Central Banks
Cypriot commission criticises ‘cumbersome’ managerial structure at central bank
Independent commission wants to see more power handed to the executive and non-executive directors at the Central Bank of Cyprus; says senior management dropped the ball on financial stability
Thailand’s Prasarn highlights ‘dramatic’ turnaround caused by Fed taper-talk
Embattled emerging market central banks trying to resist capital inflows suddenly had the opposite problem as Fed hinted at QE taper, but some may have tightened too fast, says Thai governor
Overburdened central banks may become ‘repoliticised’, says Orphanides
Former Central Bank of Cyprus governor warns overreliance on central banks may eventually ‘diminish and compromise’ their independence, in a paper published by the Boston Fed
Fed paper trials new model for estimating trend inflation
Researchers at the Federal Reserve generate lower estimates of trend inflation in advanced economies by using a multivariate model; still struggle to outperform random walk forecasts
Fed’s Fisher attacks ‘ineffective’ US government
Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher holds the United States government accountable for the slow pace of economic recovery; says the Fed has acted swiftly and decisively in comparison
US Senator vows to block Yellen nomination
Republican Rand Paul - son of long-time Fed critic Ron Paul - says he intends to fight confirmation of Janet Yellen as the next Fed chair unless monetary policy is subjected to Congressional scrutiny
Central bankers cannot fix Asia's economic woes, warn bank economists
Government-driven reform is urgently required to ensure continued development in Asia; India comes in for most criticism as market watchers turn attention to forthcoming plenary in Beijing
Tax relief for debt finance helps banks and non-banks, IMF paper finds
There is no significant difference in corporate tax bias towards debt finance between banks and non-banks, according to IMF working paper; Size and leverage levels of firms matter
People: Latvian governor re-appointed; Lithuania hires board member from ECB
Long-serving Latvian governor wins another term, to see Latvia into the eurozone; Lithuania appoints fifth member to the board; Riksbank promotes new head of financial stability department
Norges Bank governor heralds countercyclical capital buffer
Øystein Olsen says 'primary purpose' of prudential tool is increasing banks' resilience as systemic risk increases; buffer will vary between zero and 2.5% of risk-weighted assets
Leading central banks make emergency swap lines permanent
Six leading central banks are leaving bilateral swap agreements introduced during the financial crisis in place until further notice; US dollar liquidity-providing operations will continue as normal
Finland joins Riksbank in greater gold transparency
Bank of Finland joins Riksbank in revealing where it stores its gold; both banks cite geographical diversification as a motivation, but say it still makes sense to keep most in London
Swiss researchers sceptical about advanced settlement algorithms
SNB working paper says overhauling the algorithms used in the Swiss Interbank Clearing system would produce an ‘economically irrelevant’ reduction in settlement delay and ‘low’ cost savings
Researchers compare South African capital markets with international counterparts
South African Reserve Bank working paper examines how the country’s equity, currency, bond and derivatives markets in South Africa have developed and how they compare with others
Portugal governor: banks are stronger now than pre-crisis
Bank of Portugal's Carlos da Silva Costa argues stringent capital requirements 'well above the EU 8% benchmark' are starting to pay off; banks' average loan-to-deposit ratio was 123% in June
Central bankers divided over quota for female staff
Participants in a CentralBanking.com poll say that central banks should make efforts to increase the proportion of women in senior positions; split over whether this should be achieved through quota
Bank of Spain's Linde touts comeback of local banks
Governor says lenders' solvency position has improved noticeably from a year ago; highlights 'drastic reduction' in toxic assets on banks' balance sheet
GCC states need to jettison ‘destabilising' US-dollar pegs, says Qatar's Al Khater
Oil-rich Gulf states should peg currencies to crawling trade-weighted baskets as US demand becomes less of a factor in driving oil prices, says Qatari central banker
Hungarian easing shows no sign of abating
Central Bank of Hungary reduces its key policy rate for the fifteenth time in as many months, and says ‘further cautious easing’ could follow
RBI paper finds Indian banks were not spared by financial crisis
Working paper says that despite the global financial crisis being concentrated in advanced economies, weaker Indian banks saw their margins ‘impaired significantly’
ECB seeks head lawyer who is ‘resilient to overwork’
Employment law expert says the European Central Bank’s criterion for its next director-general of legal services is a 'concerning pre-condition to employment'
SNB paper tests shock response on individual sectors
Researchers apply dynamic factor model to Swiss economy to examine impact of monetary policy, exchange rates and external demand on different sectors