Central Banks
Sri Lanka overhauls banking sector
Central Bank of Sri Lanka reveals plans to concentrate financial assets in the hands of five banks, and reduce the number of non-bank financial institutions by almost two-thirds
IMF warns recapitalisation of Slovenian banks is a 'stop-gap solution'
Report urges deeper reforms of under-capitalised corporate and banking sectors; says ECB comprehensive risk assessment expected later this year could expose additional capital shortfalls
Bank of Italy slims down organisational structure
The central bank will consolidate its various operations into eight directorates general on January 27, in a bid to ‘streamline’ its organisational structure and decision-making processes
Kohn says Fed's independence 'at risk'
Former Federal Reserve vice-chairman Donald Kohn argues the institution's autonomy has been undermined by recent policies; lists four explicit threats in paper published by the Brookings Institution
Lifetime achievement award: Paul Volcker
Paul Volcker’s record of achievement in difficult circumstances continues to provide an inspiration to central bankers throughout the world
Paul Tucker laments 'faltering vigour' of international reform
Former BoE deputy governor argues there is 'less coherence, faltering vigour and conflicting views about how different national regimes should apply to inherently international markets'
Fed's Williams says ‘highly effective' forward guidance has a ‘number of limitations'
San Francisco Fed president defends the policy's record in a paper written for the Brookings Institution, but also says it is ‘prone to misinterpretation'
Knot backs advanced economies to buck secular stagnation
Netherlands Bank president Klaas Knot says a period of technological change will stop advanced economies from sliding into a new era defined by lower growth rates
Central banks in Israel, UK close in on new deputies
Bank of Israel governor Karnit Flug nominates academic Nadine Baudot-Trajtenberg as her deputy; UK Treasury begins process of replacing Charles Bean at the Bank of England
Dombret says 'ultra-loose' monetary policy won't fix 'lacklustre' investment
Andreas Dombret says financial and structural reforms are necessary to incentivise private sector investment; banking union will not solve the economic crisis in the eurozone
Bank of England launches new liquidity provision framework
First ‘indexed long-term repo operations' under framework unveiled in October scheduled for early February; will provide ‘more liquidity at cheaper rates, longer maturities against wider range of collateral'
SNB's Jordan: 'Transparency can be counterproductive'
Chairman of the Swiss National Bank calls for central banks to take ‘great caution’ before making changes to their communications policy; expresses scepticism over board minutes and forward guidance
History likely to vindicate Fed's crisis policies, says Bernanke
The Federal Reserve has developed ‘all the tools needed' to manage monetary policy; costs of extraordinary measures exaggerated, Bernanke says
New collateral framework will have a ‘limited’ impact on banks, says DNB
Dutch central bank imposes tougher collateral requirements on the banks that use its services; more stringent than the wider Eurosystem, which has made a number of accommodations in recent years
Bank of Finland paper backs nominal GDP as policy target
Research finds that price level or nominal GDP targeting is ‘on the whole’ better than inflation targeting as long as private agents adapt their expectations accordingly
Shanghai Clearing House becomes fifth in Asia to start OTC clearing
First onshore renminbi interest rate swaps cleared in China; two international banks sign up to new clearing service
ECB bulletin examines 'virtuous circle' in Chinese reforms
Research article published by the European Central Bank says there could be a ‘virtuous circle’ between reforms aimed at rebalancing China’s growth and those aimed at promoting the renminbi
People: Malta gets second deputy; Lautenschläger aces European Parliament test
Central Bank of Malta gets second deputy governor for first time; Lautenschläger wins overwhelming majority in European Parliament vote; and more
RBI director discusses management of 2013 capital outflows
High and unstable capital flows can lead to macro and financial stability concerns. But managing capital flows to minimise such concerns has costs too, says Deepak Mohanty
Central Bank of Brazil raises rates for seventh time in a row
Selic rate increased 50 basis points to 10.5% in unanimous decision following disappointing inflation figures published last week; rate up 275 basis points since April 2013
BoE's Carney downplays UK housing risks
The governor, who is also head of the country's principal macro-prudential regulator, says higher prices and ‘mortgage availability' is due to housing market bouncing back from ‘low base'