Central Banks
Poloz upbeat on US and Canadian productivity prospects
Bank of Canada governor explores evolution of international trade; it may have fallen, but there are still opportunities for productivity growth, Poloz says
Outflows during normalisation proportional to earlier inflows, paper warns
Working paper examines the effects unconventional monetary policies in advanced economies had on capital flows in emerging markets, and predict what is to come during normalisation
Mersch sets out broad questions around distributed ledgers
Yves Mersch considers how access to central bank money could work if market infrastructure adopts the technology; ECB publishes paper on its application in post-trade market for securities
BoE paper explores impact of prudential measures abroad on UK bank lending
No “significant” spillovers to bank lending following prudential measures, authors find, while composition of lending can change when domestic actions are taken
FCA chairman defends selection process for new chief
Griffith-Jones questioned on the decision not to interview Andrew Bailey before his appointment as chief executive; says he would have raised any concerns about process with Osborne
BoE paper seeks unified global approach to NPLs
A multidisciplinary approach to legal, accounting, statistical, economic and strategic elements of loan loss provisioning and NPLs
Italian paper looks at ECB’s reserve management
Bank of Italy working paper studies the management of the ECB’s foreign exchange reserves; diversity of managers’ investment styles may positively affect risk-adjusted returns, authors say
Paper explores reserve management in closed economies
Working paper published by IMF presents intertemporal optimisation model designed to help assess how closed economies should use their reserves when guarding against current account shocks
Constâncio points to systemic risk from investment funds
ECB vice-president Vítor Constâncio says increased size and risk-taking by under-regulated investment funds call for new powers for regulators
Sarb reserve management policy sheds light on tranches
South African Reserve Bank publishes investment policy governing allocation of FX and gold; splits reserves into range of tranches and sub-tranches
ECB sets out principles for designing backstop to single deposit guarantee scheme
ECB repeats call for single European deposit guarantee scheme; designing the scheme’s fiscal backstop will be key, financial stability report says
Turkey vulnerable to sudden stop, IMF warns
Central bank action on rates, operating framework and reserves would help shore up the country’s weak external position and tame inflation, fund says
Hoenig warns reliance on long-term debt could represent systemic vulnerability
FDIC vice-chairman warns of danger of substituting long-term debt for equity and comments on disagreement with Fed over ‘living wills’
Trilemma, dilemma, and the PBoC's primer for the 'new normal'
Hui Feng argues the PBoC faces a dilemma not a trilemma – but the effort of balancing the two goals is painful all the same
Macro-prudential policies should apply to shadow banking sector, researchers argue
Macro-prudential policies can have substitution effects between bank and non-bank credit, working paper says; macro-prudential policy should be extended towards the non-bank sector
Cross-border banking contraction broadens – BIS statistics
Latest cross-border banking statistics show drop in cross-border claims spread in Q4 2015 from emerging markets to broader regions; China sees particularly large drops in lending
JMW Turner to appear on new £20 banknote
Painter chosen from 590 British visual artists to adorn new polymer £20 note, after lengthy selection process; note scheduled to enter circulation by 2020
FinCoNet offers regulators chance to advance financial consumer protection – chairman
The association of national financial consumer protection agencies has made progress in supporting reform, but has considerable work ahead, chairman Sheridan says
Fed liftoff pushed some rates down – Riksbank paper
Researchers find hike in policy rate lowered average interest rates on subprime lending, and narrowed spreads with the less risky section of the market, using novel "scraped" data set
BoJ sees operational issues dampen negative rate effect
Financial system report says combination of negative rates and QQE is helping push rates lower and prompting portfolio rebalancing, but “several factors” are holding the effects back
MAS director hails work on natural catastrophe data
Bernard Wee introduces Natural Catastrophe Data Analytics Exchange, aimed at remedying “gappy” expertise in the region
Ukraine unifies main rate while easing policy
Ukraine’s central bank moves to “streamline” operational framework, while adopting an easier stance in the face of falling inflation
SBP’s Aziz sees renminbi gaining ground in global reserves
Pakistan’s reserves head sees potential for Chinese renminbi to muscle in on the euro and yen’s territory in global reserves, on account of negative interest rates