Financial Stability
Central Banking poll finds tepid response to EU stress tests
Some 60% of respondents to Central Banking poll say the EU stress tests are ‘not stringent enough’; ECB will release results for eurozone banks along with AQR findings next month
Financial liberalisation much more encompassing ‘than just technical lifting of controls'
Market participants face numerous unexpected challenges as they adapt to more liberal operational environments, says Bank of Finland board member at China financial liberalisation event
FSB warns of ‘increasing signs of complacency' in financial markets
Concerns about the mispricing of liquidity risks are also raised at plenary meeting in Cairns this week, but ‘core of financial system continues to strengthen'
Barnier hints at longer pensions clearing exemption for OTC derivatives
The EC's outgoing head of internal markets, Michel Barnier, has hinted the Commission will extend a pension funds derivatives clearing exemption beyond 2015
Mortgage credit subsidies 'disastrous for the poor'
Credit subsidies a ‘short-sighted palliative for addressing economic inequality', argue leading academics in Central Banking Journal article
Mobile money accounts trump number of adults in Kenya, IMF data show
African bank depositors increased five-fold between 2004 and 2013, IMF's fifth annual Financial Access Survey shows; includes data on mobile money for first time
FSB estimates of Chinese shadow banking fall short of target, IMF representatives suggest
FSB's ‘filtering out' of parts of the non-bank financial system in China paints incomplete picture, IMF Asia division chief and HK representative say
‘Flower power’ drives new Dominican Republic banknote series
The Dominican Republic is issuing upgraded banknotes to include the country’s new national flower; Israel and eurozone also introducing new notes in the market
Mersch: T2S may prompt ‘more global network for mobilisation of collateral assets'
ECB board member says Target2 offers 'possibilities for linkages' between T2S central securities depositories with those 'from other geographical areas'
Banks must ‘rediscover' relationships with companies, Italian deputy says
Salvatore Rossi says better understanding of companies by banks would complement capital market intermediation as ‘only banks can acquire direct knowledge of firms'
PBoC designates renminbi clearing banks for France and Luxembourg
Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to serve countries' offshore RMB markets
Palestine Monetary Authority launches new clearing system
Automated clearing system developed in Palestime with technical assistance from the World Bank and Bank of Italy; part of PMA’s wider plans to upgrade retail payment infrastructure
Robert Pringle’s Viewpoint: A qualified case for Scottish independence
If the Scots vote for independence they will run many risks including a perilous path to create a Scottish currency; but they have the human resources to make a go of it
BIS warns of risks related to dollar-denominated corporate debt in EMs
Hyun Shin says cross-border bank lending has seen first ‘substantial increase for some time', while Claudio Borio cautions against ‘exceptionally low' volatility in financial markets
IMF paper says long-term debt creates ‘incentive to default’
Research examines relationship between maturity structure of sovereign debt portfolios and the probability of default; considers impact of uncertainty around future fundamentals
Bulgarian governor fires back over resolution of failed bank
Ivan Iskrov defends himself against accusations of hasty and contradictory statements in wake of CCB failure; highlights politicians’ failure to agree a resolution plan
Bank of Portugal's Varela calls for ‘impeccable' banking ethics
António Varela, recently appointed to the board of Bank of Portugal, argues the banking system needs a ’demanding diagnostic of the capabilities of each institution’
Negative Eonia rate causes CSA headaches
Eonia's move into the negative means parties posting variation margin must also pay interest to their counterparties, which has led to calls for clarity from dealers – especially for one-way CSAs
Key innovation behind Bitcoin could prompt ‘fundamental change' to payment systems
Article published by Bank of England says ‘distributed ledger' technology could have ‘much broader' impact beyond payment systems
World's biggest banks $60bn closer to Basel III target
Internationally active banks $20bn short of Basel III target, compared with $80bn six months earlier, according to Basel Committee review
Kohn says exit from unconventional monetary policies likely to be 'positive event' for UK
External member of Bank of England FPC says ‘most likely all will go well' but warns long period of low volatility may have led to mispricing of risk
Angolan central bankers appointed to BESA board
Angola’s president has appointed two central bankers to oversee the implementation of a rescue programme to save the local subsidiary of Portugal’s Banco Espírito Santo
LCH payments system raises concentration concerns
A large proportion of cash payments between clearing members and LCH.Clearnet are processed by just two banks, raising concentration risk concerns from banks and regulators
CPMI report reviews the ‘growing involvement’ of non-banks in retail payments
Working group chaired by Reserve Bank of India’s Padmanabhan says the presence of non-banks in payments raises 'level playing field issues' for central banks to consider