News
Nigeria rolls out ‘cash-less’ Lagos project
Central Bank of Nigeria issues clarifications as cash-less society is introduced in Lagos; reassures public that cash transactions have not been eliminated altogether
Obama nominates two new members to Fed board
Former undersecretary of the Treasury Jerome Powell and Harvard economist Jeremy Stein put forward to fill vacant seats on Federal Reserve Board of Governors; need Senate backing
CentralBanking.com review of 2011
Round-up of 10 of the leading news stories in 2011
ESRB urges swift implementation of emergency measures
European Systemic Risk Board sends strong message to European heads of state to fulfil terms of eurozone agreements; new appointments to board’s Advisory Scientific Committee
RBNZ vows to aid transition to new retail payments system
Reserve Bank of New Zealand to reduce cost of overnight borrowing for three months as banks shift to new settlement before interchange system
Malaysia launches new banknote series
Bank Negara Malaysia reveals designs and security features of five denominations in new currency series
Riksbank appoints new head of general secretariat
Former head of Riksbank’s monetary policy department Anders Vredin replaces Kai Barvèll as head of general secretariat
ECB receives strong demand for three-year liquidity
European Central Bank extends €489 billion in loans to banks in its first three-year liquidity operation. But analysts believe the measures will do little to ease funding pressures in the eurozone
Barroso urges Hungary to drop controversial bill
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso challenges Budapest over proposed amendments to National Bank of Hungary law; central bank raises rates by 50 basis points
Sepa migration deadline pencilled in for 2014
European Union says migration end-dates for credit transfers and direct debit to Single Euro Payments Area will be February 2014
Bank of Italy selects Rossi to join governing board
Bank of Italy names secretary-general Salvatore Rossi as deputy director-general, filling seat left open by governor Ignazio Visco on central bank board
Basel statement on risk transfer could halt legitimate trades, bankers warn
Basel Committee’s focus on cost of credit protection in attempt to stamp out capital arbitrage could also hurt sound trade trades, investment banks claim
Banking structure reform gets go ahead from British government
UK government lays down plans to incorporate Independent Commission on Banking recommendations into law; process to begin next year
Sweden lowers benchmark rate for first time in two years
Riksbank announces a drop of 25 percentage points to the repo rate; first time the rate has been reduced since 2009
South Africa announces new deputy governor
Francois Groepe selected by president Zuma to be the new deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank
Lagarde applauds Nigerian sovereign wealth fund creation
Christine Lagarde makes first visit to Africa since becoming managing director of the IMF; hails creation of Nigerian sovereign wealth fund as an “important advancement”
Sri Lanka appoints four new assistant governors
Monetary board selects assistant governors for key departments; aims to ease succession challenges
ECB says financial stability in Europe faced ‘strong headwinds’ in 2011
European Central Bank releases Financial Stability Report; says weakening macroeconomic growth prospects and “unprecedented” loss of confidence to blame for rise of key risks in the region
Basel releases consultative document on capital disclosure
Proposal could see banks complying with new disclosure requirements from the date of publication of their first set of financial statements relating to a balance sheet date on or after January 1, 2013
South Korean won slips following Kim Jong-il’s death
Death of North Korean leader causes South Korean won to hit two-month low against dollar and sterling; world waits to see how youngest son will handle succession
UN and US lift sanctions on Libyan central bank
UN Security Council and US government announce removal of sanctions on Central Bank of Libya's assets
Bank of Canada appoints new special adviser for Carney
Evan Siddall to become senior representative for financial markets at the Toronto regional office; will also sit on Monetary Policy Review and Financial System Review committees
Renminbi to be reserve currency in less than five years: CB.com poll
A poll of CentralBanking.com readers finds most believe the Chinese currency will account for more than 5% of global reserves in less than five years
Czech Republic holds off euro entry
Czech Republic will not join single currency until at least 2015 after central bank and finance ministry urge government not to enter Exchange Rate Mechanism II next year