News
RBA offshoot let standards slip in bribery scandal: report
Independent auditor says Australian central bank’s polymer subsidiary Securency failed to uphold its standards in dealing with its foreign business agents
Basel principles don’t guarantee stability: IMF paper
Complying with the Basel principles on supervision does not enhance the soundness of banks, Fund economists find
Likely euro adoption puts Estonia on positive watch
Fitch Ratings predicts Estonia will join Euro after Tallinn publishes debt figures
Basel issues draft code on supervisory colleges
Principles seek to promote information exchange and incorporate latest regulatory trends
Bank’s Haldane moots structural change to recover social costs
Bank’s executive director for financial stability labels banking pollution “a real and large social problem”; says officials must look at architecture of financial system to resolve it
“Radical reforms” must be considered: UK lawmakers
Head of influential group of parliamentarians says British government wrong to rule out root-and-branch reform; favours contingent capital and subsidiaries to lessen risk of systemic collapse
Three academics join China’s Monetary Policy Committee
The People’s Bank of China calls on three scholars to join rate-setting board
Warsh acknowledges Fed’s quasi-fiscal action
Governor suggests Fed’s crisis-fighting measures may have tested the boundaries of central bank’s ambit
Rate round-up
Israel hikes but raft of others cut, including Hungary, Russia, South Africa and Romania
Bank of Spain denies Spanish banks are delaying losses by acquiring NPAs
The Bank of Spain defends Spanish banks' hands-on risk management of non-performing assets related to the property sector
$500 billion reserve drain made crisis worse: IMF’s Ferhani
Deputy director says IMF research shows central bank reserve managers withdrew $500 billion from deposits at commercial banks during crisis
Gold could play solid stability role
World Gold Council's George Milling-Stanley pushes for Basel III and SDR to be gold plated
Russian central bank “lacks capacity” to handle assets
Russian sovereign fund management chief says new agency will take debt and asset responsibilities over from central bank, Russian reserve stash severely depleted by financial crisis
Norges Bank director pushes for better pricing of risk
Norges Bank director Arlid Lund discusses how to prevent the next crisis and where the risks lie
Central banks, not debt will kill growth: economist
Independent economist Roger Nightingale charges that debt on its own is not incompatible with growth, but raising rates will kill growth
ECB in about-turn on collateral rules
Move reflects concern over Greece; Trichet says graded haircut system set to be introduced
UK debt management official parries demand fears
Co-head of policy and markets says she is confident that market for gilts deep and liquid enough to withstand end of QE
Fed’s Kohn attacks higher inflation targets
Federal Reserve vice chairman also dismissive of price-level targeting; admits central bankers were “a little complacent” pre-crisis
Emerging markets will overhaul reserve methods: Thai deputy
Bank of Thailand vice governor Atchana Waiquamdee says crisis has rendered traditional measures of reserve adequacy “meaningless” for cautious emerging markets
Sovereign risk worries overstated: panel
Debt experts from Bank of Italy, National Bank of Denmark and French debt agency point to reassuring signs of continuing life in the sovereign debt markets
The end is nigh for the eurozone over Greece
Economists Geoffrey Wood and Charles Dumas say the Greek debt crisis is set to tear asunder Europe’s poorly built Economic and Monetary Union, split over IMF bailout
Italy’s Draghi favours “enforcement” over European Fund
Bank of Italy governor Mario Draghi says a new pact should be drawn up to enforce fiscal discipline, rather than building a continental version of the IMF
Portugal suffers downgrade
Sovereign debt marked down a notch by Fitch; move eaxcerbates eurozone tensions
IMF calls for Zimbabwe to scrap governing board
Fund acknowledges success of multi-currency regime at close of Article IV consultation