News
Icelandic finance minister backs euro switch
Katrín Júlíusdóttir says adopting euro could help to restrain inflation and boost investment; Central Bank of Iceland publishes annual report
Central Bank of Egypt hikes rates as reserves dwindle and inflation rises
Monetary Policy Committee agrees 50 basis point rise despite ‘feeble’ growth, as inflation shows highest rise since 2010 and reserves fall to critical levels
RBNZ looks to toughen payments oversight
Reserve Bank of New Zealand deems its oversight powers ‘insufficient’ in internal review; proposes new powers to boost authority over payments industry
Swiss National Bank faces referendum over gold sales
Politicians seek to prevent SNB from selling gold and force the central bank to hold 20% of assets in the precious metal via a public referendum
ECB threatens to cut off liquidity support to Cyprus
Governing council says no more emergency liquidity will be provided to Cypriot banks if a deal is not reached by Monday; negotiations continue and banks will remain closed into next week
Nominal GDP dismissed as viable policy target in Central Banking debate
Former Bank of England officials argue against adopting a nominal GDP target for monetary policy; economist Gabriel Stein brands it ‘absolute madness’
Sepa migration at risk due to poor preparedness, says ECB
First progress report expresses alarm at some companies planning to migrate very close to deadline; payments could be disrupted if deadline missed, but Benoît Cœuré says ‘there is no plan B’
Former BoE deputy backs dual mandate for UK central bank
Former Bank of England deputy governor says central bank remit changes in UK budget yesterday were ‘disappointing’; advocates switch to a dual mandate targeting growth and inflation
Basel III insufficient for ‘huge’ Swedish banking system, says Ingves
Sveriges Riksbank governor says Sweden must go ‘over and above’ capital and liquidity standards in Basel III; identifies household debt and bank market-funding as core weaknesses
BIS finds Singapore compliant with Basel III
Consistency assessment finds Singapore compliant in 12 areas and ‘largely compliant’ in remaining two; report notes 46 deviations were initially identified, but many were addressed during the review
Major part of banking union set for mid-2014, says ECB official
National supervisors made 'gigantic mistakes', says ECB's financial stability head; outlines plans for SSM
People: FSB appoints new chairs; Pakistani board reaches full strength
Three central bankers appointed to head Financial Stability Board committees; Pakistan completes drive to fill governing board; and more
Bank of England handed new remit
UK budget embeds flexibility in MPC remit; suggests the committee adopts explicit forward guidance as a new policy tool; looks to expand funding for lending scheme
Higher Basel III pricing deters Asian banks from issuing new Tier II capital
Banks issued debt before the end-of-2012 deadline for Basel II capital, lessening their refinancing requirements for this year
Central Bank of Cyprus governor tells government to scrap small-depositor levy
Panicos Demetriades says government should apply heavier haircut to depositors above €100,000 threshold and spare those below; predicts run when banks re-open on Thursday
RBI cuts benchmark rate as growth falters
Reserve Bank of India cuts interest rate for second time in 2013; struggling with falling growth rates but rising inflation
T2S chief warns regulatory inaction could damage harmonisation process
Jean-Michel Godeffroy says CSD regulation must be passed this year to avoid harmonisation delays; conference panellists raise concerns over costs, limited participation and financial transaction tax
Largest banks $270bn below Basel III core capital limits
Basel Committee finds banks would have missed CET1 requirement under Basel III by $270 billion in June 2012; IMF’s Lagarde condemns ‘uneven implementation’ of rules
Eurozone rocked by Cypriot depositor haircut plan
Markets take a hit, peripheral bond yields rise and commentators raise fears of contagious bank runs as Cypriot parliament debates plans to take 6.75% haircut from ‘insured’ depositors
Zhou Xiaochuan stays on as PBoC governor
People’s Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan staves off retirement for another term at the top of the central bank; will target rising inflation and capital reforms
Fed pays $88bn in profits to US Treasury
Federal Reserve makes large profit on securities holdings in 2012; follows warnings from Ben Bernanke and Fed researchers that remittances are not likely to remain elevated
Central banks can help promote reference rate choice, says BIS report
Bank for International Settlements working group finds money market appetite for adopting overnight reference rate; says central banks can help promote transparency
MAS warns on fragmented clearing and reporting
Asian financial markets have made progress in setting up CCPs and trade repositories, but greater harmonisation is needed across borders, Singaporean central bank warns
People: Kuroda confirmed; Bulgarian deputy joins government
Haruhiko Kuroda will replace Masaaki Shirakawa at the BoJ after receiving approval from parliament; Bulgarian deputy joins finance ministry in temporary switch; and more