Central Banks
Eurozone exchange rate pass-through has declined over time – researcher
Italian exchange rate pass-through has behaved very differently from other major eurozone economies – particularly Germany’s – paper finds
BIS paper flags spillovers from bank dividends
Dividend payments create a channel through which one bank’s capital policy can affect the equity value and risk of default of others, giving capital the attributes of a public good
Basel Committee hits turbulence on approach to year-end deadline
Central banks and supervisors offer support to its year-end goal, but industry players and EU countries show growing concern over higher capital levels
Yellen ‘should be ashamed’ – Trump
Republican nominee for US presidency attacks Fed chair Yellen and says interest rates must be raised
Skingsley calls for balance, as government prepares to rethink Riksbank Act
Central bank mandates need to be a balance of specificity and flexibility, while too broad a mandate could threaten independence, deputy says; government to consider six areas of Riksbank’s work
RBA’s Kent considers life after the mining boom
Australian economy is well into an adjustment, following the country’s mining investment boom; RBA correctly identified the patterns of adjustment, but was surprised by the magnitude
New facility opens to print £10 notes, as £5 enters circulation
Substrate for UK’s new £5 banknote, launched today, was produced in Australia because new facility was not yet ready; Innovia says new plant will make use of the latest technology
Recessions nearly tripled amount of Italian NPLs, paper argues
Italian bad debt levels would be almost one third of their current levels without the sub-prime and sovereign debt crises, a counterfactual analysis argues
Chinese financial spillovers to Asia-Pacific on the rise – BIS paper
Working paper finds Chinese equity markets now have almost as much of an impact on Asia-Pacific as the US, though the effects differ in stressed and placid times
Boston Fed’s Rosengren highlights risk of overheating
US economy looks “resilient”, despite some mixed signals from the data, says regional Fed president; advocates process of gradual rate hikes as the risk of an overheating economy grows
ECB consults on bad debt guidance
ECB “strongly encourages” the use of the European Banking Authority’s definition of non-performing exposures, but does not impose its own single measure for the eurozone
Azerbaijan central bank raises rates for fourth time this year as currency plummets
Falling oil and gas prices have major impact on Azerbaijan’s economy; IMF calls for major banking sector reforms
BoE’s Shafik to step down early
Deputy governor reveals she is to take up post as director of the London School of Economics in 2017, leaving the central bank more than two years before her term was due to end
PBoC faces the ‘most challenging work of all central banks’ – HKU’s Xiao
The People’s Bank of China needs to meet short-term goals of exchange rate and price stability to achieve longer-term structural and financial reform, says Hong Kong University professor Xiao Geng
Book notes: And the weak suffer what they must?, by Yanis Varoufakis
A book that is likely to elicit strong opinions – but Varoufakis writes persuasively, and may well win over many of his readers, says David Mayes
ECB paper finds ‘sizeable’ impact from QE
Authors find empirical evidence of various channels through which asset purchases affect the eurozone economy, before testing them in a general equilibrium model
IMF’s Singh urges central banks to beware of collateral impact of policy
Senior economist says asset purchase programmes have drained quality collateral from the system, damaging the economy’s “financial plumbing”
Falling natural rates impacted by common global factors – Fed paper
Research by Kathryn Holston, Thomas Laubach and John Williams finds no sign of natural rate decline reversing; advanced economies jointly affected by global factors
Fed finalises rules for countercyclical capital buffer
US central bank promises it will only adjust the buffer gradually and will seek comment before doing so, after consultation flagged concerns
Fiat currencies stand firm against bitcoin
The cryptocurrency is a victim of its own success as strong demand pushes its price up, increasing speculative flows
‘Neural network’ could help construct early warning systems – Colombian paper
Model can detect identity of bank by analysing features of its balance sheet, which the authors say can be coupled with other financial stress indicators to help classify banks by their fragility
Bank of Finland looking to streamline and upgrade payments simulator
Economist sheds light on the bank’s plans for adding new features, improving efficiency and integrating agent-based modelling