News
Singer outlines evolution of Czech reserves
Miroslav Singer tells London audience the Czech National Bank reserve allocation remains 'conservative', despite expanding into equities and new currencies in recent years
PBoC confirms Russian swap transactions
Chinese and Russian central banks disclose 'several currency swap trades' since October, but do not disclose further details
Sarb and Bundesbank expand co-operation
Annex to existing MoU will see Bundesbank representative based in the country; two central banks will work together on financial stability, among other issues
Cunliffe: UK housing risks back on the rise
BoE deputy governor says household balance sheets are “stretched” and some risks are growing; suggests dominance of debt as housing finance is undesirable, but unlikely to change
Lautenschläger says some leveraged finance practices need watching
ECB’s head of supervision notes increase in ‘covenant-lite’ deals
Economists mull how to improve Fed communications
Paper presented at US Monetary Policy Forum encourages Fed to move away from ‘time-based’ forward guidance; considers what kind of new information would be useful to markets
Australian central bank adds S Korean won to reserve portfolio
Australian central bank slashes euro holdings by 20% as diversification into alternative currencies continues
Debt deal struck but ‘heated’ discussions await Argentine president in congress
Vulture funds satisfied but Argentine president faces an ‘uphill’ battle getting deal through congress; analysts ultimately expect it to be approved, but see other challenges on the horizon
Mervyn King calls for radical banking reform
Former Bank of England governor wants to curtail banks’ use of maturity transformation, putting the central bank’s lender-of-last-resort role at the heart of his new banking system
Snapshot: IMF reveals staff views on Argentina
IMF releases informal briefings compiled 2013-2015 in absence of Article IV; staff highlighted adverse effects of central bank and banking sector financing of government
Bank of Russia proposes regular stress tests for private sector pension funds
Russian central bank proposes making all private sector pension funds implement formal risk management plans, including monthly assessments and quarterly stress tests
Singapore mulls increasing central bank’s regulatory powers
Singapore’s parliament is considering a draft law that would expand the central bank’s regulatory powers over domestic and foreign-owned banks
Dudley flags inflation uncertainty and expectations concern
New York Fed president says uncertainties around his assessment of the inflation outlook have increased; warns of slide in household expectations and stresses need for ‘close scrutiny’
PBoC eases despite continued depreciation fears
China's central bank cuts reserve requirements amid intricate balancing act between arresting slowdown in growth, maintaining financial stability, and safeguarding currency
EBA does not object to further macro-prudential measures for Belgian banks
The European Banking Authority clears the way for Belgium’s central bank to tighten macro-prudential measures affecting housing exposures; calls for changes in regulatory framework
UK regulators refuse to comply with part of EU bonus cap
FCA and PRA say they will not be imposing European bonus cap rules on small firms, arguing CRD IV’s proportionality principle has not been properly applied
Indian government unveils final MPC design
Bill has been amended to cut committee size to six and give governor a casting vote in the event of a tie; government also pressing ahead with plans to clean up banking sector
Central American central banks move to upgrade regional payment system
Central bank governors from Central America draw up action plan, detailing faster payment times; Costa Rica to be fully integrated in ‘short space of time’
People: Haitian ex-governor appointed prime minister; Egyptian ex-governor rejoins largest bank
Ex-governor becomes interim premier amid severe political instability; Egyptian ex-governor returns to country’s largest commercial bank; Venezuelan central bank appoints new director
IMF to publish informal briefings on Argentina
Staff compile informal briefings on countries when they fail to complete Article IV consultations; IMF will grant request from Argentina to publish those produced 2013-2015
Greek governor calls for ‘bold and innovative’ action on non-performing loans
Greek economy should start a modest recovery in the second half of 2016, but the government must hit bailout programme targets and take bold action on non-performing loans, governor says
Carney airs scepticism on negative rates
Bank of England governor warns negative rates may only work through exchange rate channel, which would result in a ‘zero sum game’
Democratic Republic of Congo moves to stabilise currency following unscheduled MPC meeting
Central bank outlines plans to sell foreign currency and increase reserve requirements; calls on government for supporting measures
Denmark focuses on long-dated issuance amid low rates
National Bank of Denmark’s 2016 debt issuance strategy uses long maturities to reduce interest rate risk as low rates hold down costs; return to more normal footing after last year’s suspension