Central Banks
Slovene bank clean-up provides stress test dry run for ECB
IMF urges country to recapitalise banks quickly; academics see country as 'methodology experiment' for ECB, and warn comparisons with Greece and Cyprus could be self-fulfilling prophecies
RBA's Stevens says exchange rate disconnected from fundamentals
RBA governor Glenn Stevens says Australia's current exchange rate is not supported by the country's relative levels of costs and productivity
ECB's Cœuré urges eurozone to take lessons from Asia
Executive board member says governments' response to the Asian financial crisis, including overhaul of domestic financial sectors, made for painful adjustment but swift recovery
Riksbank reveals location of gold holdings
Three-quarters of the Swedish central bank's gold reserves are held in the UK and Canada; disclosure follows discussions with other central banks on confidentiality
Gunmen steal $53m from Central Bank of Libya
Armed men overpower guards and steal millions of dollars from cash truck en route to central bank in Sirte
Danish central bank to cut workforce by 10%
National Bank of Denmark to lay off 55 employees as it adjusts to post-crisis environment and introduces new IT system that makes some jobs obsolete
Curaçao governor ‘baffled’ by bond market reluctance
Emsley Tromp extols the value of innovation in monetary policy, and expresses his bemusement at the region’s apprehension over the creation of a corporate bond market
RBI takes hawkish stance against inflation with another rate hike
Repo rate hike and MSF rate cut bring spread back to its normal level of 100 basis points; ‘material' risk of entrenched inflation could mean another hike is on the way, says DBS economist
Central Bank of UAE set to bolster ‘under-developed' local bond market
UAE has looked to economies with strong trade balances as role-models to help develop a domestic bond market; may issue government debt in the coming years
BoJ’s Iwata draws lessons from ‘Takahashi economic policy’
Current Bank of Japan deputy examines former governor and finance minister’s success in lifting Japan out of deflation in the 1930s; underlines importance of expectations, both past and present
Banque de France backs efforts to circumvent ratings agencies
Central bank gives scathing assessment of credit ratings agencies and supports Esma proposals to reduce reliance on ratings; Moody’s and S&P critical of the plans
Group of 30 calls for closer relationships between bank boards and supervisors
Report authored by a G-30 committee headed by Roger Farmer argues for a ‘new paradigm' in which bank boards and supervisors work more closely together towards their shared objectives
Canadian research finds drop in uncertainty following policy changes
Bank of Canada working paper presents evidence that uncertainty over interest rates in Canada fell after recent changes to monetary policy including forward guidance
ECB’s Asmussen backs ‘allocative’ fiscal union
Board member ‘sees a role’ for a European fiscal union in ensuring resources are allocated efficiently; suggests other forms of centralised budgeting are less useful
German researchers present indicator of interbank market stress
Bundesbank discussion paper says banks’ bidding behaviour in Eurosystem’s weekly refinancing operations reflect conditions in the interbank market
RBA paper supports CCP interoperability
Researchers weigh the benefits of increased netting across linked central counterparties against the potential costs arising from the bilateral exposures each link creates
NY Fed's Checki to retire; Minneapolis hires new head of research
New York Fed head of international affairs ends 46-year tenure, while acting communications head wins permanent post; Minneapolis Fed names new research director
State Bank of Vietnam taps Thomson Reuters for FX monitoring system
Vietnam's central bank takes a step forward in increasing transparency and reporting in its foreign exchange market
A new and explicit policy on liquidity provision
The Bank of England's new rules on liquidity provision reflect much closer regulation of banks' liquidity policies and a desire to avoid the mistakes of the crisis
Hedge funds caused post-Lehman liquidity crisis, research finds
Staff report from the New York Fed argues the evidence points to hedge funds, rather than dealers, precipitating the post-Lehman liquidity crisis - with implications for rules on prop trading
Bank of Thailand lowers growth and inflation forecasts
Central bank says Thailand’s rising debt burden and falling consumer confidence are holding back domestic demand, which in turn is slowing the pace of growth and inflation
External balance-sheet structure key in explaining the financial crisis
High gross external debt was indicator of subsequent vulnerability, according to BoE paper; finds ‘important interaction' between 'competing ‘savings glut' and ‘banking glut' hypotheses