News
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
IMF urges ‘more forceful action’ to end Europe’s woes
Report on European financial stability says situation remains ‘tenuous’ in eurozone; calls on authorities to act fast to repair balance sheets and set up banking union
Central bankers split over whether 3% leverage ratio is enough
Majority of participants in CentralBanking.com poll support implementation of Basel III; readers divided over questions of raising leverage ratio
Nalm 2013: Sound central bank risk practices could choke off liquidity
Central banks are more activist in reserves management, with some looking to private sector for inspiration. But there are dangers with such a approach, say panellists at Central Banking conference
CFTC's O'Malia: No progress on Sef rules in past two weeks
Mid-April next window for vote, but no reason for optimism, says CFTC commissioner
Nalm 2013: Bank of Israel’s Abir challenges credit risk assumptions in reserve management
Head of market operations Andrew Abir asks how bonds and equities can be consolidated under one reserve management framework; insists credit rating agencies remain valuable
Nalm 2013: Delegates debate reigniting European ABS market
Participants at Central Banking event discuss mechanisms to get European financial markets off life support; particular focus on asset-backed securities
Nalm 2013: National Bank of Austria analyst sets out currency diversification strategy
Portfolio analyst details models and analysis used to determine National Bank of Austria’s currency portfolio; shows diversification gives better risk/return
Nalm 2013: Debate rages over how to manage expanding reserves
Central banks enter into new asset classes and alternative currencies but Bank of Israel’s Andrew Abir rejects value of renminbi as a reserve currency
Nalm 2013: Kotz stresses necessity of exceptional policy despite moral hazard
Former Bundesbank board member says exceptional response by major central banks to the financial crisis was unavoidable as cost of inaction would have been ‘massive’
RBI’s Subbarao bemoans contradictory demands on central bank
Reserve Bank of India governor says unique Indian growth and inflation dynamics make it impossible to satisfy everyone; deflects criticism over rates being both too high and too low
Central banks ‘are not done easing yet’, says Morgan Stanley chief economist
US investment bank’s Joachim Fels says central banks are entering into a third stage of monetary easing; eurozone growth forecast cut to -0.7%
Gold should dominate RMB in central bank reserves, says WGC
World Gold Council encourages central banks – particularly in emerging market economies – to diversify into gold ahead of RMB and other ‘alternative’ currencies
Putin picks economic adviser as Bank of Russia chief
Elvira Nabiullina nominated to succeed Sergey Ignatiev as chairman of the Bank of Russia; faces challenge of maintaining monetary policy credibility despite close ties to the Kremlin
Bank of Japan derivatives purchases threaten already low equity ratio
The BoJ's latest inflation-targeting weapon could challenge its balance sheet strength
Goodhart argues bail-outs are better than bail-ins
LSE panel highlights unintended consequences of new regulation, in areas including bail-ins, capital requirements and banking separation; Charles Goodhart says investors will not buy bail-inable debt
BoJ unveils policy for oversight of market infrastructure
The Bank of Japan reveals new policy for its oversight of payment and settlement systems and CCPs; mainly concerned with mitigating systemic risk
Riksbank’s payment system restored after technical failure
Sweden’s large-value payments system, RIX, restored to full functionality after failing to start yesterday afternoon. But cause of disruption still unknown
T2S programme hit by delays with costs set to soar
Europe’s new securities settlement system, Target2-Securities, faces tough implementation schedule, say Clearstream and Euroclear officials; ECB reaffirms commitment to price plan and timescale