Central Banks
BIS economists find frictions in banks’ dollar funding
Authors investigate wide divergence in the business models of European and Japanese banks
BoE on track for May rate hike
MPC votes 7-2 in favour of maintaining rates at 0.5% but leaves the door open for two potential rate hikes in 2018
Supervision hampered by fragmented banking regulation – Lautenschläger
Current framework needs wider scope to secure a safer financial system, ECB supervisor says
SNB achieved record profits in 2017
Acquisitions of euros and dollars via foreign exchange interventions yielded 91% of the gains; SNB reshapes portfolio with greater share of equities and riskier bonds
Brazil nears end of easing cycle as rates hit fresh low
Committee signals there will likely be a pause in rate cuts soon, as inflation evolves “more benignly than expected”
Mongolian central bank opposes interest rate cap
Mongolia has some of the world’s highest interest rates, but the central bank warns caps are not the right solution
Who is Yi Gang?
Hui Feng says Beijing’s choice for PBoC chief fits into a wider liberal cadre across senior financial positions – but Yi faces plenty of challenges in delivering reform
Powell strikes cautiously upbeat note in first policy press conference
Federal Open Market Committee shifts economic forecasts up marginally
Latin American markets were hit by 2010 US ‘flash crash’, DNB paper finds
Fall was driven by equities markets’ interdependence, not contagion, researcher argues
New York Fed director involved in selecting new president resigns
David Cote stepped down shortly after the institution revealed it was considering “a handful of final candidates”
New South African president supports pan-African currency
Cyril Ramaphosa says it is time Africa abandons “colonial mentality” and adopts common currency to foster investment and intra-African trade
Bank of Ghana places troubled UniBank under administration
Central bank says it has made several attempts to save the mid-sized lender since 2016, but claims lack of co-operation from management and false information led to failure
Fehmi Mehmeti confirmed as Bank of Kosovo governor
Parliament narrowly votes to approve the interim governor for the full-time role
Tajikistan cuts policy rate as inflation stabilises
Central bank says inflation is more stable and falling, creating room for cuts
Fed’s unconventional policies similar to measures in 1920s, says research
Market operations early in the 20th century more than tripled Fed’s Treasury portfolio
Kenyan central bank condemns interest rate cap legislation
Rules introduced in 2016 have restricted access to credit for small firms and impaired the central bank’s ability to conduct monetary policy
UK’s PSR needs powers to protect cash – report
Think-tank report believes regulator should have consumer protection mandate, as cash machine closure threatens to leave the public excluded from payments network
Global leverage may be higher than supervisors realise – IMF paper
Standard measures of leverage are too focused on balance sheets, researchers say