FMI
PBoC sanctions direct trading between renminbi and euro
People’s Bank of China names euro as latest currency to be directly tradable with the yuan on the Chinese interbank market
RBA’s Richards outlines fast settlement service at Chicago symposium
Reserve Bank of Australia head of payments policy says the fast settlement service on the country’s new payments platform will be able to deal with ‘very short response times’
Portuguese central banker warns new €10 banknote may not be accepted by all vending machines
Bank of Portugal board member says he cannot guarantee the note will be accepted by all machines, as owners are responsible for making necessary software changes
Financial liberalisation much more encompassing ‘than just technical lifting of controls'
Market participants face numerous unexpected challenges as they adapt to more liberal operational environments, says Bank of Finland board member at China financial liberalisation event
Barnier hints at longer pensions clearing exemption for OTC derivatives
The EC's outgoing head of internal markets, Michel Barnier, has hinted the Commission will extend a pension funds derivatives clearing exemption beyond 2015
Mobile money accounts trump number of adults in Kenya, IMF data show
African bank depositors increased five-fold between 2004 and 2013, IMF's fifth annual Financial Access Survey shows; includes data on mobile money for first time
‘Flower power’ drives new Dominican Republic banknote series
The Dominican Republic is issuing upgraded banknotes to include the country’s new national flower; Israel and eurozone also introducing new notes in the market
Mersch: T2S may prompt ‘more global network for mobilisation of collateral assets'
ECB board member says Target2 offers 'possibilities for linkages' between T2S central securities depositories with those 'from other geographical areas'
Banks must ‘rediscover' relationships with companies, Italian deputy says
Salvatore Rossi says better understanding of companies by banks would complement capital market intermediation as ‘only banks can acquire direct knowledge of firms'
PBoC designates renminbi clearing banks for France and Luxembourg
Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to serve countries' offshore RMB markets
Palestine Monetary Authority launches new clearing system
Automated clearing system developed in Palestime with technical assistance from the World Bank and Bank of Italy; part of PMA’s wider plans to upgrade retail payment infrastructure
Key innovation behind Bitcoin could prompt ‘fundamental change' to payment systems
Article published by Bank of England says ‘distributed ledger' technology could have ‘much broader' impact beyond payment systems
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
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
De La Rue ‘preferred bidder' for next Bank of England printing deal
UK printer expected to sign contract with central bank next month and start producing new notes in April; BoE hired Innovia Security to supply polymer substrate in March
Timor-Leste central bank green lights mobile money pilot
Initiative will allow users to execute payments, transfers and withdrawals through mobile phones, and follows the introduction of a ‘master plan’ for financial sector development
Dutch payments forum looking to ‘speed-up’ transfers
Frank Elderson hopes the forum’s plan will ‘spark real-time payment transfers’, noting this would require a ‘comprehensive renewal’ of market infrastructure
RBI's Joshi: Direct benefit transfers a ‘game changer' but have ‘not progressed smoothly enough'
Indian financial inclusion initiative needs government streamlining and the help of commercial banks to work, says Deepali Pant Joshi
Europe doubles RMB transactions with Greater China in one year
European hubs fuel growth in renminbi usage with 10% share of global payments, after major financial hubs sign swap agreements with the People's Bank of China
Malaysian central bank looks to set up financial ombudsman service
Scheme would ensure ‘effective and fair handling of complaints' against financial service providers, says bank, which adds service could be up and running in 2015
Reserve Bank of India to trial ‘plastic banknotes’
Annual report details plans to run a ‘field trial’ of plastic banknotes by 2015, in addition to several other initiatives aimed at improving the central bank’s cash management
Finnish paper says Sepa 'not enough’ on its own
Researchers argue that Sepa is an ‘important’ initiative but further measures will be needed to create an efficient payments system; call for ‘vigorous’ competition policies
ECB designates four 'systemic' payments systems subject to new regulatory standards
European Central Bank identifies four payment systems as systemically important, which will now be governed by stricter oversight standards that entered into force last week
Central Bank of Nigeria defends reintroduction of fees on ATM withdrawals
Bank says reintroduction of fee will hinder abuse of expensive ATMs and promote its cash-less policy; fee was abolished in 2012 to encourage use of ATMs