Central Banks
Hong Kong's first Islamic bond raises $1bn
Five-year sukuk sells at ‘tightest spread ever achieved’ over US Treasuries; strong demand from across the globe sees orders in excess of $4.7 billion
Zeti: Proportionate regulation necessary to ‘advance’ financial inclusion
Bank Negara Malaysia governor lays out plan to ‘advance financial inclusion to its next level’, saying global standard-setting bodies will play an ‘important role’
World's biggest banks $60bn closer to Basel III target
Internationally active banks $20bn short of Basel III target, compared with $80bn six months earlier, according to Basel Committee review
Kohn says exit from unconventional monetary policies likely to be 'positive event' for UK
External member of Bank of England FPC says ‘most likely all will go well' but warns long period of low volatility may have led to mispricing of risk
Cœuré explains motivation for negative deposit rates
European Central Bank executive board member says it is ‘not enough’ to lower the main refinancing rate in an environment of excess liquidity
Carney: shortfall in reserves likely for independent Scotland
Division of UK reserves on GDP basis would leave Scots with 10% buffer, less than half what is generally considered sufficient ‘to ensure credit flows freely and effectively', according to BoE governor
Hélène Rey receives first Carl Menger Prize from German-language central banks
London Business School professor is recognised by Bundesbank, Swiss National Bank and National Bank of Austria for research informing ‘concrete work' of central banks
Portuguese central bank reshuffles board responsibilities
The appointment of two new board members sees vice-governor Pedro Duarte Neves lose responsibility for prudential supervision in the wake of the central bank’s intervention in BES
Dutch economists recommend using social media as confidence indicator
ECB paper finds social media sentiment and consumer confidence are ‘highly correlated’ and could be useful in policy-making
Iwata says Japan’s exports headed for a ‘moderate increase’
The ‘sluggishness in emerging economies’ has provoked ‘some weakness’ in Japan’s exports, says the deputy governor of the Bank of Japan, but this should ‘gradually disappear’
Mexican deputy says 3% inflation target could be difficult
Manuel Sánchez, deputy governor of the Bank of Mexico, says the country’s inflation could remain above 3% and describes the target as 'difficult' and 'challenging'
Angolan central bankers appointed to BESA board
Angola’s president has appointed two central bankers to oversee the implementation of a rescue programme to save the local subsidiary of Portugal’s Banco Espírito Santo
Philadelphia Fed's Plosser fears ‘risky' FOMC strategy on interest rates
Regional Fed president does not want to wait to increase rates until job market has ‘completely healed'; calls for overhaul of forward guidance
Carney says 'striking' labour market differences will prompt ‘less synchronised' monetary policy
The Bank of England governor addresses UK wage conundrum; argues US is in worse position as its headline unemployment rate is 'much better than the details'
LCH payments system raises concentration concerns
A large proportion of cash payments between clearing members and LCH.Clearnet are processed by just two banks, raising concentration risk concerns from banks and regulators
ECB to help prepare Central Bank of Montenegro for EU
Co-operation programme aims to help the institution meet regional and international standards; EU will provide €300,000 in funding
CPMI report reviews the ‘growing involvement’ of non-banks in retail payments
Working group chaired by Reserve Bank of India’s Padmanabhan says the presence of non-banks in payments raises 'level playing field issues' for central banks to consider
Buba's Buch calls for ‘clear-cut inclusion’ of CEE in banking union
Bundesbank vice-president highlights room for improvement in supervisory framework; concerned about integration of banking markets across Europe
BoJ focused on ‘underlying trend of prices’
The Bank of Japan kept policy steady in August; minutes from policy board meeting reveal members’ discussion about importance of using a range of price indicators
Bank of Albania board calls for governor to be sacked
Supervisory council gives ‘full support' to first deputy following arrest of governor Ardian Fullani, believed to be linked to central bank vault theft uncovered in July
Jean-Pierre Danthine will retire from SNB in June
Swiss National Bank vice-chairman will retire in June 2015; the nomination committee is already on the hunt for a replacement
New York Fed report reviews risk-return trade-off between financial conditions and financial stability
Paper focuses on vulnerabilities affecting trade-off, including pricing of risk and leverage; discusses how macro-pru policies can counteract vulnerabilities
ECB appoints supervisory heavyweights to new review board
Governing council appoints five members to board, tasked with conducting reviews into ECB’s supervisory actions, including former central bankers from France, Germany, Italy and Spain