Financial Stability
Carney urged to help end masking of swap counterparties
'Ambitious but realistic' deadline could be set for banks to stop hiding counterparty details – the industry’s response to a conflict between privacy and reporting rules
ECB designates four 'systemic' payments systems subject to new regulatory standards
European Central Bank identifies four payment systems as systemically important, which will now be governed by stricter oversight standards that entered into force last week
ECB economists design early-warning guide to trigger macro-prudential intervention
Working paper isolates key indicators to tell policy-makers when to use macro-prudential measures, and which ones to use
Central Bank of Nigeria defends reintroduction of fees on ATM withdrawals
Bank says reintroduction of fee will hinder abuse of expensive ATMs and promote its cash-less policy; fee was abolished in 2012 to encourage use of ATMs
Rwandan central bank sees inflation and interest rates drop in H1
Semi-annual financial stability statement finds reasons to be cheerful as inflation comes in below target and market rates fall, in line with monetary policy
Riksbank's first deputy calls for macro-prudential measures that directly limit household debt
Kerstin af Jochnick suggests amortisation requirements and ‘review of tax deductions for interest paid' in Stockholm speech
Irish economists estimate property debt overhang on SMEs
Central Bank of Ireland researchers find a minimum of 20% of SMEs have direct exposures to property debt, which makes them more likely to default
IMF researchers say CCBs ‘show less promise’ than other macro-prudential tools
Working paper finds counter-cyclical capital buffers are less effective than measures aimed at banks’ assets and liabilities in reducing the rate of asset growth on their balance sheets
Cœuré sees cyber threats and virtual currencies rising on payments agenda
Chair of the CPSS suggests the organisation should look beyond securities and derivatives markets in the 25th anniversary edition of Central Banking journal
IMF hosts Middle East forum on Basel III compliance
Middle Eastern countries work together to ensure adequacy of local lenders' capital and liquidity; new report credits region's ‘strict capital quality rules'
Limits to foreign lending would cut bail-out risks, Banque de France paper claims
Paper examines why countries bail each other out, and argues a tax on lending to foreign countries would stop investors betting on an implicit guarantee
Avinash Persaud calls on regulators to address ‘system-wide' risk mismatches; slams Solvency II
Forcing long-term institutions under Solvency II to behave like short-term ones will be the biggest contributor to systemic risk since Basel II, says Avinash Persaud in Central Banking journal
Central banks need significant discretion to make swap lines work, says ECB
The pricing, size and maturity of standing currency swap lines when activated need to be left to central bank discretion, ECB says in latest Monthly Bulletin; language is 'intentionally unspecific’
Bulgaria tells Brussels it can't guarantee failed bank deposits
Enforcing bank contributions to a deposit guarantee fund would destabilise the country's banking sector, Bulgarian governor and finance minister tell European Commission
New York Fed president suggests Dodd-Frank has made investors ‘more skittish'
William Dudley notes ‘extraordinary interventions' will be more difficult to undertake, potentially destabilising the financial system by unnerving investors
Lithuania takes delivery of first euro coins
1,740 tonnes of coins must be minted ahead of currency switchover on January 1; delivery is supervised by police under special agreement signed in May
ECB publishes ‘manual' explaining eurozone banks' comprehensive assessment
Publication of the manual ‘demonstrates ECB's commitment to transparency' on how it is conducting the ‘rigorous' assessment of the eurozone's biggest banks
The challenges for central banks
Demands are being made for central banks to consider financial stability alongside price stability, as a key component of their monetary policy. But that is nothing new for central banks
Can central bankers live up to their role as the guardians of finance?
Central bankers need to be the risk managers of the financial system to help mitigate the fallout from future crises. Those that engaged in the latest bouts of QE have not made a good start
Payments achitecture fit for the 21st century
Globalisation, changes in FMIs and the emergence of new payment schemes will require ever closer co-operation to ensure the safety and efficiency of the underpinnings of the financial markets
The evolving role of the Eurosystem and its national central banks
Anne Le Lorier pinpoints the challenges Eurosystem central banks will have to address in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
Book notes: The Dollar Trap, by Eswar S Prasad
A lively and compelling analysis on currency wars in the wake of the financial crisis – and the likely persistence of the US dollar as the world’s pre-eminent currency
Renminbi as a reserve currency
China’s renminbi is gaining traction as a global currency, which will pave the way for a multiple global reserve currency system. Discussed here by John Zhu, economist, Greater China, HSBC
Emerging market governors favour Fed policy normalisation, says MAS’ Menon
MAS head Ravi Menon says most emerging market central banks want to see the Fed normalise policy, China is at an inflection point and Singapore could lose out from new OTC derivatives rules