News
Top Polish officials pay frozen for next two years
POLAND - Poland's lower house Wednesday passed a bill freezing top government officials' pay for the next two years and also opening the way for reductions in the wages paid to central bank chairmen and deputy chairmen.
Central bank of Greece goes live with finance kit
GREECE - Trema, the premier provider of financial technology, today announced that Bank of Greece has gone live with Finance KIT after completing the second phase of the implementation project, making it the first central bank to benefit from Trema's pre…
IMF mulls approach on terrorist funding
USA - Pressure from the US to act on terrorist financing has generated a debate within the International Monetary Fund on how it should respond.
Oman c bank say anti-laundering law in final stage
OMAN - Oman's central bank chief said on Friday the Gulf country was close to issuing a law against money laundering, the official Oman News Agency reported.
UK FSA warned against using show of strength
UK - The financial watchdog has been warned that any attempt to get a high-profile City scalp purely to demonstrate its new powers could break its own rules.
OECD forecasts recovery
The OECD's forecasts, while acknowledging that the world may already be in recession, suggest that the recession may not be prolonged and it still expects a sharp recovery next year. "I don't see this as a severe global recession," Chief Economist…
Euro on show in Beijing
An exhibition entitled "The Euro Is Here" has opened at the China Numismatic Museum in Beijing.
NZ's Brash wary of deflation
Speaking at a roadshow aimed at small businesses today the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Donald Brash stressed that deflation was just as much a concern as inflation with regard to defining price stability.
BOJ reluctant to ease monetary policy
Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami signalled reluctance to loosen monetary policy, doubting that it would have any effect.
ECB seeks bigger role in oversight of banks
GERMANY - The European Central Bank is aiming to reshape bank oversight in the European Union by giving itself a more prominent role.
Australia's res bank updates banks on terror links
AUSTRALIA - The Reserve Bank of Australia Friday updated financial institutions on the people identified by the United Nations and the U.S. as linked to terrorism.
Argentina gives details on refinancing debt
ARGENTINA - Argentina's government yesterday announced plans to refinance the debts of 10 provinces, the first leg of its effort to restructure the country's entire $155bn ( £106bn) stock of federal and provincial debt.
NZ res bank won't replace departing dep gov
NEW ZEALAND - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand isn't planning to fill the vacancy about to be created by the departure of one of its deputy governors, Murray Sherwin, officials said Wednesday.
Swiss regulator orders audit for Israeli bank unit
SWITZERLAND - The Swiss Federal Banking Commission said Tuesday it has concluded its investigations related to the country's money laundering case against Peru's former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos and has ordered a special audit of Bank Leumi Le…
EBRD: Russian banking reforms not enough
Russia has been slow in reforming its banking system and a key test will be how new enforcement powers given to the central bank are used, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in a report on Tuesday.
China lifts banking barriers to entry
The People's Bank of China has announced a programme for the opening of China's banking sector following the country's accession to the WTO.
Three cheers for the euro?
The euro received three notes of approval today from the the People's Bank of China, the IMF and the OECD.
Thai central bank re-financing
The Thai cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to re-finance 90 billion baht ($2.02 billion) in debts of a central bank unit set up to bail out and take over troubled financial institutions.
Buba's Welteke sees no '01 recession in Germany
GERMANY - Germany's economy is not in a recession and will grow at a small rate "above zero" in 2001, Deutsche Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke told German daily Frankfurter Rundschau in an interview conducted 22 October, but published on Friday.
Tight regulations for bank payments in Azerbaijan
AZERBAIJAN - In 2002, the National Bank of Azerbaijan (NBA) intends to draw in tight regulations for banking payments, said Elman Rustamov, Head of the National Bank of Azerbaijan. He said it is planned to utilize radical measures.
Banks in the US tighten lending standards
US - Reflecting the shaky US economy, banks have been tightening lending standards even as demand for loans continues to drop, according to the Federal Reserve's latest survey of loan officers.
Hungary's nat bank launch euro info campaign
HUNGARY - The National Bank of Hungary will launch an information campaign on 15 November to help Hungarian individuals to smoothly change their cash holdings in the 12 outgoing European currencies, estimated to be worth some HUF 70bn,NBH vice president…
DUMA won't deprive Russia's c bank of independence
RUSSIA - During a meeting of the working group of the Duma for the bill on the Central Bank on 12 November, deputies failed to come to agreement as to which body, the National Banking Council (NBC) or the Board of Directors, would govern the Central bank.
ECB's Noyer - Governing council may need change
UK - European Central Bank Vice President Christian Noyer said Monday that the ECB governing council may need to be reformed when accession countries from southern and eastern Europe eventually adopt the single currency.