Central Banks
Draghi points to savings glut in some eurozone countries
Germany and others are contributing to a global savings glut, Draghi argues; renews call for structural reform and rejects appeals to curtail monetary expansion
Bank of Canada identifies first ‘prominent' payment system
The Automated Clearing Settlement System is considered "central" to Canadian payments and must now meet risk management standards based on global PFMI
Cunliffe warns of tough transition to new resolution regime
Going back to world of small, less complex banks is not how to solve ‘too big to fail’ problem, BoE deputy suggests, instead favouring a ‘multi-pronged’ regulatory approach
Sub-Saharan African countries need more responsive policy – IMF staff
Some central banks “impeded” in pursuit of primary mandate; staff report discourages government and structural development financing
Esma finds CCPs resilient ‘overall’ in first stress test
European Securities and Markets Authority says first annual stress tests show European central counterparties are “overall” well prepared to face “extreme but plausible” market shocks
RBA cuts to 1.75% as data disappoints
Glenn Stevens points to “unexpectedly low” inflation data as the Reserve Bank of Australia cuts its key rate by 25bp; Australian dollar slides following decision
Zeti Akhtar Aziz on crisis management, mandates and capacity building
Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz speaks to Christopher Jeffery about her three-and-a-half decades spent tackling crisis management, capacity building and governance
People: Fed appoints new director; Ghana and Uzbekistan add deputies
Matthew Eichner named director of reserve bank operations and payment systems at the Fed board; Bank of Ghana and Central Bank of Uzbekistan name new deputy governors
SNB officials fend off latest ideas for reform
Thomas Jordan and Jean Studer warn of the damage that could be done by proposals including sovereign money, broader mandate and using reserves to create sovereign wealth fund
Rajan sided with the consensus, minutes show
RBI governor cuts rates in line with views of external advisers; four of the five members wanted to reduce the repo rate at the April 5 meeting
‘Challenging' year spurs diversification of Hong Kong's exchange fund
HKMA says it is accelerating its process of reserves diversification after it was hit by a "triple whammy" in all major asset classes in 2015
IMF staff weigh options for tackling Chinese NPLs
Technical note authored by three IMF employees considers how securitising NPLs or converting them to equity might work in the Chinese context; latest CBRC figures show the stock is growing
Book notes: Lehman Brothers: a crisis of value, by Oonagh McDonald
McDonald's book offers a useful synopsis of the multiple failings at Lehman Brothers running up to 2008, but ultimately fails to add significantly to what was already known
Nonlinear models struggle to outperform VARs, Azerbaijani paper finds
Central bank’s first working paper finds various different nonlinear forecasting models perform poorly against autoregressive and VAR models, and even random walks
Bean welcomes bid to increase ONS access to public data
Reforming the legal framework will improve ONS access to administrative data, former BoE deputy says, adding the ONS must be more proactive in acquiring and producing data
Liberia appoints board member as new governor
Liberian president appoints Milton Weeks to lead central bank; new appointee was commercial banker and investment adviser
RBI plans to regulate nascent P2P market
Central bank proposes bringing peer-to-peer lending within its regulatory remit, fearing lack of oversight might lead the rapidly growing sector to develop “unhealthy practices”
Wheeler says further easing may be needed as RBNZ holds
Wheeler says interest rate cuts could be needed, though the RBNZ kept its key rate at 2.25% today; mixed picture with dairy export prices improving but currency still high
BoJ holds policy despite weakening expectations
Yen climbs as policy board keeps interest rates and asset purchases at existing levels; growth and inflation forecasts cut while there is “considerable uncertainty” around the outlook
Fed holds and drops reference to global risks
Federal Open Market Committee holds federal funds rate as widely expected; suggests growth in economic activity has slowed but concerns about global developments have eased
Panellists at ECB conference challenge complexity of macro-prudential set-up
Public and private sector representatives agree it is too early to judge macro-prudential framework; identify some positive elements but raise concerns about institutional complexity
BoE’s Cunliffe notes ‘gap’ between bank return and investor expectation
Investors should be prepared for lower returns in the coming year, Bank of England deputy says; risks to the housing market show signs of reducing but FPC poised to act if necessary