News
Norway hikes for second time
Norges Bank raises key rate to 1.75% citing pick-up in economic activity
Denmark gets new assistant governor
Head of economics at National Bank of Denmark promoted
Austria nationalises failing lender
Austrian government takes over Hypo Group Alpe Adria from state of Bavaria as central bank financial stability report shows tier 1 capital ratios in the sector are set to drop
Mexico shrugs off S&P downgrade
Peso down marginally and Mexican stocks up despite second downgrade in less than a fortnight
Argentina to plunder central bank to pay off debt
Argentine government announces plans to create a fund to repay creditors which would use central bank’s reserves
Nepal to welcome foreign banks: report
Senior central banker quoted as saying Nepal will allow foreign banks to operate in the jurisdiction from the New Year
Kazakhstan latest to step away from dollar
The National Bank of Kazakhstan, which has seen foreign currency reserves drop sharply, shifts towards euro on fears over the dollar’s weakness
Abu Dhabi bails out Dubai
Richest emirate agrees to provide $10 billion to Dubai World; central bank to support local banks
Carstens likely to replace Ortiz as BIS chair
Guillermo Ortiz will step down as chairman of the Bank for International Settlements’ board if he leaves the Bank of Mexico
Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson dies at 94
Paul Samuelson, a key figure in the development of economics, passes away at home in Massachusetts on Sunday
Bubbles a bigger threat than inflation: HKMA’s Chan
Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Norman Chan sees irrational exuberance as greater risk than spiralling prices
Imbalances must be addressed: Trichet
ECB president Trichet points to imbalances in emerging Asian countries and stresses importance of Europe-wide and international cooperation on macroprudential supervision
Ecuador chief and general manager quit
Upheaval at the top of the Central Bank of Ecuador sees Carlos Vallejo and Karina Sáenz depart; cabinet minister Diego Borja is named new governor
British regulator calls on banks to step up stress tests
British financial regulator beefs up stress test rules; calls on banks to examine business models
Old mortgage model is dead: Fed’s Duke
Federal Reserve’s Elizabeth Duke warns of the ghost of homeownership yet to come
Rate decisions this week
Korea, New Zealand hold but indicate tightening soon to come. Bank of England and Bank of Canada maintain policy stance, along with Peru and Brazil as Denmark and Iceland cut
RBI’s Subbarao pushes for financial inclusion
Reserve Bank of India’s Duvuuri Subbarao wants all villages with more than 2,000 people to have a banking outlet by early 2011
America can learn from us: Uganda’s Tumusiime-Mutebile
Bank of Uganda’s governor says risk-based supervision saved the country’s banks; reinforces the importance of open-market principles for the economy
Iceland cuts on further signs of stability
Central Bank of Iceland continues with “gradual” easing as currency stabilises
SNB steps towards exit
Swiss National Bank announces end to credit easing
Ireland creates senior posts
Central Bank & Financial Services Authority of Ireland announces new roles as part of regulatory shift
Basel Committee reaches agreement on liquidity and counterparty risk
Two-day gathering results in progress on new rules
CentralBanking.com panel: it’s too soon to exit
Charles Goodhart, Paul Mortimer-Lee, Lucrezia Reichlin and Gabriel Stein concur that dangers are greater from exiting too early than too late but warn that asset prices risk becoming over inflated
Former Jamaican governor attacks PM
Recently resigned governor Derick Latibeaudiere says PM has shown a lack of respect