News
ECCB sued by Stanford investors
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank faces class-action from investors who allege the value of Bank of Antigua, seized by the central bank last year, is rightfully theirs
Europe works to cut banks’ reporting burden
The European Central Bank and Committee of European Banking Supervisors publish a system that will eliminate double reporting and improve quality of data
Switzerland delays new banknote series
Swiss National Bank says move made on back of security concerns
Libya opens doors to foreign banks
Libyan central bank welcomes overseas institutions interested in setting up a subsidiary, says ongoing reforms and strong economic performance offer great prospects for banks
Argument for QE hold “finely balanced”: Bank
Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee all backed decision to pause on QE, but for some vote a close call
Iceland can afford to repay UK and Holland: MPC member
Icelandic rate-setter says country neither too small nor weak to make Icesave repayments, but criticises “ungenerous” deal given by British and Dutch governments
Bank plays down inflation threat
Above-target inflation likely to soon abate, Bank of England’s governor says in letter to chancellor of the exchequer
Constâncio made new ECB vice president
Bank of Portugal’s governor to succeed Papademos, former research head seen as possible replacement
New rate-setters named in Poland
Poland’s president names three new members to the monetary policy council, newcomer says country has scant hope of meeting Maastricht criteria for euro adoption
US real-estate concern goes global
Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Guy Debelle says US commercial real estate woes may impose further crippling losses on banks
Governors back greater role for monetary aggregates
Christian Noyer, Glenn Stevens and Duvurri Subbarao say more attention must be paid on monetary aggregates
“We failed the system”: Carney at RBI panel
Governors including Canada’s Mark Carney and India’s Duvvuri Subbarao point to imbalances as root cause of the crisis, but skirt around concerns over the dollar
Germans in favour of kicking Greece out: poll
Survey in leading newspaper shows 53% of Germans think Greece should be kicked out of the eurozone if its debt troubles cannot be resolved, 67% want no part in a bail-out
ECB beefs up financial stability wing
European Central Bank readies itself for the establishment of European Systemic Risk Board; appoints director general
FSA’s Turner queries faith in deep and liquid markets
Britain’s top regulator calls for a conservative approach to liquidity, arguing that excessive financial activity is liable to do more damage than good
Mooted Fed policy shift presents dangers
Changing its operating target to the interest on reserves tool could be the best available fix for the Federal Reserve as it implements its exit strategy. But it is a process that poses risks
RBIs Subbarao pillories inflation targeting
India’s governor says crisis has “diluted if not dissolved” inflation-targeting consensus; says fiscal dominance likely to remain
Inflation targets must be raised: IMF’s Blanchard
IMF economists Olivier Blanchard, Giovanni Dell’Ariccia and Paulo Mauro call for central banks to revise their price growth targets if they want to avoid crippling deflation
British regulator asks for 10% more funds
Financial Services Authority puts bulk of responsibility to pay up on the bigger banks
China surprises with second reserve requirement hike
People’s Bank of China ups its reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points to drain excess liquidity from system
China’s SWF to take control of its portfolios
China Investment Corporation will increase the proportion of investments that are managed in house, says its chairman Lou Jiwei
HKMA in fresh drive to spur yuan trade
Hong Kong Monetary Authority measures promote renminbi bond issuance and settlement
British PM heralds global bank levy
British prime minister Gordon Brown flags growing consensus among leaders on a global bank tax following Obama proposals
India’s Gokarn rules out March hikes
Reserve Bank of India’s Subir Gokarn emphasises that, barring extraordinary circumstances, the central bank will not raise rates before April; central bank cracks down on PayPal