Central Banks
UBS escapes DoJ prosecution and fine
But it pays a further £342 million to the Fed over FX conduct issues
Historic BoE minutes shed light on troublesome money supply targets
Court minutes from the era of money supply targeting highlight the central bank’s struggle to control inflation amid unclear indicators and an occasionally fractious relationship with government
Rajan suggests IMF as watchdog for unconventional policy
RBI governor says central banks should not discard international responsibilities in favour of domestic mandates; says IMF could police unconventional monetary policy
China may have financial reforms backwards, economists argue
Interest rate liberalisation should take precedence over capital account opening, observers say at roundtable discussion in Hong Kong ahead of IFF China report release
Deutsche Börse to set up Europe's first multi-asset RMB platform
German exchange group signs joint venture deal with CFFEX and Shanghai Stock Exchange to bring trading venue to Frankfurt
IMF researchers explore central bank security issuance
Working paper finds low-income countries may struggle to issue central bank securities on account of the administrative costs and infrastructure demands
Minutes show RBA could still ease further
Board members feel the decision to drop guidance that further easing ‘may be appropriate’ does not limit the ‘scope’ for them to cut rates further
CPI not ideal for comparing inflation rates, research finds
Economist at Sveriges Riksbank says CPI is a good measure of inflation but is ‘not well suited’ to making international comparisons of inflation rates
Eurozone moving towards ‘single market for collateral’, say central bankers
Panellists from Belgian, French and Dutch central banks discuss moves towards harmonised collateral markets in Europe at conference in Brussels
Euro tumbles as ECB accelerates asset purchases
Euro slides against the dollar as market reacts to ECB’s plan to ‘moderately front-load’ its asset purchases; Cœuré concerned by ‘rapidity’ of price reversal in sovereign bonds
ECB’s Cœuré says higher inflation target not solution to zero lower bound
Benoît Cœuré says raising the inflation target or abolishing the currency is not the right way to make monetary policy more effective; structural reforms a better use of political capital
BoE asks public to nominate artist for next £20 note
Mark Carney says next individual on £20 note will be a visual artist, and asks members of the public to nominate people from the field; committee will then draw up a shortlist
Minneapolis Fed essay suggests new focus for FOMC comms
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl argues the FOMC should talk more about what it is trying to accomplish with its monetary policy; Minneapolis Fed staff rewrite January statement to illustrate point
Repo market coping with liquidity regulations for now, panellists say
Participants at Euroclear’s Collateral Conference say repo markets have delivered new efficiency gains to keep collateral supply up, but the outlook over the coming year looks less certain
RBA’s Lowe wary of structural adjustment in global interest rates
Australian deputy governor expects rates on offer to savers to pick up when confidence grows and businesses compete for funds again, but sees potential for structural shift as well
Fed’s Powell supports relief for community banks facing compliance burdens
Governor Jerome Powell supports setting asset threshold of around $10 billion for both the Volcker rule and incentive compensation rules
Zeti deems shadow loan regulation ‘highly effective'
Bank Negara Malaysia governor says macro-prudential regulation of non-banks has stabilised the overheated property market, but IMF warns of risks lurking in the shadows
Mexican deputy cautious of data-dependent Fed policy
Manuel Sánchez sees potential for smooth tightening if markets are able to price in rate changes, but remains alert to risk Fed is pushed into acting faster than planned
Evans: Fed must keep rates low to protect target symmetry
Chicago Fed president sees no serious costs with ‘modestly overshooting’ 2%, but is concerned about potential damage to inflation expectations of tightening too soon
ECB’s Mersch warns against blindly pinning hopes on macro-prudential policy
Yves Mersch says there is much to learn about how tools work; sees potential for ‘conflicts of competence’ between micro- and macro-prudential authorities
Esma official slams CFTC margin rules
US rules driven by competitive rather than prudential concerns, Fabrizio Planta charges
In search of a better measure of inflation
Hedonic adjustments offer a way of tackling bias in the CPI, albeit at a cost, but new research suggests even these may be misrepresenting inflation – with broad implications for the economy
High liquidity creation increases probability of bank failure, IMF paper warns
Working paper published by the IMF says regulators can reduce costs of bank failure by identifying high liquidity creators early and monitoring them closely