News
Bank of Russia cuts key rate and moves to replenish foreign exchange reserves
Central bank continues easing cycle with 100bp cut, while stronger ruble gives room to replenish reserves
Governor wants freer thinking at 65-year-old Bank of Korea
Juyeol Lee hints at coming shake-up, calling for openness to ‘creative ideas’ as central bank prepares to set new inflation target
BIS researchers find evidence of macro-pru and monetary policy cancelling out
Study of macro-prudential policy in South-east Asia shows policies work best when used in same direction; paints complicated picture including ‘some evidence’ of spillovers
Philippines 5% leverage ratio causes few ripples
Central Bank of the Philippines brings in one of the highest basic leverage ratios globally, but local firms are unconcerned
Zimbabwe pulls local currency from circulation
Locals will be able to exchange their Zimbabwean dollars for US dollars until September 30; any amount up to Z$175 quadrillion in their bank accounts will be swapped for a flat $5
EBA recommends balance between filling resolution fund and procyclicality
European Commission could allow some variation in banks’ contributions to Single Resolution Fund to avoid procyclicality, but reaching the fund’s target level is ‘first priority’
ECCB sees sense in scrapping cents
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank insists ‘everyone will benefit from the withdrawal’ of one and two cent coins from July, as they are expensive to produce and carry very little purchasing power
Fed taper could hit African sovereign credits hard, World Bank warns
Cross-continent trade agreement could help provide bigger markets and greater efficiencies, but African economies face tough times ahead with borrowing costs set to rise
Draghi defends ECB participation in private events
ECB president tells EU ombudsman that Benoit Coeuré did not reveal market-sensitive information at event in London in May; attributes late publication of speech to ‘internal miscommunication’
Virus outbreak prompts Bank of Korea rate cut
Deadly Mers virus a key factor behind central bank’s decision to ease policy as economic recovery shows signs of faltering
Kiwi slides as RBNZ cuts OCR to boost demand
Reserve Bank of New Zealand cuts key rate to 3.25% and suggests further easing could follow; kiwi drops to lowest level against US dollar in almost five years in aftermath
Dutch paper says theory of forward guidance must catch up with practice
Economists from the Netherlands Bank argue so-called Odyssean communication ‘does not exist in practice’ as central banks want to avoid committing themselves to a particular set of actions
BoE launches push to create global forex code that ‘has teeth’
Fair and Effective Markets Review recommends effort to establish global code of conduct as part of implementing UK regulation of fixed income, currency and commodity markets
US ‘unwilling to compromise' on derivatives rules, China vice-minister of finance says
Differences in accounting practices remains an urgent issue, Zhu Guangyao argues in a new China report; contributors critical of dollar's ‘exorbitant privilege' as sole reserve currency
Iceland raises rates by 50bp and warns more will follow
Central bank says it will take ‘appropriate countervailing measures’ if the increase in government revenues from failed bank asset tax is used to stimulate the economy
BoJ’s Sato says QQE becoming harder to implement
Takehiro Sato warns easing programme risks undermining confidence in central bank policy by eroding fiscal discipline, making interest rates harder to control
China grapples with balance of financial reform and risk
The Chinese government is keen to encourage financial markets to catch up with manufacturing’s sophistication. But balancing liberalisation with stability and growth is proving complex
Chinese policy-makers offer olive branch on regional development
Jin Liqun and Zhu Guangyao say they will work with Bretton Woods institutions as the new infrastructure and development banks look to generate infrastructure investment in region
Iceland launches plan to lift capital controls
Failed banks' estates must agree settlement with creditors within six months or face heavy one-off tax; either way this should pave way for controls to be lifted next year
Minneapolis Fed begins hunt for next president
Narayana Kocherlakota will join the University of Rochester on January 1; search committee is hoping to appoint a ‘strategic thought leader’ to succeed him by the end of the year
Chan wants Canadian firms to access China through HK
HKMA chief executive says Canada should ‘leverage on’ Hong Kong’s unique access to mainland capital markets in Toronto pitch
Axel Weber slams ‘simplistic’ leverage ratio
Former Bundesbank president and now UBS chairman Weber says Basel III has not made the financial system better
Exchange launches asset-backed coins for asset managers
Asset managers will be able to trade physical assets directly with each other through new asset class dubbed ABCs, which will be tradeable on newly launched exchange Abacas
Turkish central bank acts as election prompts lira slump
Markets taken aback as president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s party falls short of majority; central bank measures fail to stop lira sliding to record low