News
Ukraine issues US dollar bonds aimed at retail investors
Ukraine government is issuing US dollar-denominated bonds targeted at domestic retail investors, despite previous warning by central bank director about Ukrainians taking on forex risk
Central Bank of Malaysia raids ‘Ponzi’ scheme companies
Four gold-trading companies raided by central bank amid charges they were running illegal gold-trading schemes described as ‘Ponzi’ operations, according to the Malaysian central bank
Fed’s Tarullo says Dodd-Frank requires ‘extensive elaboration’
Daniel Tarullo highlights challenges in producing details of Dodd-Frank Act regulations; suggests limits to mergers by large banks and says SEC should strengthen money market fund regulation
King says price stability insufficient for economic stability
The governor of the Bank of England discusses the relationship between price and financial stability; says inflation targeting should not be buried yet
Brazil second in world for non-cash payments
World Payments Report reveals Brazil is second only to the US for volume of non-cash payments; use of electronic and mobile payments shows ‘exponential growth’
Fed publishes final rules on stress testing
Stress-test scenarios for bank-holding companies and non-bank financial institutions to be set by Fed; questions raised regarding suitability of tests for determining remedial action
Ethiopia to overhaul payments system
The central bank of Ethiopia plans to introduce a new system to centralise payments and communication in the country within a year; $3.6 million contract awarded to Indian tech company
IMF says urgent action required in eurozone
Fund’s Global Financial Stability Report highlights progress with reforms in Europe but warns risks have increased since April; says eurozone policy-makers must act quickly to ensure stability
Egyptian reserves fall by more than 50% to $15bn
Political unrest in Egypt has resulted in the country seeing its foreign exchange reserves tumble by $21 billion. But the situation has stabilised during the past few months
Iosco calls for tighter regulation of money market funds
Recommendations aimed at reducing systemic risk posed by money market funds; report published despite opposition from the US Securities and Exchange Commission
ECB chief views speed of reform as critical for success
ECB chief Mario Draghi calls for the fast implementation of single supervisory mechanism despite many details remaining unclear; others say reform needs to be more ‘thought out’
IMF says fiscal consolidation still needed
The ability for many governments to eschew austerity in favour of fiscal spending to spur growth is limited; authorities will also struggle to ‘inflate’ their way out of debt, IMF report finds
Risks of a serious global slowdown ‘alarmingly high', says IMF
IMF lowers global growth forecast; says influence of highly accommodative policies by central banks may be diminishing and the probability of an ‘alarming’ scenario for growth stands at 17%
Eurozone firewall inaugurated as bailouts loom
First meeting of board of governors of the European Stability Mechanism held in Luxembourg with Jean-Claude Juncker describing new institution as a ‘permanent and effective firewall’
Riksbank tightens collateral requirements
Swedish central bank moves against trend in Europe by tightening collateral conditions for loans; will offer banks a transitional period to adjust
G-Sibs facing ‘a tall order’ in meeting 2016 data deadline, UK regulator warns
The FSA’s Gerald Sampson says large, complex banks may struggle to meet a 2016 deadline for risk data aggregation and reporting standards
Bermuda Monetary Authority expands regulation team
Bermuda Monetary Authority plans to expand headcount in banking and insurance regulatory departments
Most countries set to miss Basel III deadline
Progress report on Basel III implementation reveals no country has yet adopted final rules; Stefan Ingves says it is clear some jurisdictions will miss January 1 deadline
Norway’s SWF adds further $560m of property to portfolio
Government Pension Fund Global continues progress towards 5% of fund invested in real estate with purchase of 50% stake in UK’s Meadowhall shopping centre
Conundrum facing reserve managers set to continue, say Nalm speakers
Central bank reserve managers to face further challenges about where to allocate their resources as reserve levels look set grow
Iranian central bank struggles to support plummeting rial
‘Foreign exchange centre’ set up by Central Bank of Iran to regulate exchange rate as rial falls sharply in value; fears emerge that currency free-fall could cause hyperinflation
Hungarian government abandons central bank transaction tax
Hungary’s minister for the national economy says transaction tax will not be applied to central bank following pressure from European authorities and the IMF
New rate-setting communication deliberated by Fed
Minutes from the FOMC’s September meeting show consideration of a switch in the way interest rate decisions are disclosed as well as motivation behind QE3
Singapore moves to prevent property price bubble
MAS introduces restrictions on loan tenures and lowers loan-to-value ratios in a bid to stem risk of price bubble in property market