Central Banks
Italy's Draghi - standardisation needed
A move towards the standardisation of financial products in the future is unavoidable, said Mario Draghi, the governor of the Bank of Italy.
Kazakhstan devalues tenge by 18%
The National Bank of Kazakhstan has allowed the tenge's value to fall by almost a fifth against the greenback by substantially devaluing the currency's dollar peg.
SocGen losses cost Central Africa $584m - report
The Bank of Central African States has lost about $584m on investments made through Societe Generale, a bank, a senior official has reportedly said.
UK edges towards bad-bank solution
Britain is considering adopting the bad bank model to buy toxic assets a little over a fortnight after London announced plans to guarantee banks' bad debt.
Norway sees deeper, longer downturn ahead
Norges Bank shaved half a point off its key rate on signs the downturn could be deeper and last longer than previously expected.
Riksbank upgrades payments system
The Riksbank is to move to a new technology system and platform for RIX, the central bank's funds transfer system.
France's Noyer: keep your supervisors close
This crisis has showed the merits of having the banking supervisors close to the central bank, said Christian Noyer, the governor of Banque de France.
Floating rates worth weight in gold for Germany
German society was better off under the floating exchange-rate regime than during the pre-first world war classical gold standard period, finds a paper by Michael Bordo and Bernhard Eschweiler for the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Avoid Dutch disease with deep financial industry
A deep financial industry can reduce the exchange-rate appreciation effect of capital inflows, posits a new paper from the International Monetary Fund.
Social role of banks must change: UK's McFall
John McFall, the head of Britain's influential Treasury Committee, on why finance-industry pay must be curbed, some of the country's biggest banks nationalised and lessons can be learned from abroad
Report cautions on dangers of free capital flows
Dogmatic adherence to the doctrine of free capital flows is misguided and potentially dangerous, a new study from the Committee on the Global Financial System, a collective of central bankers from across the globe, warns.
New Icelandic PM calls for the governors' heads
Iceland's new prime minister has asked the central bank's three governors to step down.
SA's new CPI gauge trims inflation by 0.9pp
The new method of calculating South African headline inflation would have trimmed nine-tenths of a percentage point off the December measure, the government's statistics bureau said on Tuesday.
Australia slashes on signs of flagging demand
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut rates by a full percentage point for the second time in as many votes on Tuesday, saying that a dip in confidence was impacting demand.
Crisis demands a common voice: UK's McFall
John McFall, the chairman of Britain's Treasury Committee, tells CentralBankNews.com why the financial crisis means central bankers will have to change the way they speak.
Riksbank appoints new deputy
Karolina Ekholm, a professor at Stockholm University, is to succeed Irma Rosenberg as deputy governor of the Riksbank.
Enlargement and stability: ECB's new challenges
Enlargement and financial stability are the European Central Bank's (ECB) main new challenges, finds a paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
SNB offers dollar-denominated bills for UBS loan
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced on Monday that it will issue its own bills denominated in dollars.
Zimbabwe lops zeros off currency, again
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has chopped 12 zeroes off the Zimbabwean dollar in its latest attempt to curb hyperinflation.
Financial regulation: a macro analysis
A report from the Centre for Economic Policy Research applies macroeconomic analysis to the design of financial regulation.
Canada's Carney: controlling inflation fundamental
Controlling inflation is the best contribution that monetary policy can make to the economic and financial welfare of Canada, said Mark Carney, the governor of the country's central bank.
NZ's Bollard: banks need more capital
Financial institutions need more capital if the global financial system is to get back on track, said Alan Bollard, the governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
Financial variables impact inflation dynamics
Financial variables can explain the long-term dynamics of inflation expectations, finds a new paper from the European Central Bank.