Central Banks
UK's Royal Mint brings back golden guinea to mark 350th anniversary
New £2 coin designed in the style of the now disused guinea, featuring the crest of King George III; coin will enter circulation later this year
Fed's monetary policy deviates from best practice, says Bullard
Fed monetary policy has deviated from central bank best practice and should be used ‘to meet policy objectives, not calendar objectives', says St Louis Fed president
BoE's King says expectations less important than economic conditions
Bank of England governor says focus should be on creating the right economic conditions for normalising monetary policy rather than talking people through it
Bernanke plays down Jackson Hole importance
Kansas Fed's renowned symposium is a conference sponsored by just ‘one of the 12 reserve banks' says Bernanke, who declined to comment on his future following FOMC meeting
Hong Kong launches renminbi Hibor fixing
New offshore benchmark rates to be produced starting next week; HKMA to provide oversight and surveillance of contributing banks' internal systems to ensure 'integrity' of submissions
SNB reaffirms commitment to exchange rate limit
Thomas Jordan says Swiss economy continues to face 'major challenges'; Fritz Zurbrügg outlines efforts to control risks arising from the central bank's $475 billion foreign currency investments
Hungarian paper backs sticky price inflation indexes
Working paper analyses forecasting ability of different indicators of underlying inflation; finds sticky price indexes outperform more traditional core inflation measure
UK banks told to find £13.4 billion in extra capital
Bank of England’s PRA says Lloyds and RBS need to raise extra £10.2 billion; Osborne says government will ‘do what it can’ to return both banks to the private sector
RBNZ well prepared for anti-money laundering duties, says head of AML
Rob Edwards says both the Reserve Bank and the entities it will oversee are ready for a new anti-money laundering regime; outlines central bank’s approach to enforcement
IMF paper weighs effect of shifting bank funding in eastern Europe
Researchers from the International Monetary Fund find banks rebalancing their funding sources away from foreign loans; warns global regulation may make this process too rapid
Chinese banks may face shadow finance credit crisis, say rating agencies
Strong links between the regulated and unregulated credit sectors in China due to the use of wealth management products and lending to shadow banks pose a systemic threat to Chinese banks
Poloz seeks to reassure Canada's exporters
New Bank of Canada governor says inflation target remains ‘sacrosanct'; promises to help build business confidence through clear monetary policy
Reckless bankers should face jail, says UK parliamentary report
UK Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards delivers raft of recommendations on how to cultivate better responsibility among bankers, banks and their regulators
Bank of England’s FPC needs expanding, says UK parliamentary review
Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards delivers verdict on UK’s new regulatory architecture; recommends appointing additional external member to FPC to shift power away from bank insiders
Survey finds Lithuanians lack opportunities to use payment cards
Survey respondents would like to pay by card at places that currently do not accept them - but paying through mobile phones is still beyond the pale
PMA launches three-pronged social media strategy
Palestine Monetary Authority launches Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts, putting it among the relatively few central banks worldwide that use multiple social media
UK parliamentary review slams 'half-hearted' Bank of England reform
Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards calls for overhaul of Court of Directors; dismisses central bank's Oversight Committee as ‘half-hearted at best'
QE1 and QE2 operated in opposite directions, ECB researchers find
Researchers at the European Central Bank find that QE1 triggered a portfolio rebalancing out of EMEs into US equity and bonds, while QE2 acted in the opposite direction
RBNZ faces calls to dilute governor's power
Bill introduced by New Zealand's Green Party would see monetary policy set by the whole board and force central bank to publish minutes
ECB research dissects European competitiveness
Working paper separates competitiveness into political and factor price-driven elements; uses new index to show divergent outcomes across Europe
RBNZ’s prudential supervision head backs simpler regulation
Toby Fiennes expresses ‘sympathy’ for arguments in favour of simpler banking regulation, but cautions that simplicity can bring problems of its own; gives hints as to future of regulation
IMF’s Zhu examines impact of changing global relationships on Asian economies
Min Zhu, an IMF deputy managing director, discusses the move towards a global supply chain and the challenges it presents to the development of the Asian financial markets