led Asian growth may benefit other economies
Changing commodity prices can ‘cushion’ other shocks, Colombian paper says
Colombian working paper suggests commodity price fluctuations do not always amplify business cycles in emerging markets
UK regulators to reopen flawed HBOS investigation
Report critical of financial supervisors who failed to see problems developing or take proper enforcement action, and of bank managers who created a fatally flawed business model
ECB’s Mersch explores construction of instant payments services
Yves Mersch says Eurosystem envisages services being constructed on scheme, clearing, and settlement layers, and considers challenges involved in each
Presentation of big data key to inspiring research, academic argues
New York University professor says financial regulators need to learn from large-scale scientific projects and online retailers to encourage ‘research communities’
Banks face higher capital requirement under Basel trading book review
Basel Committee impact study on the fundamental review of the trading book implies minimum capital allocated to market risk will rise substantially for some banks
Cleveland Fed’s Mester lays out ‘considerable progress’ on payment systems initiative
Loretta Mester tells New York conference of progress in appointing leaders and accumulating members for faster payments and secure payments task forces
Mexico should ‘phase out’ daily FX sales, IMF staff say
Staff at IMF find interventions have ‘contributed to stability’ in the foreign exchange market, while a report following Article IV consultations recommends moving away from daily auctions
CLS starts settling Hungarian forint payments
After two years of preparation and testing, the forint joins the CLS universe
Bank of Israel approves first issue of loss-absorbing bonds
Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot allowed to issue contingent convertible bonds that will count as part of regulatory capital, with other banks expected to follow suit
Risk of banking crisis increases with ‘network centrality’, ECB paper argues
Modelling the interconnectedness of 14 European countries' banking sectors gives valuable information on the likelihood of a crisis, a paper published by the ECB argues
RBA’s Debelle outlines potential benchmark rate reform
Australian consultation paper suggests modifications to the calculation of the bank bill swap rate, with one option expanding the set of transactions covered
Honohan sets out virtues of new crisis tools in final speech
Irish governor stresses potential of direct recapitalisation and GDP-linked loans to help bolster debt sustainability in crisis-hit countries; expects successor Lane to come in with ‘big broom’
Changing funding patterns cut both ways for emerging markets, central bankers say
Emerging markets are moving towards greater use of capital market funding, but while this could bring benefits for monetary policy, it also throws up a host of stability risks
Cyprus must make NPLs ‘number one priority’, international agencies say
Authorities must properly implement proposed loan reforms, joint statement says