News
Sanusi impersonators shut down in fight against Nigerian scams
Central Bank of Nigeria ensures over 100 social networking accounts impersonating governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi are closed down in battle against fraud
China uses Brics summit to further RMB internationalisation
South Africa and Brazil sign deals with PBoC to 'strengthen economic relations' between Brics nations
Osborne defends new Bank of England remit
George Osborne defends changes to Bank of England’s remit; UK economists say the finance minister has shifted the burden for stimulating growth on to the central bank
UK FSA finalises Libor regulations
Financial Services Authority produces final rules for regulating benchmarks, days before it will cease to exist; regulated firms will undergo compliance review by new watchdog in coming year
Blanchard and Summers warn on central banks' democratic deficit
Axel Weber opposes supervisory role for central banks, as Olivier Blanchard and Larry Summers warn expanded mandates cause questions over democratic accountability
BoE Financial Policy Committee gets three new members
Former LSE head Clara Furse among the new external members named to Bank of England’s FPC; Donald Kohn re-appointed to his post
Bernanke denies QE represents competitive devaluation
Fed chairman plays down effect of asset purchases on exchange rates and emerging markets; Axel Weber says countries can lean against QE if necessary, but highlights more serious flaws
Cyprus strikes last minute bail-out deal
Eurosystem agrees to €10 billion bail-out package after Cyprus vows to honour deposit insurance and resolve failing banks; questions remain over capital flight when banks re-open
Vietnam slashes rates in bid to kick-start economy
Central bank cites stable macro environment as it cuts policy rates by 100bp in an attempt to stimulate productive activity
BoE urges banks to use payments systems directly
Bank of England identifies need to clamp down on banks accessing high-value payment systems through other banks as it creates credit and liquidity risks
Bank Indonesia candidate grilled by parliamentary commission
Governor nominee Agus Martowardojo faces difficult questions on scandals while at finance ministry; former Bank Indonesia governor warns of threat to the central bank’s independence
Sanusi will not seek second term at Nigerian central bank
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, will step down in June 2014; close to securing last in a string of controversial banking reforms
US banks and regulators both failed on Basel II parallel runs, says Fed official
Failure to exit Basel II parallel runs represents a 'black eye' for US financial sector, says Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond unit head
US agencies clamp down on leveraged lending
Fed, FDIC and OCC issue updated standards for leveraged lenders amid concerns standards are again slipping and many institutions have ‘proven less than satisfactory’ in risk management practices
Depositors will trust EU guarantee despite Cyprus, says Banque de France official
Policy-makers have incentive to accelerate deposit guarantee plans, says Sylvie Matherat of the Banque de France
Icelandic finance minister backs euro switch
Katrín Júlíusdóttir says adopting euro could help to restrain inflation and boost investment; Central Bank of Iceland publishes annual report
Central Bank of Egypt hikes rates as reserves dwindle and inflation rises
Monetary Policy Committee agrees 50 basis point rise despite ‘feeble’ growth, as inflation shows highest rise since 2010 and reserves fall to critical levels
RBNZ looks to toughen payments oversight
Reserve Bank of New Zealand deems its oversight powers ‘insufficient’ in internal review; proposes new powers to boost authority over payments industry
Swiss National Bank faces referendum over gold sales
Politicians seek to prevent SNB from selling gold and force the central bank to hold 20% of assets in the precious metal via a public referendum
ECB threatens to cut off liquidity support to Cyprus
Governing council says no more emergency liquidity will be provided to Cypriot banks if a deal is not reached by Monday; negotiations continue and banks will remain closed into next week
Nominal GDP dismissed as viable policy target in Central Banking debate
Former Bank of England officials argue against adopting a nominal GDP target for monetary policy; economist Gabriel Stein brands it ‘absolute madness’
Sepa migration at risk due to poor preparedness, says ECB
First progress report expresses alarm at some companies planning to migrate very close to deadline; payments could be disrupted if deadline missed, but Benoît Cœuré says ‘there is no plan B’
Former BoE deputy backs dual mandate for UK central bank
Former Bank of England deputy governor says central bank remit changes in UK budget yesterday were ‘disappointing’; advocates switch to a dual mandate targeting growth and inflation
Basel III insufficient for ‘huge’ Swedish banking system, says Ingves
Sveriges Riksbank governor says Sweden must go ‘over and above’ capital and liquidity standards in Basel III; identifies household debt and bank market-funding as core weaknesses