News
Ex-Nigerian finance minister rejoins World Bank
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance and foreign minister in Nigeria, is set to become a managing director at the World Bank.
Kenya holds rates at 8.75%
The Central Bank of Kenya decided on Thursday to hold its benchmark rate at 8.75%.
Mark Carney replaces Dodge at the Bank of Canada
Mark Carney, the senior associate deputy minister of finance and a former head of Goldman Sachs in Canada, will become the youngest central bank chief in the G7 when he takes over from David Dodge as Bank of Canada governor in February 2008.
Rules found to hinder remittance payments
Regulatory compliance is the main barrier to doing business in the area of workers' remittance payments, according to a poll of Sibos delegates.
Hedge funds need transparency, not rules
US and EU regulators remain cool on calls for further regulation of the hedge fund sector.
Target2: ready to go
Five years in the making, Europe's new large-value payments system, known as Target2, is ready to go live on 19 November.
Europe set for SEPA after Sibos session
"SEPA is here! I met it in Boston," declared Jean-Michel Godeffroy, head of payments systems and market infrastructure at the European Central Bank (ECB), as Europe's payment players agreed to send, receive and process euro payments according to new…
Philippines cuts rates
The Central Bank of the Philippines surprised the markets on Thursday by deciding to lower its key policy rates by 25 basis points to 5.75%, for the overnight borrowing rate, and 7.75% for the overnight lending rate.
Egypt to use SIA-SSB payments system
Egypt's central bank picked SIA-SSB, an Italian technology company, to develop its new large-value payments, the company announced at Sibos.
ECB holds rates, but "stands ready" for rise
The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday decided to hold its benchmark rate at 4%.
Old Lady holds rates, relaxes reserve rules
The Bank of England's monetary policy committee on Thursday said it would keep its benchmark rate at 5.75%.
Fed to stay short of two governors
Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd has no plans to move three pending nominations to the Federal Reserve Board through his committee and onto the Senate floor, he said on 3 October.
Barbados to give more power to central bank
The Central Bank of Barbados could be granted more independence if the country's parliament agrees to pass its latest Central Bank act. The island's authorities will also open a financial services regulator within months.
Nigeria hikes rates
The Central Bank of Nigeria said on Thursday it would raise its benchmark monetary policy rate by a full percentage point to 9%.
US needs global payments standards, says industry
Should the US adopt international standards in its domestic payment systems? Surprisingly, "yes" was the overwhelming answer at a packed Sibos, Nick Carver, editor of SPEED, writes from Boston.
Ex-BoE supervision head criticises FSA
According to Peter Cooke, a former head of banking supervision at the Bank of England, the Northern Rock crisis revealed the need for a proper "mechanism for crisis management", a greater official focus on liquidity rather than solvency and more…
CSDs sceptical of ECB's settlement plans
Clearstream and Euroclear, Europe's two largest central securities depositories, were sceptical that the European Central Bank's (ECB) plans to build a single settlement platform will deliver the benefits the central bankers promise, Central Bank News…
Bernanke schedule reveals markets' influence
Details of the diary of Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, show the extent to which Wall Street executives, along with money managers and cabinet officials, played a role in his policy about-turn on 17 August.
No job losses under Bank of Italy branch closure
The Bank of Italy has reassured its employees that it will be making no redundancies, despite closing more than a third of its branches.
Banks struggle with SEPA set-up
More than half of banks will not be able to comply with the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiative, which comes into effect in January.
Strauss-Kahn appeases emerging states with votes
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who will become the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in November, plans to give developing countries more power at the Fund.
Czech CB appoints financial stability deputy
Jan Frait has joined the Czech National Bank as deputy executive director of the financial stability and economic research department at the central bank.
Serbia holds rates
The National Bank of Serbia decided on Monday to keep its key policy rate at 9.75%.
SWIFT responds to privacy fears with new EU base
SWIFT will open a Europe-based global processing centre for payments as part of a response to allay concerns over data privacy raised after the United States asked for data on financial transactions by Europeans following the 9/11 attacks.