News
Ingves mulls asset purchases as Riksbank cuts repo rate to zero
Asset purchases could be on the cards if historic cut fails to boost inflation, says governor; rates expected to stay at zero until mid-2016
Bank of England seeks global consensus on ‘fair and effective’ markets
Review aims to fix outstanding issues with market structure and conduct; Minouche Shafik says the central bank is working with others globally to build a consensus
Banque de France and HKMA ink renminbi deal
Central banks seek closer ties to help develop renminbi business in Hong Kong and Paris; Christian Noyer hails the two cities as ‘among the most important’ for offshore renminbi trade
Serbian central bank dismisses losses as ‘accounting measure’
National Bank of Serbia loses $462 million in 2013; attributes it to range of factors including falling gold prices and a new ‘corporate profit tax’ on non-profit organisations
People: Poland names new vice-president; Riksbank general council appoints new chair
Anna Trzecińska returns to National Bank of Poland as vice-president; Riksbank general council elects Susanne Eberstein as chairman; and more
Sarb launches investigation into forex traders
Central bank joins growing list of regulators concerned by potential for misconduct among foreign exchange market practitioners
Buba’s Dombret leads calls to focus on bank profitability
Andreas Dombret says German banks may be resilient, but they are not competitive; commentators at leading accountancies stress the need to focus on profitability
Monte dei Paschi’s shares plummet in wake of ECB results
Shares in Italy’s third-largest bank drop by 20% as the market reacts to stress-test results; MPS claims it was ‘penalised’ by methodology
Bank Indonesia sets out reform agenda for next 10 years
Improving control over inflation and support for financial system stability are the main goals of the ’transformation program’
ECB health check leaves 13 banks to raise €9.5 billion
Results of comprehensive assessment show 25 banks with capital shortfalls, but remedial actions taken throughout year leave just 13 banks short of targets
Stevens exerts pressure on Australian payments industry
RBA governor says the central bank would be ‘duty bound’ to use its regulatory powers to bring about change if the market does not do so of its own free will
BoE researchers flag potential flaws in CCP default funds
Paper asks whether ‘cover two’ standard for central counterparties is tough enough to prevent ‘disaster’; some distributions of risk give cause for concern
ECB will release bank health check results on Sunday
The European Central Bank will publish the asset quality review and stress test results for 130 eurozone banks this weekend. Here, Central Banking set outs what to look for.
China, India, among founders of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Twenty-one Asian countries establish a new institution to aid infrastructure development in the region, which will be fully operational by the end of 2015
Fed issues tougher and broader 2015 stress tests
Severely adverse scenario adds oil price shock and wider corporate bond spreads; list of stress-tested institutions grows
Bank of England spells out resolution plans
Central bank details its approach to resolving a failed financial institution, including the use of bail-in, restructuring and international cooperation with other regulators
Central Bank of Iraq updates 5,000 and 25,000 dinar banknotes
The central bank says the new banknotes will coexist with their predecessors; most notable change sees addition of transparent window on 25,000 note
Uruguay digitises cheque clearing in payments overhaul
Central bank announces that all cheques will be cleared electronically – part of a payment system reform that will see the promotion of mobile banking
Rajan overruled external members’ call for rate cut in September
External members on RBI’s technical advisory committee see the case for easing, and the majority voted for a rate cut in September; deputy governor portfolios shaken up
BIS paper finds liquidity regulation need not harm lending
Evidence from the UK implies banks reduced their interconnectedness, but did not cut lending to the real economy in response to tighter liquidity regulations in 2010
Bailey accuses EBA of comms blunder
BoE deputy says EBA ‘incorrectly transmitted’ the news that its vote on an opinion regarding bonus caps had been unanimous - as he voted against it
Mexican committee makes progress on bank liquidity rules
Bank of Mexico is setting up new rules on banking liquidity that will take effect in January 2015, in line with Basel III requirements; work progressed through new committee
National Bank of Denmark to outsource production of banknotes and coins
The National Bank of Denmark will outsource all of its printing and minting services to an external supplier in 2016, with an estimated saving of $17 million by 2020
EBA finds Bulgarian National Bank ‘in breach’ of EU law
The European Banking Authority issues a recommendation calling for the Bulgarian authorities to allow depositors access to the funds held by failed banks