Central Banks
Risk USA: US regulators “scared to death” by eurozone debt crisis
The sovereign debt crisis is a concern, but direct US bank exposure is manageable, says senior OCC official
Bernanke faces tough questions at press conference
Federal Reserve chairman tackles queries on monetary policy impact, Europe and political pressure; only recently started holding post-FOMC press conferences
BoE data shows Project Merlin on schedule to hit targets
Bank of England’s Trends in Lending shows UK’s five largest banks are on target to meet lending commitments under programme to boost UK financing to businesses
Carney explains Canada-US price gap narrowing
Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney discusses drivers of price differentials between the Canadian dollar and US dollar
Argentina crisis lessons for Europe: CEPR paper
Centre for Economic Policy Research study says beleaguered eurozone countries can learn from Argentina’s financial crisis
Former Kenyan deputy governor passes away
Hezron Nyangito passes away; was replaced as deputy governor of the Central Bank of Kenya last week over concerns for his health
Eurozone leaders hold emergency meeting in Cannes
Greek prime minister George Papandreou is summoned to Cannes for crisis talks ahead of G-20 meetings after receiving the backing of his cabinet to hold a referendum on the eurozone bailout
Risk USA: Regulators need to be wary of capital overshoot, says Roldán
Adding to Basel III capital levels might have unintended consequences, says former chair of Basel Committee’s standards implementation group
Netherlands takes on systemically important banks
Netherlands Bank expresses concern at exposure of Dutch banking sector to sovereign debt crisis; tells systemically important banks to begin preparations to raise capital and build recovery plans
Malaysia’s Aziz emphasises importance of policy co-ordination in Asia
Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz says European sovereign debt crisis showed co-ordination between national interests was necessary in Asia
Cleveland Fed paper outlines benefits of new early-warning system
Cleveland Federal Reserve study assesses latest model for developing early-warning systems to highlight build-up of systemic risk
BoE paper identifies large variation in UK price behaviour
Bank of England study shows significant variation in probability of price changes in microeconomic studies into UK consumer price index
IMF stresses importance of central banks’ role in macro-prudential policy use
IMF releases research into macro-prudental tools; stresses importance of central banks’ roles in using policy to fend off financial crises
Canada hires S&P's Beers as special adviser
David Beers to move to Bank of Canada from Standard & Poors; will serve for 18 months as a special adviser to governor Mark Carney
Greece referendum puts eurozone rescue plan in jeopardy
Athens throws spanner in the works with the announcement of a referendum on the eurozone rescue package in January; parliamentary confidence vote also due on Friday
Bank of Canada inflation target mandate set to stay
Governor Mark Carney appears before House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance to explain research done on topic; finance minister confirms inflation targeting to stay
Former Bank of Italy governor sentenced
Antonio Fazio convicted again over rigging sale of Italian banks; jail term will not begin until final level of appeal fails
BoE paper identifies strong habit-formation in savings
Bank of England study finds length of precautionary savings incentive during periods of volatility is often underestimated in monetary policy models
RBA cuts rates on weak global growth outlook
Reserve Bank of Australia drops interest rates by 25 basis points as inflation outlook improves and concerns over recovery in global demand mounts
Central bank communication crucial to formation of market expectations: ECB paper
European Central Bank paper shows effective use of communication on policy choices has important impact on market expectations
Jenkins calls for shift in bank profitability calculation
Newest Interim FPC member, Robert Jenkins, says banks “confuse” return on equity with shareholder value; calls for “clear-headed” dialogue on the “true cost of capital”
Treasury Committee releases terse correspondence with BoE Court
Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee releases correspondence with chairman of the Court of the Bank of England; shows strained relations over release of meeting minutes
Libyan treasure looted from commercial bank
Reports emerge from Libya's National Transitional Council that more than 7,000 coins were stolen from a commercial bank in Benghazi during conflict
Trichet says China funding request is right thing to do
Outgoing ECB president denies it is embarrassing or humbling for Europe to have to ask other countries for financial support; insists it is "absolutely normal" in today’s global world