News
RBNZ cuts rates and expects inflation to weaken further in short term
New Zealand central bank expresses concern over falling inflation in economy generally and rapidly rising prices in housing sector
Indian train robbery sees nearly $1m in soiled banknotes snatched
Soiled banknotes destined for the RBI stolen from train on the way back from Salem; police investigating incident
Icelandic paper finds ‘striking’ ties between financial cycle and real economy
Authors identify strong financial cycle linked to global factors, which impacts macro variables including consumption and government spending; paper suggests range of policy responses
BoE researchers outline risk of collateral collapse
In stress periods, collateral chains could break, paper in forthcoming Journal of Financial Market Infrastructure warns
BoE bond purchases run into difficulties
Central bank fails to meet quota of long-dated government bond purchases despite offering a high price, pointing to an unusual failure of its bond-buying mechanism
Bank of Italy to receive €1bn for liquidating holding in equity firm
Italy’s central bank will gain about €1bn for liquidating its shareholding in an equity firm partly owned by the Italian state; holding began after the firm transferred stake in insurer
Reserve Bank of Australia governor backs 2–3% target in final address
Reserve Bank of Australia governor supports inflation-targeting regime in last public address; moving the target could open the door to further changes down the line, warns Stevens
Swift CEO gives network top marks despite Bangladesh Bank theft
‘No room’ for complacency says Leibbrandt, noting it is now up to the banks to upscale their security infrastructure
UK watchdog looks to new technology to ‘transform’ bank competition
Use of “open APIs” can enable easy data-sharing, which regulator hopes will give consumers clarity on bank charges and boost competition – though some see flaws in the plan
Argentinian central bank removes $5m dollar conversion cap
New measures aim to make it easier for businesses to acquire dollars; bank removes cap on dollar conversion and reduces paperwork involved
Rajan hopes new MPC will make next RBI policy statement
Reserve Bank of India keeps rates on hold in Rajan’s last decision before stepping down; he hopes the monetary policy committee will be up and running by next decision in October
Payments revamp should cut costs in Thailand, governor says
In an interview with Central Banking journal, Veerathai Santiprabhob lifts the lid on payment system reforms aimed at strengthening infrastructure and promoting debit card usage
BoJ board split ahead of ‘comprehensive assessment’
Opinions from last meeting show members divided on how to hit 2% by fiscal 2017, and if it is even possible; “comprehensive assessment” may include measures to support squeezed banks
Nigeria tightens regulations on money transfer operators
Central bank's move will leave only three companies to deal with a remittance market worth more than $20bn annually, an analyst says
ESRB recommends EU states reciprocate Estonian capital buffer
European Systemic Risk Board’s recommendation is only second time it has suggested regulators should reciprocally adopt a new macro-prudential measure
Sarb mulling changes to cash distribution process
South African Reserve Bank review finds ‘inefficiencies’ in current framework; changes could include alterations to the bank’s ‘branch footprint’ and supply chain
Sarb fines five banks for weaknesses in ‘control measures’
Investec Bank fined largest amount at 20 million rand; local branch of Standard Chartered faces 10 million rand penalty a month after another branch was reprimanded by MAS
Regulation may be fuelling covered interest parity breakdown – BoJ economists
Authors link puzzling breakdown of CIP to regulations including liquidity constraints, as well as divergent monetary policies
Philippines central bank fines RCBC over Bangladesh heist
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation ordered to pay one billion pesos, after stolen funds from Bangladesh bank were transferred to four accounts held at the institution
Sri Lanka releases trading stats as it seeks to develop market
First set of data shows 3.42 billion rupees traded, with transactions over 50 million rupees to be reported within 30-minute window
People: Philippines and Sri Lanka gain new monetary board members
Finance minister becomes member of Philippines’ monetary board; new joiner for Sri Lankan board; HKMA names executive director for financial infrastructure
IMF’s response to self-evaluation report ‘very positive’
Engagement with evaluation "very positive", says IEO official, after it offered broad support to recommendations, with some qualifications
ECB begins gathering data on daily money-market transactions
ECB announces daily collection of data from four money-market segments; scheme gathers 35,000 transaction records per day
BoE launches broad Brexit response
Central bank wields all its main tools and some new ones as the effects of Brexit begin to appear; aims to support transmission mechanism amid extraordinary measures