News
€100 billion of caja loans could go bad: Bank of Spain
Bank of Spain releases details of savings banks’ exposures to real estate sector, levels of provisions; says reforms have addressed slew of underlying problems
Budapest wrests control to name external rate-setters
Hungarian lawmakers pass amendment to central bank law giving parliamentary committee right to appoint all four of external rate-setters on seven-strong Monetary Council
ECB calls for return to stricter growth and stability pact
European Central Bank calls for reversion of Stability and Growth Pact 2005 amendments, which relaxed compliance conditions; says sanctions on member states should be applied more stringently
Geithner slams UK for light-touch regulation
US Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner says UK’s light-touch approach to regulation was a deeply costly strategy; says creating level playing field for banks will be crucial
Wellink throws hat into ring as ECB race continues
Netherlands Bank president Nout Wellink signals interest in top European Central Bank role; stresses anti-inflation stance, opposition to E-bonds
G20 leaders pinpoint indicators for global imbalance guidelines
G20 central bankers, finance minister set out indicators to be used in assessing imbalances
FSB outlines progress on national resolution regimes
Financial Stability Board says work on building framework for national resolution regimes well under way; loss absorbency measures for global sifis on schedule
Bahraini bankers criticised central bank in lead-up to crisis: WikiLeak
WikiLeak alleges some economists and bankers dissatisfied with Central Bank of Bahrain's slow reaction to real-estate sector problems
Bundesbank slams idea of using ESM to buy government debt
Bundesbank says using enlarged European Stability Mechanism to buy government bonds of troubled countries will place more burden on taxpayers
A compromise candidate for the ECB?
Commentators divided on the viability of a compromise candidate for the European Central Bank presidency
Basel alone will not protect us: UK Treasury Committee’s Tyrie
UK Treasury Select Committee chair Andrew Tyrie says fundamental changes to the way banks are supervised a must; tripartite system left no one in charge
Beijing downplays hot money flows
China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange says hot money flows are “ant-like” relative to size of economy; analysts say results downplay risks of emerging markets overheating
Zhou and Carstens new co-heads of IIF crisis prevention group
People’s Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan and Bank of Mexico governor Agustín Carstens to co-head Group of Trustees at Institute of International Finance working group
Central banks should consider price-level targeting: CentralBanking.com poll
Fifty-three percent of voters in CentralBanking.com poll think central banks should mull switch to price-level targeting framework
UK Treasury fleshes out new regulatory set-up
UK Treasury details powers of the new macroprudential body; rebrands Consumer Protection and Markets Authority to reflect underlying purpose
ECB overnight lending rockets to 19-month high
Banks’ borrowing from the European Central Bank’s marginal lending facility climbs to $21 billion on Wednesday; sudden move has sparked speculation on bank troubles, analysts say
RBA spends $18,000 on governor’s table; refurb could cost up to $68m
Reserve Bank of Australia says refurbishment could set it back A$68 million; big-ticket items include A$18,000 desk for governor Glenn Stevens
Fed’s Kohn appointed to Bank’s FPC
UK government names four external members to interim Financial Policy Committee; former Fed vice-chair Donald Kohn among three ex-central bankers appointed to macroprudential body
Inflation may hit 5%, but we couldn’t have done it different: King
Bank of England’s Inflation Report says inflation will likely soar further; medium term outlook shifts slightly as spare capacity margin revised downwards
Merkel names Weber’s successor
German chancellor Angela Merkel nominates economic adviser Jens Weidmann to replace Axel Weber as president of Bundesbank; picks BaFin director Sabine Lautenschläger-Peiter as new vice-president
High US unemployment suggests greater search frictions: Nobel Prizewinner Pissarides
London School of Economics professor says fact that rising vacancies have failed to temper unemployment signifies “something wrong” in labour market
PBoC to lend to drought-wracked agricultural sector
People’s Bank of China says it will lend for agricultural purchases and drought relief to stymie effects of continuing drought
Brazil’s Tombini nominates two deputy governors
Central Bank of Brazil president Alexandre Tombini names two department heads to sit on rate-setting committee
Draghi strikes familiar chord on eurozone’s future
Bank of Italy governor Mario Draghi stresses importance of fiscal discipline, says monetary union is sound