News
Ingves: Riksbank prepared to launch currency interventions
Swedish governor says central bank prepared to take unconventional measures, including negative interest rates and asset purchases, in light of falling oil prices
Czech National Bank advises against joining ERM II in 2015
Central bank says the government should not set a target date for entry into the eurozone; raises concern over pace of economic convergence and costs of joining
Ruble plummets despite 650bp hike by Bank of Russia
Second interest rate increase in four days does little to stem currency's precipitous decline; analyst calls central bank's apparent reluctance to intervene in forex markets a ‘game changer'
First BoE stress test uncovers capital shortfall
One UK bank failed the Bank of England's stress test scenario and two more have had to raise additional capital; Carney says future tests may be less forgiving
FCA director says breakdown in controls led to communications blunder
Clive Adamson says FCA has taken steps to improve internal procedures; tells MPs the organisation can struggle to operate in a crisis
Signs of reflation in Japan as Abe sweeps back to power
Tankan survey shows degree of optimism among businesses and potential for rising wages in coming months, although evidence is mixed; Shinzo Abe reclaims supermajority in election
Fischer questions FSB's democratic credentials
Fed vice-chair says Basel body not democratic ‘in a certain sense' but still a ‘great success'; argues it was set up specifically to circumvent IMF bureaucracy
UK payments regulator may use powers to force innovation
Payment Systems Regulator emphasises its "strong" powers over industry and says it will not hesitate to use them if firms fail to collaborate on innovation
RBNZ takes next step towards replacing settlement systems
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is seeking registrations of interest from potential vendors to replace its current payment and settlement systems, NZClear and Esas
IMF: Uganda cut policy meetings to improve forecasts
Bank of Uganda now sets policy once every two months in an effort to base decisions on "firmer" data; the ECB will hold eight meetings in 2015 with the BoE set to follow suit in 2016
Kocherlakota announces Fed departure
Minneapolis Fed president and FOMC dove to step down when his term draws to a close in February 2016
Fijian authorities tackle religious worker fraud
Financial Intelligence Unit urges religious organisations to conduct financial transactions under own name to prevent overseas remittances from ending up in the wrong hands
Argentina’s central bank denies being an ‘alter ego’ of the government
Central Bank of Argentina lawyers look to dismiss a complaint from the holdout funds in New York, rejecting the notion the institution is an ‘alter ego’ of the Argentine government
Poloz warns regulation could stifle credit to SMEs
Bank of Canada governor says new financial regulation likely to reduce the availability of credit to small companies by discouraging financial innovation
Women still hold less than 10% of top jobs
Central banks continue to become 'more equal employers' in 2014, but only 18 of 189 institutions are led by women
Brazil’s central bank lowers expectations of further action
Brazil’s central bank says inflation will enter ‘a long period of decline’ next year, as it looks to guide inflation and interest rate expectations
Basel Committee tightens securitisation standards despite bank protests
Final standards for securitisations impose tougher capital requirements despite banks’ complaints that the rules are ‘punitive’; reduces reliance on external ratings
Norges Bank cuts interest rates as krone weakens
Low inflation gives Norway's central bank room to tackle the impact on growth of falling oil prices; governor suggests key rate will remain at record low for the next two years
Bank of England unveils sweeping transparency changes
Bank of England to publish transcripts of monetary policy meetings, cut number of meetings, revamp committee structures and more; Barry Eichengreen says benefits likely to ‘dominate’ costs
Weak TLTRO demand increases pressure on ECB
Banks borrow €129.8 through ECB's second operation; pressure increases on governing council to launch new measures in January or March 2015
Bank of Russia raises interest rates by 100bp
Central bank will continue to hike to stem double-digit inflation; growth expected to remain low "until import-substituting industries develop"
Davis Report reveals extent of FCA communications blunder
Report uncovers misguided comms strategy, poor supervision by senior managers and sluggish response as FCA ‘taken by surprise’
Central bank says macro-pru tools ‘crucial’ in Turkey
With the threat of a ‘spillover from global uncertainty to inflation’ in 2015, the Central Bank of Turkey highlights the importance of macro-prudential defences
Praet explores QE transmission channels
ECB chief economist considers scope of portfolio rebalancing and signalling effects for both corporate and sovereign bond purchases