Central Banks
Turkmen central bank chief replaced with former deputy
Tuvakmammet Japarov becomes the sixth governor in 12 years to be sacked from the job; replaced by Gochmurat Muradov who served as his deputy between 2011 and 2012
Central bank of the year: The People’s Bank of China
The PBoC has anchored market-based reform in China by curbing excesses in the financial system while pressing ahead with interest rate and capital account reform at a time of major political change
The winners of the inaugural Central Banking awards
Paul Volcker, Mario Draghi, People's Bank of China, Central Bank of Colombia, Sveriges Riksbank, Bank of Spain, BlackRock, Northern Trust, VocaLink and OpenLink win inaugural Central Banking awards
Reserve manager of the year: Central Bank of Colombia
The Central Bank of Colombia’s dynamic reserves management strategy and impressive performance amidst turmoil in the US dollar and emerging market currencies made it stand out from the crowd
Governor of the year: Mario Draghi
Unflappable conviction and outstanding leadership has enabled ECB president Mario Draghi to decisively restore confidence in crisis-hit Europe
Global custodian of the year: Northern Trust
A clear and committed focus on servicing assets on behalf of sovereign clients – both big and small – combined with a robust technology platform made Northern Trust stand out last year
Asset manager of the year: BlackRock
Improved customer service and impressive investment capabilities in all types of strategies across a wide range of asset classes around the world made BlackRock the stand-out asset manager in 2013
Payments and clearing technology provider of the year: VocaLink
VocaLink has excelled by building the infrastructure for a new accounts switching service in the UK and exporting its pioneering Faster Payments platform overseas
BoJ’s Shirai warns against rush for 2% inflation at all costs
Sayuri Shirai says it ‘may be appropriate’ to take longer than two years to meet the central bank’s inflation target of 2%; stresses the importance of achieving the goal in a ‘stable’ manner
Philippines governor recounts emergency measures after Typhoon Haiyan
Amando Tetangco also says the central bank is well-equipped to deal with financial turbulence in the coming year
ECB deflects parliament questions on troika
European Central Bank publishes response to a European Parliament questionnaire on the financial assistance programmes brokered by the troika; Irish governor praises ‘rigorous adherence’ to fiscal goals
Stanley Fischer nominated Fed vice-chair
US President also nominates Lael Brainard, a former US Treasury under-secretary, to the Federal Reserve board, while Jerome Powell, on the board since 2012, is nominated for a second term
Disappointing jobs report raises questions over Fed forward guidance
US unemployment falls toward Fed ‘threshold' of 6.5%, but few new jobs are added; confusing result raises questions for how - or whether - the Fed will proceed with its 'taper'
MAS' Menon warns Myanmar over ‘big bang' liberalisation
Singapore monetary authority managing director says Myanmar must liberalise its financial sector, but at a measured pace
People: Bank of Portugal appoints ‘temporary’ chief economist; Bank of Spain reveals pride in ECB hire
Isabel Horta Correia named head of economics and research ‘under temporary assignment’ at Bank of Portugal; Ramón Quintana praised by Bank of Spain for ECB success
ECB appoints four SSM department heads
New directors general include a former secretary-general of the BCBS and hires from the central banks of Spain and Finland; ECB endorses Sabine Lautenschläger for its executive board
Israeli paper finds ‘prolonged decline’ in Nairu
Researchers at the Bank of Israel utilise the Phillips and Beveridge curves to estimate the country’s non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment between 1998 and 2012
Fed minutes reveal QE wind-down balancing act
Reduction in monthly asset purchases of $10 billion meant to signal slow rather than quick tapering; thresholds becoming less relevant as economy improves
ECB 'strengthens' guidance but keeps policy on hold
Mario Draghi says December’s inflation drop was ‘broadly as expected’ and did not warrant a knee-jerk response; places additional emphasis on governing council’s forward guidance
European Commission pushes for Sepa deadline extension
Michel Barnier defies the Eurosystem by pushing for a six-month extension to the February 1 deadline for migration to the Single Euro Payments Area
Hungary minutes show calls to slow rate of cuts
Hungarian monetary policy council decided in December to again cut rates by 20 basis points, but two members argued it was time to slow the rate of easing
Robert Pringle’s Viewpoint: Janet Yellen - that honeymoon feeling
Comparing what the new Fed chief should do with what is likely