Central Banks
A match made in heaven?
Terry Beadle explains why the increasingly popular application service provider approach to IT fits central banks like a glove
Who signs the banknotes?
Most banknotes bear signatures, but who are the signatories? Åke Lönnberg explains
Sovereign wealth meets poverty in China
Matt Sekerke questions Chinese officials’ captivation with the glamour of international financial markets
A liability-based approach to sovereign wealth
Andrew Rozanov suggests that focussing on the liability profile of sovereign wealth funds is a useful way to understand their objectives and likely behaviour
Obituaries: Terry Smeeton
Terence Smeeton, born 5 July 1942, died 12 September 2007.
Obituaries: Stephen Frowen
Professor Stephen F. Frowen, born 22 May 1923, died 21 December 2007.
Activity-based costing: a case study
José Clovis Batista Dattoli and Henrique Flávio Rodrigues da Silveira review the Brazilian central bank’s adaptation of a textbook costing system.
China’s monetary mandarins
The ever-increasing importance of China’s economic policymakers has led to intense scrutiny of the people behind the headlines. Andrew Peaple profiles the most important players
Why do central banks make losses?
Financial losses can be very damaging to the reputation and independence of a central bank. Franziska Schobert examines why losses occur.
Lessons of Northern Rock
British lawmakers are divided over how to fix a broken regulatory framework
Learning from the private sector
Central banks have lagged behind the commercial banks improving financial accountability, argues Jeremy Foster and Stephen Anderson.
Interview: Charles Goodhart
Claire Jones spoke with the former Bank of England policymaker about the co-ordinated liquidity interventions and the move towards aggressive policy easing by the Fed
Balancing transparency and discretion
Central banks face unique challenges in meeting demands for financial transparency. Clifford Smout suggests how a better understanding of their performance can be enabled.
News analysis: Forced into action
Claire Jones, the editor of Central Bank News, analyses how uncertainty threatened to cripple the interbank market and called for a unique response from the central banks
Using financial statements proactively
Kenneth Sullivan identifies practical steps central banks can take to resolve problems with existing accounting frameworks and improve financial accountability
Bernanke spooks markets with bank failure warning
The dollar hit a record low against the euro after Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned that small banks could fail in the coming months.
Japan's Mizuno dismisses rate cut calls
Atsushi Mizuno, a member of the Bank of Japan's rate-setting council, has said a rate cut would be unjustified even on signs that the world's second-largest economy is slowing.
Thailand lifts barriers on foreign capital
The Bank of Thailand is set to remove reserve requirements on short-term capital inflows.
Czech deputy counters interference claims
Miroslav Singer, a vice-governor at the Czech National Bank (CNB), has rebuffed claims that the Vaclav Klaus, the country's president, is compromising the institution's independence.
Sovereign wealth fund round-up
The creation of a much-mooted code of conduct for sovereign wealth funds edged closer this week after the European Commission submitted its ideas to the region's finance ministers for review in mid-March.
EU building and consumer sectors most sensitive
The eurozone's construction and consumer sectors are typically the most sensitive to shocks in GDP and inflation variables, states a new European Central Bank paper.