News
Guatemalan central bank president backed by colleagues after arrest
Julio Suarez is arrested in his capacity as a director at the Guatemalan Social Security Institute as string of public officials hit with allegations of fraud
BIS committees highlight broad monetary effects of regulation
Committees offer suggestions for mitigating the impact of new regulations on the conduct of monetary policy, but say the effects will largely be ‘limited and manageable’
UBS escapes DoJ prosecution and fine
But it pays a further £342 million to the Fed over FX conduct issues
Historic BoE minutes shed light on troublesome money supply targets
Court minutes from the era of money supply targeting highlight the central bank’s struggle to control inflation amid unclear indicators and an occasionally fractious relationship with government
Rajan suggests IMF as watchdog for unconventional policy
RBI governor says central banks should not discard international responsibilities in favour of domestic mandates; says IMF could police unconventional monetary policy
China may have financial reforms backwards, economists argue
Interest rate liberalisation should take precedence over capital account opening, observers say at roundtable discussion in Hong Kong ahead of IFF China report release
Deutsche Börse to set up Europe's first multi-asset RMB platform
German exchange group signs joint venture deal with CFFEX and Shanghai Stock Exchange to bring trading venue to Frankfurt
Eurozone moving towards ‘single market for collateral’, say central bankers
Panellists from Belgian, French and Dutch central banks discuss moves towards harmonised collateral markets in Europe at conference in Brussels
Euro tumbles as ECB accelerates asset purchases
Euro slides against the dollar as market reacts to ECB’s plan to ‘moderately front-load’ its asset purchases; Cœuré concerned by ‘rapidity’ of price reversal in sovereign bonds
ECB’s Cœuré says higher inflation target not solution to zero lower bound
Benoît Cœuré says raising the inflation target or abolishing the currency is not the right way to make monetary policy more effective; structural reforms a better use of political capital
BoE asks public to nominate artist for next £20 note
Mark Carney says next individual on £20 note will be a visual artist, and asks members of the public to nominate people from the field; committee will then draw up a shortlist
Minneapolis Fed essay suggests new focus for FOMC comms
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl argues the FOMC should talk more about what it is trying to accomplish with its monetary policy; Minneapolis Fed staff rewrite January statement to illustrate point
Repo market coping with liquidity regulations for now, panellists say
Participants at Euroclear’s Collateral Conference say repo markets have delivered new efficiency gains to keep collateral supply up, but the outlook over the coming year looks less certain
Zeti deems shadow loan regulation ‘highly effective'
Bank Negara Malaysia governor says macro-prudential regulation of non-banks has stabilised the overheated property market, but IMF warns of risks lurking in the shadows
Evans: Fed must keep rates low to protect target symmetry
Chicago Fed president sees no serious costs with ‘modestly overshooting’ 2%, but is concerned about potential damage to inflation expectations of tightening too soon
ECB’s Mersch warns against blindly pinning hopes on macro-prudential policy
Yves Mersch says there is much to learn about how tools work; sees potential for ‘conflicts of competence’ between micro- and macro-prudential authorities
Esma official slams CFTC margin rules
US rules driven by competitive rather than prudential concerns, Fabrizio Planta charges
In search of a better measure of inflation
Hedonic adjustments offer a way of tackling bias in the CPI, albeit at a cost, but new research suggests even these may be misrepresenting inflation – with broad implications for the economy
BoE outlines capital markets union proposals
Central bank sets out policy recommendations designed to deliver better functioning capital markets in Europe; argues institutional change, such as greater centralisation, is not necessary
IMF urges Irish authorities to ‘enhance’ central bank independence
Report warns legal framework could ‘potentially introduce political considerations’ into governance arrangements; finds uncompetitive pay may be hurting ability to hire and retain supervisors
Bank of Canada plans changes to operating framework
Changes would see Canadian central bank cut back on purchase of government bonds through primary market, while intervening less frequently in overnight market
Mario Draghi sees large toolkit as ‘standard’ in 2020
ECB president tells Olivier Blanchard the central bank will retain a broad set of monetary instruments in five years’ time; insists QE will not be tapered early
Kazakhstan proposes sweeping changes to monetary policy framework
Central bank plans root-and-branch reform of its monetary policy with move to inflation targeting to be accompanied by revamped governance, communications, economic modelling and more
Blanchard to step down as IMF chief economist
Olivier Blanchard will leave in September and join Peterson Institute as senior fellow; Lagarde praises him for ‘spurring a fundamental rethinking of macroeconomic policy’