Central Banks
Norway unveils final banknote designs
Banknote designs eschew traditional inclusion of portraits, opting instead for geometric patterns and coastal images
Italian banks’ macro cycle “still weak” – Bank of Italy report
Italian central bank publishes latest financial stability report
Book notes: On central banking, by Jan Qvigstad
Qvigstad’s collection of lectures captures not just the culture of Norwegian central banking, but also an intellectual history of which the country can be proud
Draft Irish law could compromise central bank independence, ECB says
Proposals would oblige central bank to promote competition in housing market
Bundesbank board member takes hard line on Basel negotiations
German central bank “not prepared to reach an agreement at any price”; calls for no universal output floors and abandonment of advanced approach for op risk
Armenia saw turbulent H1 2016 – financial stability report
Geopolitical risks and growth slowdown led to a difficult environment for banks, although they still managed to boost capital and liquidity
Fed’s Powell sees China as major factor in global trade slowdown
Fed governor seeks to explain global trade slowdown, citing many factors but saying China “looms large” in the debate
FSB updates systemic institutions list
Citigroup and HSBC swap places at the top of the rankings; ECB's “significant” banks list now at 127
BoE to adjust deposit protection limit again
Limits have seesawed in recent years, first due to the global financial crisis and more recently because of EU law
ECB minutes show concern over strength of future inflation
Wages growing at historically low rates, ECB council members say
QE may be partly to blame for global market correlations – SNB’s Maechler
Andréa Maechler says quantitative easing may cause some bond and equity prices to move simultaneously, but there are likely other factors at play as well
Auditors’ report notes staffing and governance issues at ECB arm
National supervisors provide insufficient staff for inspection teams, report says
Bank of Canada paper explains decision to dilute ELA solvency requirement
Economists say emergency liquidity can play an important role in a resolution process, which led the Bank of Canada to amend its rules to allow for temporary insolvency
FSB’s agenda remains full going into 2017
Progress over past year includes loss absorbency, climate disclosure and shadow banking, though plenty of tasks remain for next year
Ringgit NDF market collapses after central bank curbs
“Implicit threat” to banks active onshore if they continue trading non-deliverable forwards
Bank of Mexico hikes following Trump election shock
Peso hit hard by Donald Trump's election victory, with possible US fiscal expansion and Fed rate hike likely to draw more capital from emerging markets, central bank says
Yellen defends Dodd-Frank and Fed independence to US Congress
Act has made a “very significant contribution” to US financial stability, Fed chair says
European supervisors publish new anti-money laundering guidelines
Some firms concerned over national supervisors’ ability to regulate money laundering risks
Financial globalisation only good within limits, says Canada’s Lane
Timothy Lane flags the dangers of an open capital account for some countries, saying monetary policy in some countries may be “overwhelmed”
CCP default risks not correlated, CFTC finds
Timothy Massad: stress tests reveal “quite a bit of diversification” in CCP exposures
BoE’s Cunliffe: central banks not causing low natural rates
Quantitative easing has not caused rates to fall, but is rather responding to a low natural rate, deputy says; the fall in sterling could require deviation of the policy rate from the natural rate
Some way to go for renminbi as reserve currency – Bundesbank's Thiele
Chinese investment markets should be opened up to foreign investors, Thiele says
Central banks should sacrifice some independence – Harvard economists
A group including the UK’s Ed Balls says central banks are losing legitimacy; handing over some “political independence” could reverse the trend without damaging policy outcomes
Market forces drive deleveraging as well as regulation – Caruana
BIS chief says markets are forcing discipline on banks, although he concedes regulation is playing a role as well; discussion participants point to tensions in regulatory framework