News
Sri Lanka boosts gold holdings with IMF purchase
Central Bank of Sri Lanka buys 10 tonnes of gold from IMF, gold climbs higher
Brazil's new director stands for independence
New head of monetary policy at the Central Bank of Brazil favours floating rates
Vietnam devalues dong and raises rates
Vietnam devalues currency and tightens policy after government stimulus feeds inflationary pressures
KL passes new Bank Negara act
Legislation replaces act that’s more than half a century old
Fed toughens rules on directors' links with banks
Federal Reserve amends policy on regional directors’ holdings in banks following Friedman resignation
New RBI deputy appointed
Subir Gokarn begins term at the Reserve Bank of India where he will run the monetary policy, analysis, communications and statistics functions
Bank bailed out two British lenders in secret
Bank of England says it provided lender-of-last-resort support to Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank of Scotland in October 2008; reveals extent to which two lenders teetered
Architects of euro point to “unfinished business”
The men behind the euro gathered in the French capital last week to mark the currency’s first decade. Robert Pringle, the chairman of Central Banking Publications, reports.
Bank pushes for corporate-debt expansion
Senior Bank of England officials want greater role for debt markets to enable smaller companies to bypass banks for funds
Kenya cuts by 75 basis points
Central Bank of Kenya chops three-quarters of a point off benchmark rate
Trade groups join forces to boost SEPA mobile payments
Mobey Forum and European Payments Council to cooperate in bid to increase use of mobile payments
DSK: to counter carry trade EMEs must act
Managing director of the International Monetary Fund places onus on emerging economies; advocates capital controls as part of toolkit to counteract dollar carry trade
Bank paper outlines macroprudential tools
Bank of England discusses possible forms of countercyclical capital buffers; highlights potential problems
Israel makes surprise hike on inflation fears
Bank of Israel’s Fischer raises key rate to 1% from next month; cites a jump in inflation expectations even with rate hikes factored in
Hungary shaves by 50 bps as expected; widens rate corridor
National Bank of Hungary cuts key rate to 6.5% as indicated; widens rate corridor citing better market conditions
Richmond Fed details presidential promotions
Regional Federal Reserve makes four promotions to vice presidential level or above
RBA subsidiary chief ousted in graft probe
Managing director of polymer manufacturer Securency stands down as investigation reveals whistleblowers’ bribe claims ignored; offices and homes raided
Norway enables account holders to switch bank in seconds
Finance ministry ruling paves the way for technology that will make Norway the first country to allow customers to change accounts with ease
House committee backs Fed audit bill
House Financial Services Committee backs Ron Paul’s call for greater powers to audit the Federal Reserve; Barney Frank attempts block
ECB’s Bini Smaghi urges emerging Asia to hike rates
European Central Bank executive board member calls on region to recognise that it should be the first to tighten policy
Turkey trims by quarter point
Central bank sticks to October hints by reducing size of cuts; OECD and government data show growth will pick up but unemployment still high
IMF names new secretary, director of internal audit
International Monetary Fund’s Strauss-Kahn nominates Siddharth Tiwari for director of the secretary’s department of the Fund and Russell Kincaid for director of the office of internal audit
OECD hikes growth forecasts
Paris-based organisation raises its growth forecasts for next year and publishes 2011 expectations, citing the momentum of the recovery in non-members such as China
Opposition leader slams RBNZ’s inflation-targeting focus
New Zealand’s main opposition leader says his party will withdraw support for the central bank’s inflation targeting framework