News
Bank of England waging payment system war on three fronts
Chief cashier Chris Salmon says the central bank must contend with issues relating to cyber security, user access and new regulation within the UK payments infrastructure
Fed’s Powell downplays QE impact on emerging markets
Governor admits Fed policy has played a part in capital flows to and from emerging markets, but argues other factors are more important; follows fresh complaints from Asian economies
BoE creates new role in response to cyber crime threats
Chief information security officer will oversee the Bank of England’s IT security defences; UK banks to be tested on their ability to withstand online attacks
Federal Reserve reveals new, tougher stress tests
Details of stress tests for 2014 include scenario based on severe global recession, with some banks facing additional criteria; tests will be applied to 12 more banks than before
BoE official calls for greater transparency on CCP margin modelling
Central counterparties should compete on quality of risk management, rather than a race to the bottom on margins, says Bank of England's head of payments and infrastructure
Cypriot commission criticises ‘cumbersome’ managerial structure at central bank
Independent commission wants to see more power handed to the executive and non-executive directors at the Central Bank of Cyprus; says senior management dropped the ball on financial stability
US Senator vows to block Yellen nomination
Republican Rand Paul - son of long-time Fed critic Ron Paul - says he intends to fight confirmation of Janet Yellen as the next Fed chair unless monetary policy is subjected to Congressional scrutiny
Asia Risk Congress: BIS points to Asian example as evidence new LCR not 'relaxed'
Asian regulators' partial recognition of Level 2B assets justifies revised Basel liquidity approach
Central bankers cannot fix Asia's economic woes, warn bank economists
Government-driven reform is urgently required to ensure continued development in Asia; India comes in for most criticism as market watchers turn attention to forthcoming plenary in Beijing
People: Latvian governor re-appointed; Lithuania hires board member from ECB
Long-serving Latvian governor wins another term, to see Latvia into the eurozone; Lithuania appoints fifth member to the board; Riksbank promotes new head of financial stability department
Bloomberg launches US dollar benchmark
New US dollar index will represent 10 currencies, including Chinese renminbi and the Australian dollar
Leading central banks make emergency swap lines permanent
Six leading central banks are leaving bilateral swap agreements introduced during the financial crisis in place until further notice; US dollar liquidity-providing operations will continue as normal
Finland joins Riksbank in greater gold transparency
Bank of Finland joins Riksbank in revealing where it stores its gold; both banks cite geographical diversification as a motivation, but say it still makes sense to keep most in London
Central bankers divided over quota for female staff
Participants in a CentralBanking.com poll say that central banks should make efforts to increase the proportion of women in senior positions; split over whether this should be achieved through quota
GCC states need to jettison ‘destabilising' US-dollar pegs, says Qatar's Al Khater
Oil-rich Gulf states should peg currencies to crawling trade-weighted baskets as US demand becomes less of a factor in driving oil prices, says Qatari central banker
Hungarian easing shows no sign of abating
Central Bank of Hungary reduces its key policy rate for the fifteenth time in as many months, and says ‘further cautious easing’ could follow
ECB seeks head lawyer who is ‘resilient to overwork’
Employment law expert says the European Central Bank’s criterion for its next director-general of legal services is a 'concerning pre-condition to employment'
Slovene bank clean-up provides stress test dry run for ECB
IMF urges country to recapitalise banks quickly; academics see country as 'methodology experiment' for ECB, and warn comparisons with Greece and Cyprus could be self-fulfilling prophecies
Riksbank reveals location of gold holdings
Three-quarters of the Swedish central bank's gold reserves are held in the UK and Canada; disclosure follows discussions with other central banks on confidentiality
Gunmen steal $53m from Central Bank of Libya
Armed men overpower guards and steal millions of dollars from cash truck en route to central bank in Sirte
Danish central bank to cut workforce by 10%
National Bank of Denmark to lay off 55 employees as it adjusts to post-crisis environment and introduces new IT system that makes some jobs obsolete
RBI takes hawkish stance against inflation with another rate hike
Repo rate hike and MSF rate cut bring spread back to its normal level of 100 basis points; ‘material' risk of entrenched inflation could mean another hike is on the way, says DBS economist
Central Bank of UAE set to bolster ‘under-developed' local bond market
UAE has looked to economies with strong trade balances as role-models to help develop a domestic bond market; may issue government debt in the coming years
Banque de France backs efforts to circumvent ratings agencies
Central bank gives scathing assessment of credit ratings agencies and supports Esma proposals to reduce reliance on ratings; Moody’s and S&P critical of the plans