News
Government still not at the SEPA table
European governments who fail to move on SEPA must be shamed into action, said Jean-Michel Godeffroy, the director general for payment systems at the European Central Bank.
The Fed's balance sheet and the US Treasury
The announcement on Wednesday that the United States Treasury is issuing debt - at the request of the Federal Reserve - to replenish the central bank's balance sheet, has raised questions about the health of the Fed's balance sheet. Here are some…
Questions remain after historic Fed loan
The American government's decision to initiate a far-reaching rescue of American International Group (AIG) breaks a number of historic precedents and raises a number of fundamental questions about the role of government in the financial system.
Central banks in third day of cash support
Central banks around the world continued for a third consecutive day to pump cash into global money markets on Wednesday.
Rupee recovers on RBI intervention talk
India's rupee recovered from a two-year low on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank of India announced measures to boost dollar supply and curb exchange-rate swings.
Bank shake-up on both sides of Atlantic
As part of the dramatic and rapid alteration of the financial industry in recent days, Barclays has announced that it is interested in buying part of Lehman Brothers' investment banking business, while Lloyd's is in talks with HBOS about acquiring the…
Fed holds rates, room for future cuts
The Federal Reserve has defied market expectations for a cut, opting to keep interest rates on hold at Tuesday's monetary policy meeting.
Geithner skips FOMC meeting
Tim Geithner, the president of the New York Fed and the Federal Reserve System's chief crisis manager since the outbreak of the credit crisis, did not attend Tuesday meeting of the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC). Geithner stayed behind in New York…
Banks scramble for fresh cash offers
For the second day running, central banks have pumped vast amounts of liquidity into overnight money markets, as interbank rates soared following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and heightened uncertainty over the health of the financial sector.
Fed hosting crisis talks for insurance giant
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is facilitating crisis talks between state insurance regulators, private sector investors and the management of American Insurance Group (AIG) to devise an emergency capital injection for the beleaguered insurance…
Fed faces crunch call, market now prices in cut
Financial markets have dramatically adjusted expectations of the outcome interest-rate decision to be announced by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) late on Tuesday.
China to be No.2 in payments
China could overtake the eurozone as the world's second biggest payments market early next decade, according to a new report.
King sees high inflation remaining
Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, expects inflation in the United Kingdom to remain "markedly" above the central bank's target well into next year.
Interview: Carlo Tresoldi
"Without intervention it will be difficult to meet the timescale of 2010 for migration to the new Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) instruments," Carlo Tresoldi told Centralbanknews.com on Tuesday.
Triple shock leaves Wall Street in disarray
News of the Lehman Brothers' demise, the sale of Merrill Lynch and major concerns over the health of a range of other financial institutions has put the risk of rapid contagion and a systemic meltdown of the financial sector back at the top of central…
A mix of the old and new for central banks
While leading central banks around the world on Monday took similar steps to those seen in recent months to inject liquidity into fear-ridden money markets, the American authorities' response to the latest shocks signals a distinct shift in policy.
Banks step in with superfund
Ten of the world's biggest banks have joined forces to create a $70 billion liquidity fund intended to mitigate the impact of the latest round of financial turmoil.
Mistakes made on liquidity - Tumpel-Gugerell
The current crisis shows central bankers and regulators underestimated liquidity risk, admitted the European Central Bank's Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell.
PBoC cuts to restore confidence
The People's Bank of China (PBoC) has cut its base lending rate and lowered the ratio of funds that banks must set aside as reserves in an effort to shore up confidence in the country's stock and real estate markets.
Interdependence requires payment overhaul
Central banks need to adjust their oversight of payment and settlement systems to the new reality of heightened interdependence in financial markets, said Haruyuki Toyama, a deputy director general at the Bank of Japan at SIBOS, an industry forum…
China fund involved in Lehman bid - report
China Investment Corporation (CIC), Beijing's sovereign wealth fund, is said to be involved in a possible bid for Lehman Brothers, a beleaguered US bank.
We saw crunch looming, says Canada's Dodge
David Dodge, a former governor of the Bank of Canada, has said that central bankers knew that "ridiculous" mortgage-backed securities would precipitate a credit crunch.
BoE's Tucker highlights inflation risk
The news on the British economy has got worse and inflation now looks more likely to fall sharply in 2009, but Paul Tucker, the executive director responsible for markets at the Bank of England, signalled Friday that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)…
China using reserves for political gain - report
China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange appears to have used its reserve stockpile, the largest in the world, to influence diplomatic relations between Costa Rica and Taiwan.