News
Ireland overhauls market abuse oversight rules
Markets supervision directorate at the Central Bank of Ireland will now monitor and investigate market abuses instead of Irish Stock Exchange; ends arrangement in place since 2005
Sri Lanka remembers suicide bomb victims
New memorial unveiled at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to mark 16th anniversary of bomb attack on the institution; governor says terrorists failed in aim to paralyse economic growth
Estonia close to deciding on next governor appointment
Supervisory board nominates Ardo Hansson to take over from Andres Lipstok; Estonian president must now clear appointment
Bahrain completes transition to Iban
Commercial banks in Bahrain will now use international bank account numbers as preferred method for international and domestic payments
Venezuela completes repatriation of gold reserves
Final shipment of 14 tonnes of gold arrives in Caracas; governor certain the central bank has the capabilities to protect the precious metal
Central Bank of Turkey predicts inflation target overshoot until 2013
Central Bank of Turkey says inflation will not return to 5.5% target until mid-2013; officials want to prevent "unfavorable fluctuations" in economic activity by acting too soon
Basel guidance on settlement risk delayed until June
Updated guidance on FX settlement risk from Basel Committee and CPSS was originally due by end of 2011, but now has an expanded remit
FSB regional group discusses policy responses to eurozone crisis
Commonwealth of Independent States hold first regional FSB consultative group meeting; members including Russia and Ukraine discuss possible policy actions to counter eurozone crisis
Bollard to leave Reserve Bank of New Zealand
Alan Bollard will not seek a third term as governor; Reserve Bank board to include candidates from abroad in search to replace him
Cyprus central bank pay freeze passes ECB scrutiny
European Central Bank says Cypriot public sector wage freeze does not threaten the central bank’s ability to perform its tasks independently from government
Switzerland investigates need for ‘more specific’ insider trading rules
Head of legal services at the Federal Confederation explains the investigations under way into the circumstances that ultimately caused Philipp Hildebrand to resign as governor of the Swiss National Bank
State Bank of Pakistan warns on ‘deteriorating’ budgetary conditions
State Bank of Pakistan quarterly report says government fell short of budget target last year; warns drying up of foreign direct investment could leave economy vulnerable
Lithuanian central bank becomes victim of a cyber attack
Bank of Lithuania's website hit by hackers; days after Central Bank of UAE experienced a similar attack
UK government publishes Financial Services Bill
New legislation to fundamentally change financial regulation in the UK; fears raised that the important issue of the accountability of the Bank of England has not been addressed fully
CB.com poll result says eurozone break-up comments are not irresponsible
CentralBanking.com poll shows majority of participants believe non-eurozone central bankers are not acting recklessly by commenting on a possible break-up of the euro
Central bankers gather in Davos for World Economic Forum
Central banking is a hot topic at this year's World Economic Forum; attendees of the event discuss issues in Russia, Poland, China and more
Sarb proposes further adjustments to open market operations
South African Reserve Bank wants to allocate amounts tendered by banks in repo auctions on a pro rata basis, to enhance efficiency of its monetary policy operations
Finland commemorates the end of the markka
New book describes the history of Finnish banknotes and museum exhibition displays competition entries for past currency design contests
Bernanke to give student lectures
Chairman of the Federal Reserve will deliver a series of lectures to university students in the US
Fed communication overhaul reveals split in rate forecasts
Federal Reserve survey of individual policy-makers’ interest rate expectations shows five-year split on when to make first federal funds rate rise; Fed falls short of inflation target
Battle for ECB executive board seat underway
Question of whether next executive board member will break tradition and come from outside the biggest European economies lingers; finance ministers yet to pick favourite from candidates
Bangladesh Bank calls on government to borrow less
Bangladesh central bank wants to bring inflation to single digits and halt foreign currency reserve “depletion”; hopes government borrowing will not “crowd out” available liquidity in banking system
Tajikistan announces enhanced payments systems
National Bank of Tajikistan launches national processing centre' striving to bring banking services up to date
Trichet to join board of aerospace group EADS, say reports
Former European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet linked to seat on board of Franco-German aerospace and defence group EADS