News
Basel III features win governors' seal of approval
Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision, which oversees Basel Committee, okays parts of forthcoming Basel III proposals; calibration and phase-in arrangements to be finalised in September
Westminster spells out Bank’s importance in new regulatory structure
Bank-led committee will instruct prudential regulator and consumer body on policy; Treasury asks industry players for input on broadening new body’s objectives
EU stress tests detail exposure to Piigs debt
Stress tests show which banks are heavily exposed to riskiest sovereigns
UK lawmakers launch inquiry into regulatory revamp
Influential Treasury Select Committee says it will launch investigation of government plans for new regulatory structure
Key Basel III decisions due as oversight board gathers
Governors and heads of supervision will review recommendations brought forward from July 14-15 Basel Committee meeting
ECB insists stress tests are credible
ECB denies claims stress test scenarios were not severe enough
Kosovo’s governor arrested
Kosovo central bank governor Hashim Rexhep arrested on alleged corruption charges, central bank to be investigated
PBoC, MAS agree $22 billion currency swap
Arrangement follows similar swaps between China and seven other countries
Maiden Lane chief to head NY Fed banking supervision from 2011
New York Fed’s Sarah Dahlgren to replace William Rutledge as head of supervision; Rutledge to retire in December
Former HKMA head Yam set to join UBS board
Swiss investment bank UBS nominates HKMA former chief executive Joseph Yam as candidate to its board of directors.
Dodd-Frank starts to bite as Obama signs bill into law
US President Barack Obama draws a line under year-long legislative process, hailing bill’s benefits to consumers; ratings agencies flustered by exposure to ‘expert liability’
ECB will always end up bailing out sovereigns: Buiter
Former Bank of England rate-setter Willem Buiter says ECB will lose in “game of chicken” with finance ministries over who rescues sovereigns
Hungary prepares bracing bank tax, wage caps
Hungarian parliament set to approve hefty bank levy to shear budget deficit; public sector wage freeze will affect central bank employees, despite ECB protests
Laos to liberalise cross-border transactions
Laos notifies IMF that it accepts plans to adopt measures that will end restrictions on international payments and transactions
US deposit insurance ceiling permanently raised to $250,000
Dodd-Frank law makes temporary $250,000 limit permanent; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation says new law will apply retroactively
Tax increase creates dilemma for BoE policymakers
Bank of England hints at further stimulus despite signs inflation will remain high on the back of value added tax hikes
Faulty paper halts note production at De La Rue
Banknote printer De La Rue suspends production at its Hampshire plant owing to paper fault; shares plummet on company statement that 2010 production and sales will be affected
Sarb trumps investors in fight to amend law
South African parliamentary committee approves amendments proposed by central bank to protect it from shareholder attack; bill now expected to be signed into law
Price stability rightly remains sole focus of monetary policy: IMF
Fund directors say macroprudential measures, rather than monetary policy tools, should deliver financial stability; propose measures including dynamic provisioning framework
Swiss National Bank set to post half-year loss of $3.8 billion
SNB forecasts exchange-rate losses of more than Sfr14 billion on the back of the euro’s decline; gold gains and FX positions pare losses
BoE expands discount window collateral list
Bank of England to accept loans to individuals and businesses as collateral for discount window in order to provide more liquidity in times of stress
Estonia upgraded on euro accession; Ireland knocked down on banks’ weakness
Fitch lifts Estonian credit rating two notches, citing benefits of eurozone membership and strong fiscal performance; Moody’s downgrades Ireland on poor growth projections, worries over bad bank
Volcker philosophical on weakened rule, reform bill
Former Fed chairman Paul Volcker says failure to include dollar limit on banks’ positions in hedge funds “disappointing”, but accepts need for political compromise
Nigeria’s bad bank comes to life
Nigerian President signs bill approving creation of bad bank to take $10 billion in toxic loans off beleaguered banks’ balance sheets; agency to be up and running by end-September