Financial Stability
Parliamentary committee questions Central Bank of Ireland transparency
Committee will examine whether confidentiality provisions in central bank legislation mean information on financial misconduct is withheld from the public
BoE's Andrew Bailey says Basel III will be more transparent in the future
Head of the Prudential Regulation Authority also argues level of ‘precision' for rules sought by banks and investors ‘is not realistic'
Incoming BoE deputy Shafik says SSM makes working with ECB more important than ever
Minouche Shafik says single supervisory mechanism will improve co-ordination with Bank of England, but that it is too early to tell whether 'huge' project will be successful
IMF paper examines banks’ public bond holdings
Working paper published by the IMF finds that large banks accumulate high-risk public bonds during sovereign crises; examines relationship with bank lending
Georgia selects symbol for national currency
Central bank hopes new symbol, chosen by a commission guided by a public vote, will increase the popularity of the lari
Highly indebted poorer households pose risk to Israeli banking system
Bank of Israel says lenders should look more carefully at ‘payment-to-income' ratio, which is highest for those households most exposed to macro- and micro-level economic shocks
Cut in capital requirements opens door for new UK banks
Regulators say efforts to lower barriers of entry for small banks, including lower capital requirements and easier application process, is spurring competition
Bad news in US and Europe calms emerging markets, says Banxico deputy
Market calm in EMs ‘seems to increase with bad news from the pace of recovery in advanced economies', says Manuel Sanchez
Ingves outvoted as Riksbank cuts 50bp
Swedish central bank hits zero lower bound for first time since 2010 as inflation plummets; outvoted Ingves says his standing is not weakened, calls housing situation ‘acute'
Yellen takes sides in ‘lean against the wind' debate
Federal Reserve chair says monetary policy faces ‘significant limitations as a tool to promote financial stability'; macro-prudential policies ‘far more direct' and effective
Zeti calls for governance overhaul at central banks
Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Aziz says central banks need to understand ‘the new realities’ of crisis management; argues for new internal committees dedicated to the cause
MAS deputy reveals plans to tighten AML/CFT regime
Ong Chong Tee says Monetary Authority of Singapore will require banks to conduct wider assessments of money laundering and terrorism financing risks
Italian socialist tipped to lead ECB-watching Econ Committee
Roberto Gualtieri likely to be elected as chair of the Econ Committee next week in the European Parliament, making him the chief point of contact with the European Central Bank
ESRB publishes framework for calibrating CCBs
European Systemic Risk Board identifies the indicators EU member states should use when building, reducing and releasing their counter-cyclical capital buffers
Fed levies record fine on sanctions-busting BNP Paribas
The Fed's fine of $508 million is part of a massive $9 billion fine for the French-based banking group for dealing with Iran, Cuba and Sudan in violation of US sanctions
BIS's Caruana warns low interest rates are ‘self-validating'
Persistent low interest rates can become self-validating, BIS general manager Jaime Caruana warns, in annual speech in which he called for greater international co-ordination
Israeli banks' core capital ratio would fall to 7.5% in crisis, stress tests show
Banking system would show cumulative loss of three billion shekel, says Bank of Israel, but there would be 'no risk to stability'
BoE scraps 170-year old weekly balance sheet ‘snapshot' to hide emergency liquidity
Bank of England to remove data on emergency liquidity provision from weekly statement, in a step away from full transparency in the interest of financial stability
Bank of Canada may ‘expand’ payments oversight
Deputy governor Lawrence Schembri says the central bank might be charged with the oversight of ‘prominent’ payment systems as well as those that pose systemic risks
Bulgarian central bank calls for jail time after bank runs require emergency liquidity
Bulgarian National Bank says those destabilising the banking system should face jail; bank run met with emergency liquidity from the government
France and Luxembourg join race to become Europe's renminbi hub
France and Luxembourg next in line for clearing banks after striking deals with PBoC over the weekend; French institutional investors also granted permission to invest in China
BIS warns central banks to bite the bullet on monetary policy normalisation
BIS annual report says it may already be too late for a gradual exit from unconventional policy; warns markets may pre-empt exit if they feel central banks are behind the curve
RBI sees case for reviewing governance of public sector banks
Public sector banks continue to pose some of the ‘major challenges' facing the banking sectors, the Reserve Bank of India says
Tarullo says Fed must ‘hone' stress test regime
Fed governor says some firms still lack ‘reliable information' about their business exposures; hints at more attention to developing tests' macro-prudential elements