News
Bank of Israel aims to boost construction credit with new regulation
Banking supervision department proposes reclassifying credit risk in wake of financial institution’s efforts to insure against it; suggests it would free up $2.6bn of finance
MAS adds cloud computing to guidelines on outsourcing risk management
Cloud services officially acknowledged in latest outsourcing guidelines as more financial institutions adopt the practice; despite improved security, banks should still be aware of the risks
Sri Lanka invites bids to mint 970 million coins
Central bank calling for four denominations of coin to be minted by end-March 2019; looking for mints with experience of supplying foreign countries with circulation coins
Turkish governor says monetary policy will be simplified at ‘reasonable’ time
Turkish governor emphasises need to address “structural” causes of inflation and says effects of recent coup attempt should prove “short-lived"
UK MPs urge separation of Financial Conduct Authority functions
Parliamentary committee suggests enforcement is separated from the FCA in a report on HBOS failure; the authority says this would inhibit its ability to act as a regulator
Irish central bankers take first look at effectiveness of macroprudential housing policies
Ireland’s central bank publishes examination of its first full year of operating macroprudential measures affecting the housing market; compares data on borrowers subject and free from limits
IMF changes method for calculating SDR currency amounts
IMF will switch to new SDR basket in October, including renminbi for the first time; calculation will use new rounding methodology aimed at minimising deviation from weightings
Nepal to introduce interest corridor in August
There will be an initial large ‘wedge’ between rates when first introduced, official says; policy rate and floor of corridors set in relation to interbank average
EBA lays out policy options to deal with NPLs
The European Banking Authority issues report on non-performing loans, calling for consideration of ‘bad banks’ and formations of databases on collateral assets such as real estate
Ratings agency fined €1.38 million by Esma for regulatory breaches
The European Securities and Markets Authority fines Fitch for improper discussions of information and mishandling timing of Slovenia’s sovereign downgrade
331,000 counterfeit notes withdrawn in H1 2016 – ECB
Figures show 80% of all the counterfeits were €20 and €50 notes; number of total counterfeits withdrawn in first half of 2016 lower year on year
Do not let resilience foster complacency, Carney tells G20
In his capacity as FSB chair Mark Carney acknowledges financial system resilience in the face of stress, but emphasises need to finish implementing post-crisis reforms
Menon pledges tougher measures on AML controls in Singapore
Ravi Menon says central bank will conduct more intrusive probes of higher-risk institutions and take stronger actions where practices fall short; monetary policy likely on hold for 2016
Irish central bank announces new protections for mortgage borrowers
Variable-rate housing loan borrowers must be informed of cheaper alternative mortgages and have rate rises explained to them by lenders
Turkish central bank to meet with investors under new comms practices
Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey announces string of new communication practices that will see it meet with wider range of stakeholders
EBA publishes final draft of IRB assessment methodology
The EBA publishes the final draft standards by which European regulators will assess banks’ compliance with the rules on using internal models to judge capital adequacy
Bank of Russia centre records over 20 ‘major’ attacks on payment systems
Attackers attempted to steal 2.87 billion rubles from Russian bank payment systems, cyber-security report reveals; central bank seeks to amend legislation to allow the suspension of suspicious transactions
BoE prize-winning research favours CCB over leaning against the wind
Authors from Lancaster University find credit spread-augmented Taylor rule damages welfare, while a recent BIS paper takes a different analytical approach
Draghi raises possibility of ‘public backstop’ for NPLs
Eurozone recovery is continuing with credit conditions and volumes increasing because of quantitative easing, Draghi says; backstop would be “very useful”, but require Commission support
Sarb hiking cycle is paused, not stopped, governor stresses
South African Reserve bank delays further tightening in wake of more favourable inflation outlook; governor insists it is a ‘pause’ and should expectations change the MPC would act appropriately
MasterCard strikes deal to acquire UK’s VocaLink
Agreement to gain controlling stake in retail payments firm will end ownership by major UK banks; regulator to discuss developments
Mongolia governor replaced two years before end of term
Bayartsaikhan Nadmid, chairman of the supervisory board of the National Agricultural Co-operative Federation, takes over leadership; departing governor had two years left to serve
RBNZ signals action ‘likely’ amid New Zealand dollar strength
Stronger than anticipated NZ dollar threatens ability to hit inflation target, RBNZ says; announcement triggers drop in currency
MAS announces ‘firm regulatory actions’ against multiple banks
Monetary Authority of Singapore finds “control failings” at DBS, Standard Chartered and UBS as part of probe into 1MDB funds; US Department of Justice seeking to recover $1bn in assets