News
RBI could appoint COO in structural rethink
Board of directors approves the ‘broad contours’ of reform plans that could see the Reserve Bank of India name a chief operating officer
IMF hosts Middle East forum on Basel III compliance
Middle Eastern countries work together to ensure adequacy of local lenders' capital and liquidity; new report credits region's ‘strict capital quality rules'
Guðmundsson secures second term as Iceland governor
Incumbent Már Guðmundsson fends off competition from Friðrik Már Baldursson and Ragnar Árnason to take the top job at Central Bank of Iceland, despite reported run-in with Icelandic prime minister
Avinash Persaud calls on regulators to address ‘system-wide' risk mismatches; slams Solvency II
Forcing long-term institutions under Solvency II to behave like short-term ones will be the biggest contributor to systemic risk since Basel II, says Avinash Persaud in Central Banking journal
Chile cuts interest rates to lowest level since February 2011
Central bank may resort to additional cuts in the months ahead as growth disappoints; Number of Latam economies have performed below expectations so far this year
End of Bretton Woods has helped dollar reserves, says ECB paper
The collapse of the Bretton Woods System has resulted in significant upheaval of currency reserve trends, says an ECB working paper co-authored by Barry Eichengreen
Germany finds Emir enforcement fix for OTC derivatives
Derivatives users in Germany face Emir compliance audit - but enforcement in other EU countries may be impossible, lawyers say
Central banks need significant discretion to make swap lines work, says ECB
The pricing, size and maturity of standing currency swap lines when activated need to be left to central bank discretion, ECB says in latest Monthly Bulletin; language is 'intentionally unspecific’
Bank of Mexico trims growth forecast for 2014
‘Sharp slowdown' early in the year suggests little inflation over ‘horizon in which monetary policy has effect'; structural reforms hailed as ‘indispensable step in right direction'
Bulgaria tells Brussels it can't guarantee failed bank deposits
Enforcing bank contributions to a deposit guarantee fund would destabilise the country's banking sector, Bulgarian governor and finance minister tell European Commission
Bank of Korea cuts interest rate to lowest level since 2010
Decision prompted by ‘much worse' business sentiment than expected, governor says; analysts expect limited boost to GDP as economic slowdown is ‘structural in nature'
MAS seeks oversight of credit bureaus
Monetary Authority of Singapore wants to supervise credit reference agencies to ensure sensitive data is held in a robust manner and let consumers access their information for free
Stagnant wages amid falling unemployment creates headache for BoE
Bank of England halves wage growth forecast for 2014 as unemployment seen falling below 6%; Mark Carney notes ‘wide range of views' on MPC about degree of slack
Widening fix window won't solve forex benchmark issues, industry tells FSB
Broad support for reforms proposed by Debelle- and Fisher-led working group, but industry also makes a variety of alternative proposals
Hungarian ruling party condemns ECB ‘pressure' on behalf of foreign banks
ECB concerned that new rules requiring banks to compensate Hungarian borrowers over foreign exchange loans could hit parent banks and threaten European financial stability
Rajan urges ‘direct cash transfers' to poor people
RBI governor says transfer system would give the poor ‘choice and respect' and break the links between poor public service, patronage and corruption
Lithuania takes delivery of first euro coins
1,740 tonnes of coins must be minted ahead of currency switchover on January 1; delivery is supervised by police under special agreement signed in May
National Bank of Ukraine warns of FX trade restrictions
Ukraine's central bank has been forced to intervene to smooth currency volatility, and warns ‘administrative measures' may follow; rules on reserves have been relaxed, however
Malta denies granting refuge to Libyan governor
Central Bank of Libya confirmed Saddek Elkaber has sought sanctuary in Malta ‘for months', Libyan news site reports; minister claims governor ‘runs the bank' from island
Ghana requests IMF bailout to bridge fiscal deficit
IMF deputy director will send a team to Accra early next month to initiate discussions; Ghanaian cedi is world's worst performer so far this year
Norway governor sees greater role for central bank in new 'Nibor' framework
Øystein Olsen sees greater powers for Norges Bank over the interbank rate framework, which has 'obvious weaknesses' and should be overhauled 'as soon as possible'
Angola SWF joins London-based international forum
Angolan sovereign wealth fund joins London-based International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds; Kazakh fund granted associate membership
Emerging market governors favour Fed policy normalisation, says MAS’ Menon
MAS head Ravi Menon says most emerging market central banks want to see the Fed normalise policy, China is at an inflection point and Singapore could lose out from new OTC derivatives rules
Fed survey says 40% of US households still struggling to make ends meet
A third of respondents said they were ‘somewhat or much worse off' than before the financial crisis, while a fifth are spending more than they earn