Opinion
SEC eyes tougher options rules
US securities regulators are close to proposing tougher new rules over the disclosure and approval of stock option plans by US companies. By John Labate in New York, The Financial Times.
Dutch inflation harms competitive position-Wellink
The Netherlands' competitive position is deteriorating due to inflation above the European average and higher wage demands, Dutch central bank president Nout Wellink said in an interview with a Dutch newspaper.
Canada's dollar - to fix or not -Friedman, Mundell
In an exclusive e-mail exchange arranged by Canada's Financial Post, Nobel Prize-winning economists Milton Friedman and Robert Mundell debate the future of the world currency system, from the euro to the Canadian dollar. This is the second installment in…
Interview: Howard Davies
Following the passage of the Financial Services and Markets Act, the UK'sFinancial Services Authority is gearing up to assume full legal powers as the UK'ssingle regulator. In an exclusive interview, Howard Davies, FSA chairman andchief executive,…
Decoding the codes - is it worth the effort?
In the latest issue of The Financial Regulator, Lionel Price, Managing Director at Fitch Ratings, asks whether regulatory minimum standards can do the job expected of them.
Ten commandments for supervising mega-firms
If supervisors are to contain the risks posed by global financial conglomerates,urgent changes are needed. George J. Vojta, former vice-chairman of BankersTrust, proposes ten principles for supervising systemically important financialinstitutions.
Combating harmful tax practices
The OECD wants to stop wealthier taxpayers leaving the poor to foot the tax bill. In the latest issue of "The Financial Regulator", Dr William Witherell, Director, Financial, Fiscal and Enterprise Affairs, OECD, addresses some misunderstandings about the…
Principles for financial plumbers
Payment systems, the "plumbing" underpinning international capital markets, aretoo often ignored. John Trundle from the Bank of England, who recently helpeddevise new standards for payment system safety, explains what changes areneeded in the latest…
Friedman v. Mundell on exchange rates
Canada's Financial Post asked the two Nobel laureates Milton Friedman and Robert Mundell to participate in an exclusive e-mail debate about each other's views on modern day economics. Below we reprint the debate which was publish in the Financial Post on…
Fed likely to pass buck on predatory lending
An article published in the American Banker journal says that consumer groups hoping for the Federal Reserve Board to start cracking down on predatory lenders may be sorely disappointed when the central bank takes up the issue Wednesday.
EC put pressure on Germany's Landesbank reform
The following is an article from The Economist magazine entitled "Under pressure from the European Commission, Germany's public-sector banks are thinking openly about reforming themselves."
Whither Bank Indonesia?
Should Bank Indonesia be re-capitalised like its neighbour in the Philippines to prevent the Indonesian economy sliding further into desperation? An article by newspaper Asia Pulse.
ECB head sees rosy future for euro
The president of the European Central Bank, Wim Duisenberg, has spoken about a turnaround in euro exchange rates for the first time, telling Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun in an interview in Frankfurt that the European currency could keep rising.
Greenspan talk lifts markets - John Berry
Financial markets rallied strongly yesterday after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan acknowledged that US economic growth has slowed "appreciably," convincing many investors that the central bank will begin to cut short-term interest rates if…
Georgian c.bank head sees stable lari, IMF loans
Georgia's lari currency should be stable next year, enabling the country to meet conditions to unlock loans from its largest creditor, the International Monetary Fund, the central bank governor said in an interview with Reuters.
CNB dispute may damage central bank's independence
The Czech government on Wednesday refused to approve the president's appointment of Zdenek Tuma as governor of the Czech National Bank, escalating a dispute that could damage the stability and independence of the central bank, The Financial Times writes…
RBI governor says policy juggling is the best
Many central banks around the world target price inflation, but the RBI has multiple economic targets, says Alan Beattie from the Financial Times.
Bundesbank brings central banking to the public
Benedict Weller is captivated by the Bundesbank's spanking new Geldmuseum.
Dwight Venner on the role of the ECCB
The ECCB is adopting anambitious and strategicprogramme of activities toraise the level of economicliteracy in the EasternCaribbean. Governor K Dwight Venner explains how.
Governors under siege
The Quarterly Journal of Central Banking says in an editorial that far-reaching international movement during the 1990s to grant centralbanks legal independence has represented a major step forward in publicpolicy, but, as recent events have demonstrated…
Interview with Ernst Welteke
Ernst Welteke, president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, talks with the editor of the Quarterly Journal of Central Banking, Robert Pringle, about the forthcoming restructuring of the Bundesbank, the euro, the ECB and the need for greater political…
The euro and the political debate in Europe
Political union is necessary for the success of European monetary union, argues Professor Andre Szasz, so that Eurozone members begin to accept that their neighbour's problems are now their problems. But lack of policy coordination, potentially could…
Interview with Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz
The changes to Poland's monetary policy framework in the 1997 National Bank of Poland Act have proved rather difficult to swallow. But now the reforms are bedding down, central bank presidentHanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz can focus on preparing Poland for…