News
Attack on Central Bank of Libya condemned by UN
United Nations criticises ‘armed attack’ of a central bank branch; institution is caught in the middle of a power struggle between two rival ‘governments’
Former Sri Lankan governor's passport seized by anti-bribery commission
Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who stepped down on January 9, is ‘prevented from leaving the country' as government cracks down on ‘corruption' under former administration
Basel Committee signals shift towards Basel III implementation
With Basel III standards largely finalised, the Basel Committee’s 2015-16 work programme indicates focus on implementation and efforts to shore up confidence in capital ratios
Carney says eurozone QE 'absolutely necessary'
Bank of England governor says it will ‘create some of the necessary conditions’ for returning prosperity to the eurozone; discusses distributional consequences of monetary policy
ECB launches quantitative easing
Mario Draghi unveils additional asset purchase programme that will see the ECB buy sovereign and agency debt; a ‘large majority’ of governing council backed decision
Venezuela to adopt new currency exchange system
Venezuela’s president announces changes to the country’s three-tiered currency exchange system, adapting the higher rate to market fluctuations
Danish central bank cuts rates for second time this week
National Bank of Denmark lowers deposit rate for second time in four days following ECB action; central bank will defend euro peg ‘vehemently', says analyst
Swiss gain greater access to renminbi markets in new deal
SNB and PBoC ink deal on RQFII quota for Switzerland and establish renminbi clearing in the country; latest in a string of agreements aimed at renminbi internationalisation
Lagarde: Divergent monetary policy could be a good thing
It could be 'helpful' for the global economy if the ECB eases more as the Fed starts tightening, Lagarde tells an audience in Davos; Summers warns eurozone QE not 'sufficient'
EBA chairman says supervisors should break up unresolvable banks
Supervisory entities ‘should have the guts’ to break up an unresolvable bank, European Banking Authority chairman Andrea Enria tells Davos audience
Canada cuts rate for ‘insurance’ against oil price drop
Stephen Poloz says the fall in oil prices in ‘unambiguously negative’ for the Canadian economy as central bank unveils first rate change in over four years
Offshore renminbi clearing banks could face competition from 'superhighway'
As host countries play up significance of new clearing banks, questions emerge over whether they will become obsolete once Chinese ‘payments superhighway' comes into being
Great expectations: ECB set for QE showdown
Markets expect the ECB to announce a programme for buying €500 billion of sovereign bonds tomorrow, but the central bank retains the capacity to surprise
PBoC governor questions western central banks' ability to boost inflation
Speaking in Davos, Zhou Xiaochuan says 'monetary policy is not a panacea to reach targets', while Kenneth Rogoff says ECB QE will not be 'big enough'
Summers takes Germany to task over attitude towards debt
Speaking in London, former US treasury secretary says there is need to move beyond 'Calvinist idea' that debt is bad; questions impact of QE, macro-prudential policies
Eurozone banks report further easing in credit standards
The net percentage of banks reporting easier credit standards continues to grow; ECB survey finds banks’ participation in TLTROs is mostly driven by profitability
King says further easing unlikely to work
Former Bank of England governor warns monetary policy is reaching the limit of its ability to stimulate, with the global economy trapped in ‘quite serious disequilibria’
Central Bank of Argentina uses PBoC swap agreement for external financing
With Argentina suffering a default in July and without access to markets, its central bank is drawing on a swap agreement with the PBoC to bolster its reserves
IMF: Central banks ‘must' ease if inflation expectations drop
Easing should be conducted through ‘other means' than interest rates if they are at ZLB, Fund argues in WEO update, which downgrades global growth forecast for 2015 to 3.5%
Basel III helps Russian banks handle economic turmoil, says Yudaeva
Russia’s adoption of international banking rules has given its banks partial protection from a plunging currency and soaring interest rates
National Bank of Denmark heads deeper into negative territory
Unscheduled cut pushes deposit rate further below zero and leaves lending rate barely in the positive as krone comes under pressure ahead of expected ECB action
Fed sets up permanent community advisory council
First advisory council since the 1980s set up as Federal Reserve fights claims that its policies are benefiting wealthy investors at the expense of middle-income households
Leaning against the wind may boost shadow banking: BoE researchers
Contractionary monetary policy may encourage growth of shadow banking even as it restricts commercial banks, casting doubt on the ability of central banks to ‘lean against the wind’
Cambodia’s central bank defends depiction of Buddha on banknotes
National Bank of Cambodia released a new 100 riel banknote last week, depicting Buddha, which local media reports suggest has come in for criticism from some stakeholders