Financial Stability
Sepa obstacles have 'not evaporated completely’, warns Finland paper
Bank of Finland researcher finds the advent of the Single Euro Payments Area has not removed all of the barriers to ‘a true domestic products and services market’
Singapore unveils faster payments service
The Association of Banks in Singapore says ‘almost immediate’ payments service for interbank transfers will launch in the middle of the year
IMF praises ‘dramatic’ turnaround in Spanish bank sector
Final report on Spain’s financial sector reform programme says ‘steadfast’ implementation paid dividends, but warns of a number of alarming trends still prevalent in the financial sector
Euribor rate-setting improvement ‘substantial’, say regulators
EBA-Esma report finds European benchmark setter has made ‘significant progress’ towards correcting previous governance failures, but six of 10 areas require further work
Prasarn says Thailand still unsure of CCP viability
Thai governor says emerging markets need more time to assess whether creating central counterparties would bring the ‘intended benefits’ without ‘undue consequences’
Kazakhstan aims for hat-trick in banknote beauty parade
The International Bank Note Society judges newly issued banknotes on aesthetic and security grounds; Solomon Islands among those aiming to wrest crown from the Kazakhs
Robert Pringle's Viewpoint: The eurozone’s unfinished business
Economic adjustment and financial sector reform must go hand in hand – with the ECB due to play a central role
Nigerian RTGS joins Swift
The country's adoption of the global payment platform yesterday is expected to improve settlement security and discourage the use of cash payments in the longer term
ECB's Praet defends ‘innovative' OMTs
Redenomination risk premia, as faced by the ECB in the eurozone crisis, was a new challenge for central banks that needed a new solution: outright monetary transactions
Reserve requirements may speed up development of capital markets, Peruvian paper finds
Central bank reserve requirements dampen credit cycles in periods of capital inflows and reduce their expansionary effects on aggregate demand, according to central bank working paper
Central Bank of Oman's Hamood Sangour Al Zadjali on the dollar, financial stability and Islamic finance
The Central Bank of Oman remains committed to the dollar as it moves to improve governance, liquidity management and Islamic finance in the sultanate, its executive president tells Chris Jeffery
Italian paper finds difficulties in risk weighting sovereign debt
Researchers at the Bank of Italy warn that applying higher risk weights to sovereign debt could be detrimental to banks’ funding conditions
Cœuré defends Troika to European Parliament
ECB’s top negotiator with European Parliament defends the adjustment programmes shaped by the Troika and tells politicians not to ‘blame the fire brigade for the fire damage’
National Bank of Belgium sells iconic Antwerp building
Belgium’s central bank has closed its Antwerp branch as part of its ongoing consolidation process, and will now sell the distinctive triangular building
Rajan looks to mobile banking for financial inclusion
Reserve Bank of India governor says that India is not ‘where it should be’ on mobile payments and calls on telecom firms to help drive the proliferation of cheap and safe payments
Banking union can create sustainable financial integration in eurozone, Draghi says
Speaking at the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the European Monetary Institute, the forerunner to the ECB, Mario Draghi says banking union can strengthen financial integration
CLS set to add Russian ruble in November, source says
Industry settlement utility CLS is poised to add the ruble to its currency universe in November
RBI paper explores quality of Indian banks’ assets
Researcher acknowledges that asset quality has suffered in the wake of the crisis, but is convinced that banks’ balance sheets are ‘not alarming at the current juncture’
Hungary central bank sets out stress test methodology
Working paper explains how the National Bank of Hungary conducts its stress tests, aimed at ensuring the system can survive an intensive month-long liquidity shock
Governors grapple with regulatory implications of African mobile money growth
African central bank heads agree to develop comparative surveys of mobile money regulation, as mobile banking takes off
ECB ‘strongly supports’ new payments directive
The European Central Bank gives its backing to a new payments directive that aims to create a more integrated European market for electronic payments