Central Banks
Reform facilitated by the renminbi’s inclusion in the SDR basket
Ba Shusong, IFF Academic Committee member and chief China economist of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong examines the significance of the renminbi’s SDR inclusion
Micro factors affect Italian banks’ sovereign debt purchases, paper argues
Italian banks’ sovereign debt purchases strongly affected by their balance sheet needs, Bank of Italy researchers argue; size of bank a key factor
Weidmann: GDP-linked bonds an ‘avenue worth exploring’
Eurozone countries should explore merits of GDP-linked bonds, Bundesbank president argues; says move could help revision of sovereign risk weightings and cites Bank of England work
Swiss regulator forms resolution division
Regulator hopes to focus its efforts by uniting disparate teams in a new division, with current enforcement chief David Wyss becoming head of resolution
Wynter considers financial inclusion in line with AML/CFT risk
Bank of Jamaica governor notes challenge in meeting both AML/CFT objectives and financial inclusion; suggests competent authorities must consider balance between the two
People: African department director leaves IMF; Dallas Fed looks for new first VP
Antoinette Sayeh retires from International Monetary Fund; Dallas Fed begins looking for replacement first vice-president; and more
Irish bad bank shifts focus to delivering new property
National Asset Management Agency is shifting its focus to projects aimed at developing commercial and residential property; asset disposals to be reduced in scale as body winds down
Low rates driving up housing share of income – RBA paper
Share of aggregate US income from capital is on the rise, and housing accounts for a large portion; low nominal rates explain strong demand for housing, economist argues
Prospective eurozone members fail to meet convergence criteria, ECB says
Seven prospective member countries show greater convergence in their economic indicators but fail to meet requirements for their legal frameworks, ECB report says
Irish deputy defends macroprudential policies
Sharon Donnery says macroprudential housing policies would have limited Ireland’s financial crisis; leaked parliamentary report calls for bank to ‘urgently’ review measures
Draghi outlines structural reforms to boost EU productivity
Mario Draghi calls for European structural reforms to concentrate on improving human capital, creating properly functioning markets and tackling restraints on services
Chile expands dollar holdings, central bank annual report shows
Central Bank of Chile reserve allocations in euro, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar fall, as dollar holdings rise
Norges Bank deputy: lack of common infrastructure hampers faster payments
Limited collaboration between banks in Norway is hampering availability of real-time payments and causing Norway to fall behind, Jon Nicolaisen says
BoJ vigilant to bond market impact of QQE, Nakaso says
Central bank is monitoring effects of large-scale asset purchases and doing its best to maintain market stability, deputy governor says
No room for easing in Tombini’s final meeting
Committee leaves key rate at 14.25%; analysts believe calmer political environment will shape monetary policy stance in future rather than change in governor
House prices complicate outlook as RBNZ holds
Central bank caught between strong NZ dollar and rising risks in the housing market; keeps rates on hold but further cut still remains in forecasts
LCH first clearing house to sign up to ISO 20022 harmonisation charter
Charter produced by Swift sets out measures for harmonising the implementation of ISO 20022; LCH.Clearnet Group becomes the first CCP to sign up
Dollar strength behind breakdown in economic paradigm, says Shin
BIS head of research points to failure of covered interest parity post-2008, with the strength of the US dollar correlated with the size of market anomalies
Japanese inflation target a partial success – Fed paper
Authors show adopting inflation target during a liquidity trap can have powerful effects, but in the Japanese case it seems to have been weakened by other factors
IMF staff urge oil-reliant countries to strengthen liquidity frameworks
Low oil prices likely to harm liquidity, raising the need for improved facilities and forecasting; risk of delayed surge in non-performing loans
Kocherlakota: Fed should talk openly about negative rates
Former Minneapolis Fed president says central bank should talk about its policy options in a recession ahead of time, to avoid sending a bad signal if they have to be used
Czech National Bank to launch second supervision department
Consumer protection and ‘retail distribution’ supervision to be moved under a new department dedicated to supervision, the second of its kind; Ladislav Kročák to become executive director