Financial Stability
Belarus to re-denominate its currency from July 2016
Ruble to be cut to one ten-thousandth of its value when new series rolled out; new banknotes printed years ago, but delay saw them stashed in central bank vault
‘Closed’ nature of eurozone banks increases vulnerability, Portuguese paper says
Commercial banks in the eurozone are more likely to be hit by country-specific shocks compared to US given fewer foreign branches; greater use of asset-backed securities may be a solution
Chile bides time on macro-prudential debate
Governor of the Central Bank of Chile says the bank will continue to ‘watch’ macro-prudential debate with view to ‘carefully studying’ different tools
Europe lags US in leading global financial reform, economist says at ECB event
The European Union no longer leads global efforts at financial reform, argues French economist Nicolas Véron; eurozone nations have too many seats on global reform bodies, he adds
RBA deputy disappointed by data inaccuracies
Philip Lowe discusses two problems that have emerged in reporting of loans in housing market, stressing value of high-quality data
EBA unveils plans for 2016 stress tests
European Banking Authority publishes draft guidelines for stress-testing systemically important banks; some 53 banks will be tested from February 2016
CFTC’s aim is 'not just' to expand clearing, Massad says
The agency will not 'mandate a lot of products just to increase clearing'
Yellen would ‘welcome’ vice-chair of supervision
Fed chair says an appointment to the long-vacant post would be welcome, but stresses the ‘outstanding job’ board member Tarullo has done leading work in the area
Europe would benefit from more centralised macro-prudential tools, says ECB vice-president
Macro-prudential regulation of housing sector successful in UK, and the SSM should be in a position to set similar policy in the eurozone, Constâncio says
FSB finds fault with derivatives trade reporting
Despite large volumes of trades being reported, some authorities have restricted access to data, which is often low quality; some jurisdictions are experimenting with new analysis
Eurozone macro-prudential policy should be ‘streamlined’, says Belgian director
Mathias Dewatripont praises shared responsibility as a ‘clever idea’ at ECB forum, but acknowledges this ‘leads to some complex procedures’
Caruana favours flexible supervisory tools over constant regulatory reform
BIS head stresses the value of making flexible supervisory tools available on top of regulation to help keep up with financial market innovations
Ireland: Former financial stability chief and ex-governor clash over crisis
John Hurley firmly rejects an accusation from the former financial stability head of the Irish central bank that senior management suppressed research in the lead-up to the crisis
Bank of Israel unveils plans for better credit data gathering
Registry designed to improve both credit provision and financial stability; deputy governor says central bank has learnt from others while tackling what has been a major project
FSB finalises elements of global bank resolution framework
The raft of documents includes final principles for effective cross-border resolution actions; latest list of globally systemic banks also published
Research assesses South Africa’s vulnerability to Fed hike
Countries with large ratios of external financing needs to foreign exchange could be more vulnerable to Fed rate hikes, working paper finds
Constâncio: ECB working to overcome stress test limitations
Current ECB stress tests have multiple limitations including some macro-prudential considerations, ECB vice-president says
ECB assessment finds capital shortfall at four largest Greek banks
European Central Bank banking supervision uncovered ‘adverse case’ capital shortfalls of €14.4 billion at Greece’s four largest banks; recapitalisation plans needed by November 6
CLS sets go-live date for Hungarian forint
CLS and Hungary's central bank launched the forint project in February 2014
Paper explores whether governments prefer under-capitalised banks in crises
Governments may prefer banks to be weakly capitalised as this increases the likelihood they will act as buyers of last resort for domestic debt; paper considers impact on regulation
ECB to log bank loans to firms above €25,000 from 2018
New system will log all loans by eurozone commercial banks to firms above a value of €25,000 starting in March 2018; ‘AnaCredit’ likely to expand coverage to natural persons
Eurozone banking sector less reliant on central bank funding, ECB report says
Commercial banks relied less on central bank financing in 2014 and only achieved ‘moderate’ extension of credit; shadow banking sector becomes increasingly important