News
RBNZ intervenes in forex and hits bank capital
Central bank boosts mortgage lending capital requirements and sells New Zealand dollars to ‘take the tops off rallies’; economy faces low inflation but strong dollar and overheating housing market
UK regulator right to retain flexibility to force changes on internal models
Head of the PRA plans to use early warning indicators in supervisory work, notwithstanding the risk of EU challenge
European Commissioner defends under-fire Tobin tax
Algirdas Šemeta says the European Commission’s proposal for a financial transactions tax is ‘technically and legally sound’; numerous stakeholders concerned by impact on repo markets
Dijsselbloem defends Eurogroup over Cyprus bail-in plan
Eurogroup president fields questions from European Parliament and defends the original Cyprus plan; refuses to name names over who proposed levy on smaller depositors
Bank of Estonia scraps new payments system
Plans for new interbank retail payments system are dropped due to a lack of popularity among commercial banks; hunt for a set-up compliant with Sepa requirements continues
ECB’s head of financial stability says SSM is not enough
Ignazio Angeloni says banking union will be ‘decisive’ in restoring stability to the eurozone, but the single supervisory mechanism will not be sufficient on its own
RBA cuts rates to record low
Central bank seeks to encourage rebalancing of demand as mining investment heads for peak; analysts see further rate cuts on the horizon
Weidmann: Eurosystem has 'stretched its mandate' to contain crisis
Bundesbank president says mismatch of control and liability is diminishing the responsibility of individual states and transferring the consequences of failure onto the European community
UK’s FCA faces serious challenges in meeting competition objective, survey warns
Industry survey highlights ‘scale of challenge’ for conduct regulator in promoting competition; says many measures taken so far may actually be anti-competitive
RBI cuts interest rate, while eyeing lower inflation
The Reserve Bank of India reduces benchmark interest rate for third time in 2013 to 7%; says there is ‘little space’ for further easing
Bank of Canada names Stephen Poloz as governor
The CEO of Export Development Canada Stephen Poloz is a surprise pick to replace Mark Carney; governor designate backs existing monetary policy framework and says inflation target is ‘sacrosanct’
ECB lifts ban on Cypriot ‘junk' bond eligibility
Rule suspension allows Cypriot government-issued or guaranteed debt instruments to be used as collateral in Eurosystem operations; follows precedent set for Greece in September 2012
ECB cuts rates and sets up ‘task force' seeking to promote SME lending
European Central Bank cuts benchmark rate from 0.75% to 0.5% by a majority decision; Mario Draghi says has set up a ‘joint task force' with the EIB to examine ways of promoting business lending
Italians back using gold reserves to lower funding costs
A survey commissioned by the World Gold Council finds that Italians would support the creation of gold-backed bonds; sovereign bond yields fall further as new government is formed
BoJ minutes show thinking behind ‘extremely aggressive' easing
Bank of Japan monetary policy committee members were determined to grasp opportunity and make a clear statement to the markets, at meeting that heralded a new era in monetary easing
Bundesbank's Nagel calls for better data on European money markets
Joachim Nagel and Carsten Hartkopf from the Bundesbank's markets department advocate money market survey to better understand monetary policy transmission and give early warning signals
Bank of Thailand prepares to counter rising baht
Monetary Policy Committee agrees ‘framework for exchange rate management’, but does not yield to government demands for a rate cut
Fed opens door to further asset purchases
The Federal Reserve resists recent talk of an exit from quantitative easing by emphasising that it could yet increase asset purchases; accuses fiscal policy of ‘restraining economic growth’
Osborne emphasises ‘support for growth' remit for BoE financial policy committee
Letter from chancellor to governor calls on FPC to give 'due weight' to its role in supporting economic recovery; call for consistent communications leads to speculation over divergent views on MPC
FDIC’s Hoenig blasts Basel III risk weights as insufficient
Thomas Hoenig argues that Basel III can be ‘gamed' and that the capital ratios may over-represent the actual state of banks’ balance sheets
Bank of Japan raises ‘major concerns' over US foreign bank rules
Letter to Fed governor challenges proposed regulation of foreign banks on the basis of inconsistency with international standards and restrictive liquidity rules; Germans also weigh in
Bank of Botswana delivers first rate cut since 2010
Botswana’s central bank cuts interest rate by 50bp to 9% to stimulate growth and employment despite continuing rise in inflation
Carney launches ‘safer, cheaper, greener’ banknotes
New Canadian $5 and $10 polymer banknotes aim to cut counterfeiting, lower costs and reduce environmental impact; notes unveiled 350km above the earth by International Space Station commander
Weak eurozone data add weight to ECB rate cut talk
Expectations of a rate cut mount as unemployment and inflation figures disappoint, although many question whether lower interest rates would have a significant impact