News
Central bank independence key focus of Brazilian elections
With the central bank’s autonomy a hot topic in the build-up to this weekend’s presidential elections, specialists are divided on the benefits of greater independence
Lagarde sees black clouds over monetary policy normalisation
IMF managing director underlines risk of spillover effects as Fed winds down monetary easing; says ‘asynchronous’ normalisation could come back to bite advanced economies
Central Bank of Nigeria implements ‘sanctions screening' service to combat financial crime
Swift service helping banks meet global best practices on financial crime will be functional in January; step towards realising 2020 ‘payment system vision'
IMF encourages Kenya central bank to set-up forecast unit
Staff report with Kenya praises the evolution of the central bank’s forecasting model and recommends creation of dedicated unit; wary of rising food prices and credit growth
Warren turns up heat on NY Fed following allegations of supervisory mismanagement
US Senator says leaked recordings suggest ‘basic lack of truthful reporting’ at institution; New York Fed has already defended the 'integrity' of its supervision
Argentina’s central bank governor quits after Presidential criticism
Juan Carlos Fábrega resigns after Argentina’s president accuses the central bank of giving ‘confidential information’ to banks
Bank of England asks for new tools to curb mortgage lending
Financial Policy Committee recommends it be equipped with controls on loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios; Mark Carney says Help to Buy scheme does not pose ‘material risks’
ECB reveals details of asset purchases
Mario Draghi would not be drawn on the size of the asset and bond programmes, but said the ‘potential universe of purchases is up to €1 trillion’
National Bank of Denmark narrows range of collateral it accepts
Financial market ‘normalisation' provides ‘opportunity' to omit assets made eligible after crisis to keep Danish banks from borrowing in euros
NBP warns ECB-Fed mismatch may impair policy-making
Polish central bank says divergence of European and US monetary policy is likely to create problems for policy-makers elsewhere, especially in small, open economies
Banque de France ‘significantly’ improves research output
External review of central bank research finds ‘significant rise in quantity and quality’ in past six years; suggests improvements in communication with policy-makers
Bank of Mexico will run new oil fund
Central bank will be responsible for receiving, managing and distributing all income, excepting taxes, of the country’s oil and gas operations; will invest over ‘wider horizon’ than with past fund
FSB urges central banks to ‘take note’ of Iosco FX benchmark principles
Final report on FX rate benchmarks encourages central banks to heed Iosco recommendations; suggests changes to benchmark methodology to improve incentives
IMF flags up uneven application of shadow banking regulations
Report finds ‘indications of increased market and liquidity risk' in sector; China ‘stands out and warrants particular monitoring'
Summers calls on Fed and US Treasury to 'fully' coordinate debt management
Paper published today finds Treasury purchases of long-term bonds offset ‘about a third’ of QE benefits to US economy post-crisis; Fed governor dismisses controversial proposal
Argentina central bank staff strike over pay
More than 80% of employees are on strike, according to a workers' union; central bank says the demonstration has not affected their activities
Rajan turns attention to 2016 inflation target
Reserve Bank of India holds key rates as headline inflation drops to 7.8%; Rajan says policy will be set to achieve 6% target by January 2016 from this point onwards
Focus on risk culture is ‘remaking’ the banking system
Patricia Jackson highlights ‘big shift’ in banking as firms implement more rigorous risk frameworks; BoE’s Andrew Bailey sets out the PRA’s approach
IMF warns of new asset bubbles caused by ‘expansionary policies' post-crisis
Report finds global imbalances are shrinking, and concludes this is driven by structural reduction in demand rather than ‘expenditure switching' to domestic products
Bundesbank unveils new card clearing infrastructure
Bundesbank and EBA Clearing launch new XML-based infrastructure for card clearing; payments chief says it allows banks to ‘leverage’ their Sepa investments
US senator calls for hearings into NY Fed supervision
Elizabeth Warren says ‘disturbing issues' raised by former employee's secret recordings of colleagues; New York Fed ‘categorically rejects allegations'
Brazil central bank director vows quick response to inflation
The monetary policy committee of the central bank will evaluate whether the interest rate needs to be raised to battle inflation, says director, and will act quickly if necessary
PBoC sanctions direct trading between renminbi and euro
People’s Bank of China names euro as latest currency to be directly tradable with the yuan on the Chinese interbank market
Trinidad central bank hikes rates in response to Fed forward guidance
‘Altered expectations' over timing of US normalisation puts pressure on Caribbean economy; necessary to ‘enhance appeal' of currency, says central bank