Bank of England (BoE)
BoE signals extra slack as it revises growth outlook upwards
Mark Carney indicates the MPC is willing to keep rates on hold, although risks may emerge as details become clear about the UK’s EU departure; UK government publishes a white paper on Brexit
UK financial regulators finalise plans to strengthen enforcement and transparency
PRA and FCA publish measures that will keep financial firms better informed about investigations; new framework will “command public confidence”
Brexit pain may be coming – panel
Former Bank of England officials warn of fading consumer spending and investment
Fintech is threatening universal banking as we know it – Carney
Carney highlights how fintech could threaten conventional banking through the provision of services; BoE governor also explores the pros and cons of a centrally issued digital currency
‘Flash’ currency moves will continue to surprise markets – BoE’s Salmon
Bank of England executive director says there is “growing potential” for flash events to occur in core markets, despite markets now being able to identify risks
BoE paper maps contagion via CDS market
Economists identify mechanism whereby declining creditworthiness can spill from one bank to another via credit default swaps
Carney: 250,000 jobs lost by 2018 if BoE had not acted after Brexit vote
BoE governor defends 2016 action by underlining policy trade-off, but warns consumers are "looking through" Brexit-related uncertainties
People: RBNZ appoints new CIO; former BoE deputy to chair BBC
Reserve Bank of New Zealand appoints new CIO and head of risk assessment; David Clementi, former Bank of England deputy for financial stability, to head new BBC board; and more
Monitoring the labour market is key – BoE’s Saunders
Bank of England’s MPC member says unemployment should stay below the equilibrium 5% estimate in 2017 – but, should “warning signs appear”, changes to forecasts could be made
Carney admits Brexit is no longer UK’s biggest stability risk
Bank of England governor quizzed on importance of transitional arrangements for Brexit; external financial policy member defends forecasting, but admits “surprise” at the health of the economy
BoE paper tackles big data on Swiss franc de-pegging
Trade repository data sheds light on liquidity problems and market fragmentation around the removal of the SNB’s Swiss franc floor in January 2015
Haldane hopeful for ‘rebirth’ of economics
BoE chief economist believes crisis for the profession could lead to a break with past thinking; offers solutions to productivity problems
BoE paper experiments with measuring vulnerabilities
The study finds the US had highest levels of vulnerability in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, with Asia and Europe appearing “robust”; the picture has now reversed, authors say
BoE article sees benefits to agent-based modelling
“Bottom-up” approach is complementary to models that are already widely used; the Bank of England has created new models for both housing and corporate bond markets
BoJ and ECB collaborate on distributed ledger tech
The project will examine the possibility of running central bank infrastructure platforms in a DL environment; research will focus on payments and securities settlement
Inflation to reach 2% target in next six months, BoE says
MPC votes unanimously to leave rates unchanged at 0.25%; exchange rate appreciation suggests smaller overshoot of inflation target than previously forecast
Non-linear shocks create asymmetric policy impacts – paper
Bank of England working paper shows a shock to mortgage spreads has more of an impact on the real economy during periods of recession, with implications for policy
BoE’s Woods: firms favour ‘transitional’ Brexit period
Prudential Regulation Authority chief quizzed on best course of action for financial firms during Brexit process; “preferential” market access is not necessary, but seems sensible, he says
BoE studies effects of capital requirements on balance sheets
After the financial crisis, banks placed more emphasis on asset deleveraging and adjusted their capital management practices
BoE paper drops rational expectations to solve unemployment puzzles
Replacing rational expectations with adaptive learning helps fit the standard theory of unemployment to the data, economists find
UK inflation expectations leap in fourth quarter
Brexit shock appears to have driven increase in inflation expectations; satisfaction with Bank of England remains high, but looks likely to fall as inflation rises
BoE’s Salmon seeks to fix deadline for delayed Libor replacement
Chris Salmon sets three-month target to finalise transition plan and reach decision on design for risk-free rate
BoE’s Hauser praises plan for integrated retail payments scheme
Faster Payments, Bacs and Cheque Clearing to be integrated into one system, Hauser says; ISO20022 to make interbank payments “much easier” for the UK
Federal Reserve conducts in-depth study into distributed ledger technology
Central bank publishes first paper discussing the benefits of distributed ledger technology in the realm of payments, and clearing and settlement; use of DLT could address “financial frictions”