FMI
RBI, BIS gain access to China interbank foreign exchange market
Second batch of official investors receive permission to trade FX spot and derivatives onshore; MAS and BoK also among the seven institutions
Inertia an important factor in consumer banking market, paper argues
Inertia among consumers is an important factor in the market for personal banking, a study argues, stressing that policy-makers must improve their understanding of this factor
Irish central bank may help fund ‘comprehensive’ database of commercial real estate
Central Bank of Ireland may help fund the creation of a commercial property statistical system, which would be maintained by Central Statistics Office
Irish regulations aim to extend protection to SMEs
Regulations published by the Central Bank of Ireland aim to increase the transparency and protection offered to small and medium enterprises borrowing from banks
Russian and Chinese central banks sign MoU
The governors of the Russian and Chinese central banks sign memorandum of understanding; will now be able to issue bonds in each other’s markets
EBA guidelines limit European banks’ exposure to shadow banks
The European Banking Authority has published guidelines limiting the exposure of European Union financial institutions both to the shadow banking sector and to individual firms within it
European regulation of investment firms needs reform, says EBA report
Micro-prudential regulation of investment firms in the European Union does not take proper account of risk and varies widely between countries and firms, an EBA report argues
Draghi calls for action on non-performing loans
Eurozone countries need wide-ranging reform of their systems for dealing with non-performing loans to stimulate the supply of capital to business, Mario Draghi says
Italian deputy governor warns on hurdles to capital markets union
The senior deputy governor of the Bank of Italy says capital markets union is necessary for the European economy but faces considerable obstacles
Irish central bank to investigate fund manager fees
The Central Bank of Ireland intends to investigate the levels of fees charged by asset managers based in the country; review will be one of 12 ‘themed inspections’ of the finance industry
Bahraini central bank launches ‘almost real-time’ payments
Central Bank of Bahrain launches Electronic Fund Transfer System, comprising services for near real-time payments, deferred net settlement and bill aggregation
Spanish paper finds issues with Basel III approach to calculating risk-weighted assets
The approach to calculating banks’ risk-weighted assets introduced by Basel III may create incentives for ‘regulatory arbitrage’, a Bank of Spain paper argues
TCH and VocaLink set sights on US real-time payments
CEOs emphasise effort to create level playing field for 14,000 US financial institutions to access the system, as the firms finalise real-time payments deal
Spanish paper offers guide to using BIS data
A paper published by the Bank of Spain offers an introduction to the statistical data on international banking published by the BIS
PBoC confirms Korea on track to issue first sovereign 'panda bond'
Korean government authorised to raise 3bn yuan in interbank market, China's central bank confirms; Seoul reportedly marketing bond during China roadshow this week
EU survey calls for more cohesion on cloud computing
There appears to be a lack of clear and formal guidance from financial supervisors on banks’ use of cloud-based IT services, while their use is underestimated, an EU agency says
ECB changes euro FX reference rates' publication time
ECB will change the time of its publication of the euro’s foreign exchange reference rates to help ‘safeguard integrity’; further changes may be made if transactions linked to the rates do not fall
RMB now second most used payments currency between China and Japan
The Chinese currency more than doubles share of payments between China/Hong Kong and Japan in two years, eclipsing US and Hong Kong dollars while yen retains number one spot
Bank of Israel unveils real-time payments plan
New payments infrastructure will support push for advanced electronic payments; committee chair identifies plans for wide range of payments improvements, including real time
Bank of Russia presents strategic plan for financial sector
Bank of Russia aims to create financial ombudsman, update regulatory regime and develop bond market as part of first strategic development plan
ECB survey finds ‘access to finance’ least of eurozone SME problems
The European Central Bank’s survey of eurozone enterprises finds deleveraging is continuing at a slow pace while few firms rate lack of access to finance as their major problem
Payments industry body to implement instant payments in euros ‘by 2017’
The European Retail Payments Board encourages industry body to have a system of instant payments operational by November 2017
New Dutch deposit guarantee scheme should ‘disincentivise risk-taking’ by banks
The Netherlands Bank has introduced a new deposit guarantee scheme; scope is wider than old scheme and risk-based, ex ante funding structure aims to dis-incentivise risk-taking by banks
Bundesbank calls for harmonisation in CMU response
The Deutsche Bundesbank responds to the European Commission’s capital markets union proposals, calling for greater harmonisation and transparency but warning of burden