News
Fed wraps up asset purchase programme
US central bank brings era-defining policy to an end in unceremonious manner; Minneapolis Fed's Kocherlakota votes against decision
Ex-HKMA chief: China may punish Hong Kong for protests
Joseph Yam warns Hong Kong might be sidelined as a financial centre if protests continue, as Occupy Central movement enters its second month on the streets of Hong Kong
Argentinian MP tries to block new central bank governor
Leader of Argentinian opposition party files request to stop appointment of new central bank governor, saying he is ill-suited for the role and will be a ‘tool’ of the government
FSB warns of spillovers from new bank structures
Regulators in other jurisdictions fear potential knock-on impact from Liikanen, Vickers and Volcker reforms to bank structure
Norway SWF suffers weakest quarter in two years
Government Pension Fund Global returns 0.1% in third quarter following losses on European stocks; acquired several properties in EU and US
European Commission approves Portuguese institution designed to finance SMEs
New development bank to finance SMEs until 2020, at which point the Commission will assess how the market has evolved; will have starting capital of €100 million
Ingves mulls asset purchases as Riksbank cuts repo rate to zero
Asset purchases could be on the cards if historic cut fails to boost inflation, says governor; rates expected to stay at zero until mid-2016
Bank of England seeks global consensus on ‘fair and effective’ markets
Review aims to fix outstanding issues with market structure and conduct; Minouche Shafik says the central bank is working with others globally to build a consensus
Banque de France and HKMA ink renminbi deal
Central banks seek closer ties to help develop renminbi business in Hong Kong and Paris; Christian Noyer hails the two cities as ‘among the most important’ for offshore renminbi trade
Serbian central bank dismisses losses as ‘accounting measure’
National Bank of Serbia loses $462 million in 2013; attributes it to range of factors including falling gold prices and a new ‘corporate profit tax’ on non-profit organisations
People: Poland names new vice-president; Riksbank general council appoints new chair
Anna Trzecińska returns to National Bank of Poland as vice-president; Riksbank general council elects Susanne Eberstein as chairman; and more
Sarb launches investigation into forex traders
Central bank joins growing list of regulators concerned by potential for misconduct among foreign exchange market practitioners
Buba’s Dombret leads calls to focus on bank profitability
Andreas Dombret says German banks may be resilient, but they are not competitive; commentators at leading accountancies stress the need to focus on profitability
Monte dei Paschi’s shares plummet in wake of ECB results
Shares in Italy’s third-largest bank drop by 20% as the market reacts to stress-test results; MPS claims it was ‘penalised’ by methodology
Bank Indonesia sets out reform agenda for next 10 years
Improving control over inflation and support for financial system stability are the main goals of the ’transformation program’
ECB health check leaves 13 banks to raise €9.5 billion
Results of comprehensive assessment show 25 banks with capital shortfalls, but remedial actions taken throughout year leave just 13 banks short of targets
Stevens exerts pressure on Australian payments industry
RBA governor says the central bank would be ‘duty bound’ to use its regulatory powers to bring about change if the market does not do so of its own free will
BoE researchers flag potential flaws in CCP default funds
Paper asks whether ‘cover two’ standard for central counterparties is tough enough to prevent ‘disaster’; some distributions of risk give cause for concern
ECB will release bank health check results on Sunday
The European Central Bank will publish the asset quality review and stress test results for 130 eurozone banks this weekend. Here, Central Banking set outs what to look for.
China, India, among founders of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Twenty-one Asian countries establish a new institution to aid infrastructure development in the region, which will be fully operational by the end of 2015
Fed issues tougher and broader 2015 stress tests
Severely adverse scenario adds oil price shock and wider corporate bond spreads; list of stress-tested institutions grows
Bank of England spells out resolution plans
Central bank details its approach to resolving a failed financial institution, including the use of bail-in, restructuring and international cooperation with other regulators
Central Bank of Iraq updates 5,000 and 25,000 dinar banknotes
The central bank says the new banknotes will coexist with their predecessors; most notable change sees addition of transparent window on 25,000 note
Uruguay digitises cheque clearing in payments overhaul
Central bank announces that all cheques will be cleared electronically – part of a payment system reform that will see the promotion of mobile banking