Central Banks
Maltese politicians clash over new deputy governor appointment
Move to appoint a deputy governor in charge of financial stability at the Central Bank of Malta led to opposition accusations of politicisation
Demand for Bank of Portugal online stats grew 51% in 2012
The central bank’s website received more than 55,000 visits last year, with the statistical service offered online and on mobile devices the most popular feature
Fed's Williams questions future of unconventional tools
San Francisco Fed president John Williams says forward guidance will help to improve transparency in more conventional times, while asset purchases should only be used as a last resort
Fijian governor foreshadows application of mobile payments in agriculture
Barry Whiteside says mobile banking is fast becoming an ‘accepted mode of payment’ and has the ability to transform Fiji’s agricultural sector
Central Bank of Ireland urges continued austerity despite slowdown
Any scaling back of fiscal adjustment runs risk of unwinding positive effects of €28 billion consolidation effort ‘for the sake of small short-term fiscal easing', bank argues in quarterly bulletin
Central Bank of Chile minutes reveal concern over slowing Brics
Slowdown in countries including Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa likely to have adverse effect on rest of the emerging world as well, board members say
NY Fed paper compares tools for managing short-term market rates
Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of paying interest on excess reserves, offering term deposits and engaging in reverse repos
Hungarian central bank takes over financial stability role under new deputy governor
László Windisch will be in charge of financial stability, as former financial services authority is brought inside the central bank
Bank of Lebanon signs memorandum of understanding with Dubai FSA
Agreement aimed at improving information sharing on financial stability issues was signed by regulators in Dubai earlier this week
Boston Fed president says unwinding QE could take ‘several years’
Rosengren said disappointing data and the possibility for ‘disruptions’ in US fiscal policy prompted him to vote for steady asset purchases; says monetary accommodation should be removed slowly
Wheeler shines a spotlight on housing supply
Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Graeme Wheeler says restrictions on high loan-to-value mortgages will alleviate house price increases, but the bigger issue is housing supply
National Bank of Denmark governor highlights housing concerns
Lars Rohde says investor confidence in the creditworthiness and liquidity of mortgage bonds is ‘at the core' of the Danish mortgage credit system
Canadian yields shown to be less sensitive to data shocks than US or UK
Working paper from the Dutch central bank shows that at the zero lower bound, Canadian government bond yields are less sensitive to surprising domestic data than US or UK equivalents
McDermott reveals drop in New Zealand’s neutral rate of interest
Reserve Bank of New Zealand assistant governor says households and businesses should expect to face lower rates ‘on average’ in the future relative to before the crisis
Basel III requirements could clash with new bail-in rules, warns IMF
Increased pressure on banks to rely more heavily on collateralised debt could combine with ‘depositor preference' rules to raise funding costs at a time when credit conditions remain tight
UK prepares for mobile payment apps
The Payments Council is launching a new mobile payments platform in the UK in 2014, and seminar participants discussed the challenges it will face
ECB's counsellor to the president crosses lines to Axa
Christian Thimann moves from central bank to financial services giant; takes on responsibilities as group head of strategy and public affairs
BoE’s Fisher happy to hold QE ‘in reserve’
Executive director says the ‘dramatic turnaround’ in economic data has alleviated the need for further asset purchases; insists the UK is not in the midst of a housing bubble
ECB holds rates but leaves new LTRO on the table
European Central Bank governing council decides against further rate cuts in Paris, but Mario Draghi says all options remain on the table to ensure money markets remain liquid
Global banks reduce frictions in international capital flows, say NY Fed staff
NY Fed staff report findings are consistent with research on reduced incidence of crises in local markets where banks have branches or subsidiaries; effects appear to be heterogeneous
Kazakh governor replaced for 'family reasons'
Long-serving central bank governor Grigory Marchenko steps down in favour of deputy prime minister Kairat Kelimbetov