Financial Stability
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
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’