Central Banks
Visa outage highlights fragility of electronic payments
European network experiences outage for several hours on June 1, due to hardware failure; consumers forced to withdraw cash to make payments
Labour supply elasticity may hamper wage growth – Riksbank’s Ohlsson
As economic demand rises it can be satisfied by a higher number of workers
Barbados calls for help from IMF as economic situation worsens
Fund to provide technical assistance with new economic plan as government suspends debt payments to external creditors
Nigerian deputy governor resigns
Local reports suggest Adebayo Adelabu intends to run for governor of home state
PBoC’s Yi dampens market excitement on liberalisation
China rolled out series of liberalisation measures in recent months, but further action will only be gradual, says central bank governor
Dudley says more effort needed in modelling financial factors
“We were nowhere. Now we’re probably at the first or second grade,” says outgoing New York Fed chief
Trigger for emerging market sell-off still playing out, warns Argentine governor
There is a possibility of Argentina being “challenged further”, says Sturzenegger
Chilean deputy points to US inflation as biggest risk
US growth is broadly positive, but sustained wage growth could drive up rates causing sharp portfolio outflows from emerging markets; Chile relatively well positioned
New forex tool has made Jamaican market more competitive – Wynter
Jamaican governor says B-FXITT has levelled the playing field for smaller dealers, while larger dealers are being pushed to provide better products
Cash usage in Switzerland below eurozone average – SNB survey
SNB’s first payments study finds 70% of transactions processed in cash in 2017
Time for Central Bank of Argentina independence
Monetary financing has fallen sharply under Mauricio Macri’s administration, but must now end; independence law would help efforts to shatter Argentina’s inflationary shackles
Federico Sturzenegger on Argentina’s efforts to create a credible central bank
The Central Bank of Argentina governor, in his last interview before leaving office, speaks about panic in emerging markets, the IMF bailout, and bringing to an end high inflation and monetary financing
Brainard says yield curve inversion may not presage recession
Flatter yield curve “may temper somewhat” fears of a coming recession, says governor
Trump appears to pre-signal strong jobs data
US jobs report shows large increase in jobs and further drop in unemployment
Dutch government re-appoints Knot as DNB governor and boosts board
Two board members re-appointed and new member for resolution named
People: BoE’s Fried promoted; Vlieghe reappointed
Bradley Fried to take over as Court chair; Gertjan Vlieghe gets new term; Anneli Tuominen to serve additional term at Esma; Israel appoints technology chief
China opens onshore market to foreign investors
MSCI adds Chinese shares to its emerging markets index for the first time
Fed and other US regulators call for major changes to Volcker rule
Complex legislation has created compliance uncertainty, Federal Reserve argues
UK’s FCA to act on banks using overdrafts as revenue source
Regulator proposes rules to improve transparency around the cost of credit, with plans to ban fixed fees if necessary
Have central banks created a ‘debt trap’? No, but ...
Tougher regulation has helped ensure extraordinary monetary policy has not caused a dangerous rise in private debt
Stress tests find large Danish banks can withstand severe recession
Smaller institutions fall short of minimum capital requirements, central bank finds
India needs new payments ‘vision’ – Kanungo
RBI deputy governor calls for debate on several innovative areas for Indian payments
Jonathan Haskel appointed to BoE MPC
Male economist chosen over four women who were shortlisted
Bank of England says UK payment schemes must adapt to ISO messaging standard
BoE will hold consultation with interested parties in June