News
Establishment of Southern African currency union delayed: Sarb’s Mminele
South African Reserve Bank deputy governor Daniel Mminele says timeline for adoption of Southern African Development Community single currency will be reviewed
Central banks’ gold purchases continue; 20-year selling trend bucked
Official sector continued to be net buyers of bullion in three months to January; figures confirm that central banks were net buyers for first time in 20 years in 2010
Future of macro policy far from set, says IMF’s Blanchard
Exploration is the order of the day, IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard claims; predicts central role for behavioural economics
BoE rate-setters split four ways once more
Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee minutes shows three members continued to vote for rate hikes despite downward revision in fourth quarter of 2010 growth figures
IMFC names Tharman Shanmugaratnam as new chair
Singapore’s finance minister and former central bank head succeeds Youssef Boutros-Ghali, Egypt’s former finance minister
Fed profits soar to record $82 billion
Federal Reserve posts another record profit, trumping 2010 by $28 billion; $79 billion transferred to Treasury
Ireland’s chief regulator gets tough on corporate governance
Chief regulator Matthew Elderfield says poor governance exacerbated by cosy nature of corporate life in Ireland
Barclays shows interest in Maiden Lane II assets: reports
Reports that Barclays may consider an offer for residential mortgage-backed securities held in New York Federal Reserve’s Maiden Lane II portfolio could thwart AIG bid
Hungary revamps inflation report
National Bank of Hungary says enhancements will improve efficiency of monetary policy communications
SNB signs MoU on membership to Bank Council
Federal Department of Finance and the Swiss National Bank sign Memorandum of Understanding on criteria for appointments to central bank’s governing body
FSB criticises industry for lack of progress on risk disclosure
Financial Stability Board says more action needed on liquidity, counterparty, structured credit disclosure practices
ESRB discusses regulatory division of labour; names external experts
European Systemic Risk Board’s second meeting covers how regulatory responsibilities will be split; Balcerowicz, Brunnermeier and Wyplosz among external experts
US Treasury to offload $142 billion in agency MBS
US Treasury announces plans to wind down portfolio of agency securities bought from beleaguered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during crisis; move not expected to impact Fed policy
Basel Committee may adjust 'blunt' CCP default fund capital
Netting treatment in controversial current exposure method is up for discussion at an April stakeholder meeting, but regulators reject other criticisms
Risk officers concerned about regulators’ approach to branch liquidity
Some risk officers at international and domestic banks in the Asia-Pacific region are frustrated by the regulatory focus on country-by-country stress tests and a trend towards branch liquidity.
Hungary selects final two external rate-setters
Hungarian parliament selects two external rate-setters to National Bank of Hungary’s Monetary Council, taking it to full capacity
New York Fed enters the blogosphere
Regional Fed’s research and statistics group project aims for “direct dialogue” with web users
G-7 pledges intervention to stem yen appreciation
Finance ministers and central bank governors say they will cooperate to counter volatility of Japanese currency in aftermath of Tohoku earthquake
FSoC to take ‘flexible approach’ to identifying systemically important financial market infrastructures
US Financial Stability Oversight Council outlines criteria for what qualifies as systemically important financial market infrastructure
EBA stress tests: adverse scenario toughened up
Stress tests underway for European banks use harsher adverse scenario and tighter capital rules than tests carried out last year
CLS welcomes new Basel working group on FX settlement risk
Work between central banks and supervisors that was halted at the onset of the financial crisis is now set to continue
Norges Bank back in black; sovereign fund yields 9.6% return
Norway’s central bank makes a profit in 2010 following 2009 loss; sovereign wealth fund boosted by equity gains
S&P downgrades Bahrain
Standard and Poor’s downgrades Bahrain’s credit rating two notches to BBB amid continued political unrest
UK FSA’s Turner puts forth case for more discretion
Chairman of the Financial Services Authority Adair Turner argues discretion vital if regulators are to temper the excesses of credit cycles