Reserves
Central banks weigh use of OTC clearing houses
Survey finds nearly 40% of central banks are considering clearing their OTC derivatives
Accumulating reserves to guard against inflation is 'misplaced'
Researchers at Bofit institute find that using reserves as a ‘bulwark against goods price inflation' is a mistake; say best protection against costly reserves accumulation is flexible exchange rate
Reserve managers expanding into riskier assets, survey finds
Latest Reserve Management Trends reveal central banks are moving into ‘non-traditional' currencies; growing number of reserve managers investing, or considering investing, in equities
Turkish banks face larger bill for holding forex and gold
Central bank increases price of holding gold and foreign exchange for Turkish banks who want to diversify reserve holdings away from Turkish lira
China uses Brics summit to further RMB internationalisation
South Africa and Brazil sign deals with PBoC to 'strengthen economic relations' between Brics nations
Swiss National Bank faces referendum over gold sales
Politicians seek to prevent SNB from selling gold and force the central bank to hold 20% of assets in the precious metal via a public referendum
Fed pays $88bn in profits to US Treasury
Federal Reserve makes large profit on securities holdings in 2012; follows warnings from Ben Bernanke and Fed researchers that remittances are not likely to remain elevated
IMF paper says competition is a motive for forex intervention by emerging markets
Study examines activity of emerging market economies in foreign exchange markets; finds competitiveness can be a motivating factor
Nalm 2013: Sound central bank risk practices could choke off liquidity
Central banks are more activist in reserves management, with some looking to private sector for inspiration. But there are dangers with such a approach, say panellists at Central Banking conference
Nalm 2013: Bank of Israel’s Abir challenges credit risk assumptions in reserve management
Head of market operations Andrew Abir asks how bonds and equities can be consolidated under one reserve management framework; insists credit rating agencies remain valuable
Nalm 2013: Delegates debate reigniting European ABS market
Participants at Central Banking event discuss mechanisms to get European financial markets off life support; particular focus on asset-backed securities
Nalm 2013: National Bank of Austria analyst sets out currency diversification strategy
Portfolio analyst details models and analysis used to determine National Bank of Austria’s currency portfolio; shows diversification gives better risk/return
Nalm 2013: Debate rages over how to manage expanding reserves
Central banks enter into new asset classes and alternative currencies but Bank of Israel’s Andrew Abir rejects value of renminbi as a reserve currency
Gold should dominate RMB in central bank reserves, says WGC
World Gold Council encourages central banks – particularly in emerging market economies – to diversify into gold ahead of RMB and other ‘alternative’ currencies
Central Bank of Kenya denies seeking to strengthen currency
Kenyan shilling appreciates in run-up to elections; central bank says it only intervenes in exchange rate to support price stability
Renminbi internationalisation to get boost from 60m overseas Chinese
Use of the renminbi by the 60-million strong Chinese diaspora will accelerate the currency’s use in global trade and reserves management. By Gary Smith.
Perception of EM risk reduced by central bank safety net, say investors
Large foreign exchange reserves held by emerging market central banks makes investing in those countries attractive, say panellists at FX Invest Europe
World gold demand drops despite increased central bank purchases
Central bank purchases in 2012 reach highest level in 48 years, but Indian contraction leads global demand fall
Riksbank at odds with proposals to limit capital, analysts say
Proposals released that would halve the size of the Riksbank’s balance sheet; analysts say they clash with central bank policy and are unlikely to be adopted
Gold is no inflation hedge, says RBI deputy
Kamalesh Chandra Chakrabarty disputes status of gold as a safe asset or hedge against inflation, arguing that as the gold price increases, so do risks
SNB profits halve in 2012
Swiss National Bank reveals expected profits for 2012 are less than half the figure for 2011
Bundesbank to bring gold back home
Bundesbank will move 674 tonnes of Germany’s gold reserves, currently held in New York and Paris, to vaults in Frankfurt by 2020
Brazil increases gold holdings by 90% in three months
Central Bank of Brazil adds 31.9 tonnes of gold to its reserves between September and November; could indicate a desire to diversify away from the dollar
Central Bank of Iceland suspends its foreign currency purchases
Iceland's central bank seeks to mitigate an ‘undesirably large’ depreciation of the Icelandic króna