Financial Stability
Lagarde says financial inclusion has key role in closing gender inequality gap
IMF managing director says women face extra cultural and educational hurdles in tapping into financial services, but financial inclusion can empower them
BoE introduces ‘ground-breaking' macro-pru measures to prevent housing bust
Mark Carney unveils a cap on high loan-to-income mortgages and affordability test; influential MP calls it a ‘major departure' for UK financial policy
Macro-pru beats monetary policy for open-economy financial stability
IMF working paper uses open economy framework to show macro-prudential policies are more welfare-enhancing than interest rate rises in seeing off over-exuberance
Zambia governor opens conference on financial inclusion for women
Michael Gondwe says deliberate policies and a long-term commitment will be needed to ensure financial inclusion for all Zambia's women
Riksbank brief: Virtual currencies 'essentially positive'
Digital money can make payments 'cheaper and more secure', argues staffer in economic commentary; risks mean virtual currencies should be assessed on a case-by-case basis
Central banks test ‘dry ice' banknote cleaning technology
Banks to test whether ‘supercritical' CO2 can rid notes of filth without damaging security features; central banks spend $10 billion to replace 150 billion banknotes each year
Financial stability reports to become ‘a lot more important’
New research highlights ‘sizeable effects’ of financial stability reports on stock markets; speeches have become more influential since the crisis but this is unlikely to last
Irish central bank will ‘change structurally’ before SSM
Cyril Roux says the Central Bank of Ireland will make organisational changes in the coming months as it looks to accommodate the Single Supervisory Mechanism
Macro-prudential research builds ‘analytical foundation’ for EU policy
A European System of Central Bank’s research network reports on four years of work; Vitor Constâncio says policy-makers will still need ‘trial-and-error approaches’
Basel committee revisits 2002 guidance on 'weak banks'
Update to BCBS guidelines is the first since long before the financial crisis; Ingves says ‘early identification and intervention by supervisors is critical'
Finland paper: Loans-to-deposits among best indicators of banking crises
Paper examines banking crises in 11 EU countries between 1980-2013; growth rates and trend deviations of loan stock variables also yield 'useful' signals of impending crises
Czech banks could ride out recession plus deflation, central bank says
The Czech financial sector is exposed to bond volatility but banks have sufficient buffers to survive a ‘strong recession accompanied by deflation', financial stability report says
Rajan: RBI ‘could give up’ some powers
Reserve Bank of India should retain its regulatory powers, Rajan says, but it could cede part of its debt management role to the government ‘without any loss in welfare’
Robert Pringle’s Viewpoint: Coping with capital flows
All nations face major challenges dealing with capital flows. In the absence of systemic reform to monetary and exchange rate systems, central banks will need to patch and mend where they can
Banque de France paper quantifies impact of EBA capital exercise on lending
Banque de France working paper examines lending behaviour of banks subjected to the recapitalisation exercise ran by the European Banking Authority in 2011–12
MAS to offer overnight renminbi liquidity
Monetary Authority of Singapore says it will launch an overnight liquidity facility for Chinese currency in July; latest step in growth of offshore market
Poloz warns of household vulnerabilities in Canada's financial sector
Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz says enhanced framework to highlight vulnerabilities shows household debt and housing lending are areas of concern
Bank of England given far-reaching macro-prudential powers over housing
UK chancellor unveils ‘big new steps' that will allow BoE to cap loan-to-value and loan-to-income ratios on mortgages; Carney ‘applauds' decision
Romania governor calls for early entry into Banking Union
Romania will be affected by Banking Union either way, argues governor Mugur Isărescu, so would be better off inside rather than outside
Philippines tailors stress tests to real estate exposures
Central Bank of the Philippines approves new prudential guidelines to incorporate in bank stress tests; insists they are preferable to ‘absolute limits’ on real estate exposures
Belgians call for ‘strong co-ordination’ to hold EU prudential regime together
Article in National Bank of Belgium's financial stability review evaluates the institutional structures that will influence macro-prudential policy in Europe
IMF researchers map out countries’ macro-financial risks
Working paper presents a framework for linking the various aspects of the IMF’s surveillance, and a tool for mapping out the various conditions in each member state
Serbia's slowing dinarisation expects boost from subsidised loan programme
A programme offering cheap dinar-denominated loans to the corporate sector should see use of the national currency bounce back, Serbia's central bank hopes
IMF launches global house price observatory to 'nudge' prudential policy-makers
Fund sets up website to help countries keep track of and compare housing sector developments and prompt them into ‘early action' on booms and busts