Governance
BoE shines light on its gender pay gap
Men are still paid more than women at the central bank, though the gap is narrowing, and smaller within pay bands than across the organisation
Skingsley calls for balance, as government prepares to rethink Riksbank Act
Central bank mandates need to be a balance of specificity and flexibility, while too broad a mandate could threaten independence, deputy says; government to consider six areas of Riksbank’s work
BoE’s Shafik to step down early
Deputy governor reveals she is to take up post as director of the London School of Economics in 2017, leaving the central bank more than two years before her term was due to end
PBoC faces the ‘most challenging work of all central banks’ – HKU’s Xiao
The People’s Bank of China needs to meet short-term goals of exchange rate and price stability to achieve longer-term structural and financial reform, says Hong Kong University professor Xiao Geng
Changes to central bank law mooted in the Philippines
Proposed changes include oversight of more financial institutions as well as the capacity for the central bank to place harsher sanctions on illegal transactions
George and Lacker push back against calls for Fed governance reform
Presidents say mixed public-private funding and governance helps protect the independence of the regional Feds, though others warn private banks are having too much say in policy
People: Turkish deputy appointed; Dominican Republic governor and deputy to serve again
Former HSBC and Citigroup banker joins the ranks of the Central Bank of Turkey; long-standing Dominican Republic governor and deputy invited to serve again; and more
The arrival of web-first publications
Websites have become the primary channel for distributing central bank publications, with PDF being the format of choice. The BIS's Christian Beslmeisl asks whether central banks could do better
‘Iconic’ Irish central bank property put on market
No asking price for Dame Street site – sale is by best bid; more than 1,500 central bank staff to move to new site in North Wall Quay
German economist wins central bank prize
Klaus Adam wins award jointly sponsored by SNB, Bundesbank and National Bank of Austria for “innovative work” on asset prices and monetary policy
Nepalese central bank governors banned from retiring to financial sector
“Cooling-off” period adjusted for central bank employees under new legislation; former governors prohibited from working in the financial sector
People: Debelle becomes RBA deputy governor
Foreign exchange expert becomes deputy governor of RBA; Mongolia appoints deputy governor
Central Bank of Bahrain looks to establish stronger sharia governance
Formal framework specifies governance structures banks must put in place if they are to be licensed as Islamic, in an attempt to establish best practice
Mozambique replaces governor Gove with IMF official
Ernesto Gove leaves central bank after a decade in the role; new governor to leave role as head of IMF mission to Djibouti and Somalia
RBI annual report shows both income and expenditure on the rise
Staff costs and transaction fees drove rise in overall costs in 2015–16, although these were balanced by higher income; staff numbers on the decline
Slovenian central bank appeals against court decision on advisory committee disclosure
Dispute is the latest clash between Slovenian legal authorities and the central bank over an inquiry into the country’s 2013 banking sector bail-out; move follows July police raid
Bank Indonesia launches training and research institute
Central bank establishes a new centre for research and staff training, with the hope of building expertise and boosting credibility
Bundesbank places first representative in Africa
South Africa is “fertile ground” for investment, says Andreas Dombret; Jenny Kilp to be placed in Pretoria to help foster projects between Sarb and Bundesbank
King calls for IMF revamp
Former BoE governor suggests replacing IMF’s executive board with International Monetary and Financial Committee; notes fund may have strayed too far into political territory
Book notes: Priests of prosperity: how central bankers transformed the postcommunist world
Juliet Johnson has produced an interesting account of how central banks in former communist regimes were developed at a time when they had little or no experience of modern financial systems
People: Irish market supervisor quits; Emefiele appointed president of AACB
Gareth Murphy resigns as head of market supervision at the Central Bank of Ireland, Nigerian governor appointed president of African Association of Central Banks, and more
Overhaul of Federal Reserve structure is needed, paper says
Former adviser to Bernanke co-authors paper stressing need to end private control of 12 regional Fed banks; diversity and transparency need improvement, authors argue
Urjit Patel to take over from Rajan at RBI
Deputy governor led work on India’s new inflation-targeting framework; appointment seen as signal of government’s commitment to current policy
Malaysia’s Ibrahim proposes audit enhancements
Bank Negara Malaysia governor says audit faces new challenges and should cover broader risks, while expanding its scope to include “strategic auditing”