News
Norges Bank's Olsen sees dangers in too much transparency
Governor Øystein Olsen tells Central Banking that giving too much detail to the public might generate more questions than useful insight; defends tradition of not publishing minutes
Bank of Portugal gets new powers to assess bank directors
Bankers’ current court cases and their personal business conduct are now also part of the Bank of Portugal's assessment of the banking system
Central Bank of Nigeria raises stakes with rate hike
Bank loosens grip on falling naira but governor ‘committed to stable exchange rate'; warns drop in oil price is permanent and depreciation could continue
BoJ minutes reveal fears of QE ‘side effects’
Minutes from meeting that saw central bank ramp up asset purchases reveal concerns among board members; Kuroda and Nakaso speak in defence of the policy
BoE officials defend use of labour market data in policy-making
Mark Carney and other top officials say labour market data quality is variable but always carefully examined; central bank may publish details of agents’ assessment of the economy
Malaysian banks working on a Swift rulebook for Islamic transactions
A Swift rulebook ‘will provide an efficient platform for the exchange of messages for Islamic finance transactions’, says governor of Bank Negara Malaysia
Riksbank study questions status of cash as legal tender
Researchers warn ‘lock-in effect' may inhibit market participants from exploiting more efficient payment methods
Bundesbank explores macro-prudential framework
Claudia Buch says the central bank is 'looking into' what needs to be done to provide a legal basis for macro-prudential policy; Bundesbank releases financial stability review
BoE picks Deloitte to review RTGS failure
Consultancy firm to conduct investigation into outage in real-time gross settlement system that saw system break down for several hours
New York Fed consultant slams bank's ‘intensely deferential' regulatory culture
David Beim, a Columbia professor who conducted confidential review into regulatory practices, says employees who speak out are ‘frequently hammered down' by supervisors
CGFS pushes central banks to prepare market-making crisis measures
BIS committee warns of ‘bifurcated’ liquidity and suggests central banks prepare crisis measures to support market-making, including the potential for direct intervention in critical markets
Thomas Jordan dismisses monetary reform proposals
Swiss National Bank head rejects multiple reforms, including a return to the gold standard, the introduction of plain money and the adoption of the euro
Nigerian central bank scrutinised over currency troubles
As the naira continues to weaken, analysts argue central bank blunders earlier this month have added fuel to the flames ignited by rising oil prices; MPC expected to hike rates tomorrow
Basel rate-risk project sets up scrap over deposit models
Attempts to set international capital rules for banking book interest rate exposures are hitting sensitive ground as banks warn lending will suffer if regulators cap deposit maturities
PBoC cut fails to impress but more action on the cards
Economists say first cut in two years likely to have weak effect at best, but PBoC may have to take stronger action going forward as economy worsens
Dudley endures grilling on Goldman tapes
New York Fed president questioned by senate committee, including whether the culture at the Fed itself is up to scratch; Dudley contests claim NY Fed failed in supervisory duties
Central Bank of Ecuador trials mobile payments
A group of 800 people are testing the platform as part of pilot program; Central Bank of Ecuador hopes to tackle financial inclusion with the new technology
Netherlands Bank moves 122.5 tonnes of gold from New York to Amsterdam
Central bank will now keep 31% of its gold reserves in own country; move was designed to create a more even distribution of its reserves across the globe
Policy discussion makes up between 5% and 70% of central bank minutes, study finds
Report by Central Bank of Ireland shows great variation in scope and characteristics of minutes, with word count ranging from 600 to 13,000
Top EU court should dismiss UK bonus cap plea, says advocate general
Opinion rejects UK’s main legal challenge to EU bonus cap law and argues use of word ‘cap’ is misleading; UK Treasury says opinion ‘demolishes’ case for fixed ratio
Draghi sets sights on capital markets at SSM inauguration
Mario Draghi says policy-makers can draw on new model for banking supervision when working to integrate capital markets; Danièle Nouy calls for consistent regulation across countries
Lagarde lauds new Mexican bonds with ‘strengthened' collective action clauses
Mexico issued $2 billion in 10-year bonds with new collective action clauses, which Lagarde says ‘will play a critical role in enhancing the architecture for sovereign debt markets’
New Zealand’s banknotes get first upgrade since 1999
Reserve Bank unveils a ‘brighter, more modern look’ for its banknotes, and a host of new security features; net cost will be NZ$40 million over five years
Kuroda wins over BoJ policy rebels
Three of four dissenters at the last policy meeting line up behind Bank of Japan’s expanded easing programme as inflation slips lower