Central Banks
Bulgaria turns to the ECB in wake of bank failures
Collapse of Corporate Commercial Bank revealed extent of supervisory shortcomings that IMF warned of 15 years ago; Bulgaria now wants to join ECB's Single Supervisory Mechanism
Fed official reiterates forex options clearing guidelines
Lawrence Sweet highlights industry discussions around forex options clearing as key component of a private sector solution
Suriname governor says deeper international connections increase contagion risks
Governor Gillmore Hoefdraad says debate over housing macropru and monetary policy at the same institution is over, but the evolution of the instruments is ongoing
Yellen endorses calls for ‘community banker' on Fed board
Fed chair Janet Yellen says legislating to earmark seats on the board would be a mistake, but agrees the board would be improved by the addition of a community banker
RBA sees subdued wage growth ‘for some time’
Minutes from latest board meeting reveal discussion on labour market; board members say conditions have improved ‘a little’ but wage growth remains ‘subdued’
Draghi lays out views on structural reforms for new European Parliament committee
European Central Bank president Mario Draghi calls on MEPs to ‘seize the opportunity of a new parliament’ to consider how they might ‘develop the architecture of our Emu’
Israel governor Flug appoints new chief of staff
Daniel Hahiashvili appointed as chief of staff to the governor today; incumbent Eddy Azoulay moves to represent Israel at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Carney tells parliament BIS report was 'made in a vacuum'; Kohn defends leverage ratio plans
Donald Kohn argues the case for a time-varying leverage ratio at parliamentary hearing; Carney and Bailey question practical application of BIS annual report
People: Sri Lanka promotes Samarasiri to deputy; Russia picks card system head
Central Bank of Sri Lanka promotes assistant governor Samarasiri to deputy; Russia appoints Vladimir Komlev to head up national payment card operator
Bulgarian state to rescue majority of depositors at scandal-hit banking group
Central bank seeks law change as council claims banking supervision was only in the purview of one deputy governor; loan records apparently destroyed on purpose
Lockhart needs higher wage growth and participation before raising rates
Atlanta Fed president says firmer wage growth and a higher participation rate are needed before the Federal Open Market Committee should raise interest rates
Review finds Belgian CPI still ‘diverges’ from HICP
National Bank of Belgium’s latest economic review analyses the recent changes in the methodology underpinning CPI, and demonstrates why it remains different from HICP
IMF steps up call for QE in Europe
The European Central Bank should launch a large-scale asset purchase programme if inflation does not pick up; IMF staffers untroubled by risk of asset bubbles
Israel publishes first financial stability report
Bank of Israel repeats demand for new committee for setting macro-prudential policy in its first financial stability report since 2004
Financial Policy Committee angles for full powers over UK leverage ratio regime
Bank of England body poised to ask for lead role in design and implementation of leverage ratios in UK; move described as a natural fit
People: Riksbank vice-chairman to head FSA, former Hungarian governor new CFO at EBRD
Sven-Erik Österberg will chair Financial Supervisory Authority from January; Andras Simor changes role at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; More
Spanish economists devise system for detecting risks to budget forecasts
Working paper published by the Bank of Spain presents a new ‘toolkit’ to monitor the government budget in real time; authors say it will help protect state’s reputation
Fischer keen to add financial stability to Fed mandate
Fed vice-chair Stanley Fischer praises progress with reforms in his first speech since becoming second in command; open to reforming the Financial Stability Oversight Council
Forecasting of ECB and New York Fed became ‘noticeably worse’ during crisis
Researchers at the ECB and New York Fed examined forecasting performance of their central banks; finding they suffered during the crisis, but not more than external parties
Balance between Hong Kong and Singapore ‘vital’ for financial stability
Researchers at the IMF find Hong Kong and Singapore complement each other as financial centres because they specialise in different markets and clienteles
Regulation may force some banks out of repos, says NY Fed's Davis
The New York Fed's head of financial market infrastructure, Jeanmarie Davis, says some banks will 'revisit their presence' in the repo business due to increased regulatory requirements
IMF calls on Iceland to defend central bank credibility
As the evaluation committee prepares to interview candidates for governor, IMF visit reminds Iceland of the need for a credible and independent central bank