Central Banks
Central bank independence key focus of Brazilian elections
With the central bank’s autonomy a hot topic in the build-up to this weekend’s presidential elections, specialists are divided on the benefits of greater independence
Czech economy generating ‘noticeable inflationary pressures’
Czech National Bank board members point to ‘rapid’ rise in wages as indicator of inflationary pressures, but remain concerned by price developments in the eurozone
Lagarde sees black clouds over monetary policy normalisation
IMF managing director underlines risk of spillover effects as Fed winds down monetary easing; says ‘asynchronous’ normalisation could come back to bite advanced economies
Fixing Libor needs more work, says NY Fed’s Dudley
NY Fed president says gaps in the Libor framework still need to be plugged; Fed and FSB working on solutions
Ingves: Equal implementation of Basel III a ‘major challenge'
Basel Committee chairman says Swedish banks' interconnectedness and reliance on wholesale funding justify higher capital requirements than Basel III minimum
Central Bank of Nigeria implements ‘sanctions screening' service to combat financial crime
Swift service helping banks meet global best practices on financial crime will be functional in January; step towards realising 2020 ‘payment system vision'
IMF encourages Kenya central bank to set-up forecast unit
Staff report with Kenya praises the evolution of the central bank’s forecasting model and recommends creation of dedicated unit; wary of rising food prices and credit growth
Warren turns up heat on NY Fed following allegations of supervisory mismanagement
US Senator says leaked recordings suggest ‘basic lack of truthful reporting’ at institution; New York Fed has already defended the 'integrity' of its supervision
Argentina’s central bank governor quits after Presidential criticism
Juan Carlos Fábrega resigns after Argentina’s president accuses the central bank of giving ‘confidential information’ to banks
Bank of England asks for new tools to curb mortgage lending
Financial Policy Committee recommends it be equipped with controls on loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios; Mark Carney says Help to Buy scheme does not pose ‘material risks’
Stronger pound has pushed down UK inflation rate, says BoE's Forbes
MPC member says 14.5% appreciation between March 2013 and July 2014 will have powerful effects on the UK economy over the coming quarters
ECB reveals details of asset purchases
Mario Draghi would not be drawn on the size of the asset and bond programmes, but said the ‘potential universe of purchases is up to €1 trillion’
National Bank of Denmark narrows range of collateral it accepts
Financial market ‘normalisation' provides ‘opportunity' to omit assets made eligible after crisis to keep Danish banks from borrowing in euros
NBP warns ECB-Fed mismatch may impair policy-making
Polish central bank says divergence of European and US monetary policy is likely to create problems for policy-makers elsewhere, especially in small, open economies
Balance sheet saw ‘substantial’ growth in past year, says RBA’s Stevens
Combined impact of replenished capital and new financial market operations has seen balance sheet swell, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s annual report for 2014
Dombret calls on German banks to ‘embrace new risk culture’
Bundesbank executive board member sets out four criteria for assessing the ‘soundness’ of banks’ risk culture, including the ‘tone from the top’
Banque de France ‘significantly’ improves research output
External review of central bank research finds ‘significant rise in quantity and quality’ in past six years; suggests improvements in communication with policy-makers
Bank of Mexico will run new oil fund
Central bank will be responsible for receiving, managing and distributing all income, excepting taxes, of the country’s oil and gas operations; will invest over ‘wider horizon’ than with past fund
BoE's Fisher underlines need for co-ordination between top committees
PRA deputy head says choices of one committee ‘will affect the choices of the others' and a common understanding of the economy is vital
European economists analyse global value chains
Bank of Portugal working paper analyses the global value chains in the eurozone and underlines the core role of Germany in production linkages
Linde points to growing ‘dynamism’ in Spanish economy
Bank of Spain governor expects 2% annual GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2014 and throughout 2015, but insists there are risks to Spanish recovery
FSB urges central banks to ‘take note’ of Iosco FX benchmark principles
Final report on FX rate benchmarks encourages central banks to heed Iosco recommendations; suggests changes to benchmark methodology to improve incentives