Central Banks
PBoC reveals $93.9 billion drop in reserves
People’s Bank of China reveals size of drop last month, driven by intervention in foreign exchange markets after devaluing yuan; reserves sat at $3.56 trillion at end of August
UK mobile payments growth continues as Vocalink eyes overseas projects
Report identifies factors that may be holding back growth in mobile payments in the UK; Vocalink ‘hoping to be involved’ in US work on faster payments
FX working group grappling with enforcement, says Debelle
Harmonisation of global foreign exchange codes is proving relatively straightforward, but 'adherence is our biggest challenge', says RBA assistant governor
IMF paper challenges idea of debt threshold effect
Countries with high levels of public debt can grow just as fast as their peers, provided the debt is on a downward trajectory, research finds
BoE Court chair ‘uneasy’ about government audit plans
Anthony Habgood concerned by ‘potential threat’ to the Bank of England’s independence in setting policy from handing the National Audit Office the power to conduct ‘value for money studies’
RBA deputy welcomes ‘considerable’ exchange rate adjustment
Philip Lowe says flexibility of the exchange rate, labour market and monetary policy have helped Australian economy adjust to ‘downswing’ in commodity prices and mining investment
BoJ’s Shirai explains why negative rates fit Europe better than Japan
Policy board member Sayuri Shirai says impact of rates varies according to market structure, noting differences in the type of investors and credit conditions in the jurisdictions
ECB concerned by impact of draft German law on supervision
European Central Bank suggests proposals could impact consistency across the banking union and its own supervisory discretion in response to Federal Ministry of Finance
CME guaranty fund cut could lure new clearing members
Regional banks and prop shops are eyeing direct membership, but the lower minimum guaranty fund contribution does little for existing FCMs
RBA’s Ellis sees gaps in understanding of credit and property price relationship
The Australian central bank's head of financial stability discusses what economists do and don’t know about the property market, highlighting areas that need more work
Former COO of BNP nominated as Banque de France governor
François Villeroy de Galhau picked by French president to succeed Christian Noyer as central bank head; past experience includes BNP Paribas and French treasury
Danish paper explores prevalence of interest-only mortgages
Interest-only loans lead some families ‘to save less and increase their leverage’ assets, which could pose a financial stability risk, research shows
German reforms did not create eurozone imbalances, paper finds
German model illustrates the positive effect of structural labour reforms between 1999 and 2008 on GDP, consumption, investment and employment, but also the eurozone more widely
EBA raises ‘significant concerns’ over bonus culture at European banks
Bonuses at many banks found to have little correlation with performance in last bonus round before cap; one banker paid over €18 million and largest bonus proportionally was 25 times base salary
Zhou says markets have stabilised as G20 meetings end
The central bank governor says the renminbi and Chinese stock markets have largely finished correcting; G20 policy-makers pledge to avoid competitive devaluation
RBI official defends going beyond Basel III
Vishwanathan singles out aspects of Indian financial system that make higher capital requirements appropriate, including short ratings history and population of unrated borrowers
Bundesbank's Weidmann to replace Noyer as chair of BIS board in November
The Bundesbank president will take over as chairman of the BIS board of directors when Christian Noyer retires from Banque de France next month
ECB paper makes case for Bayesian model averaging in stress-test models
Working paper highlights the differences between using Bayesian model averaging and a series of handpicked equations
Israel committee see risks to inflation outlook rising
Policy-makers at Bank of Israel discussed decline in short-term inflation expectations, a potential drop in growth and the strength of the shekel in August meeting
BoJ predicted to expand QQE, within limits
Analysts are predicting the Bank of Japan will increase asset purchases next month, but researchers are warning of speed bumps ahead
Riksbank is working on ‘big data’, says Skingsley
Deputy governor speaks to Central Banking about bringing together experts on big data, the possibility of leaning against the wind, risks in the housing market and more
Finland governor donates month’s pay to help refugees
Erkki Liikanen will donate €10,000 to the Red Cross to help refugees; Mario Draghi says any European should be ‘horrified by the tragic loss of life happening on our doorstep’
CPMI-Iosco launch next phase of data aggregation work
Standard-setters begin consultation on first batch of key data on over-the-counter derivatives, as part of work on data aggregation by trade repositories
Maltese not ‘aggressive’ in restructuring assets in 2014
Financial Stability Report indicates core domestic banks re-balanced assets to boost returns but were not aggressive in their approach