Bank of England (BoE)
Bank of England launches redesigned financial stability report
Central bank aims to convey a clearer picture of the risks facing the UK economy with a shorter, clearer and less repetitious financial stability report
Haldane blames ‘dread risk’ for ultra-low rates
Exaggerated fear of catastrophic but rare events may be a factor behind stubbornly low interest rates, Bank of England chief economist says
Carney says regulations may have gone too far
It is time to ‘take stock’ of financial regulations to ensure they are not imposing unintended consequences, Bank of England governor says
BoE’s Cunliffe sees more efficient UK firms in coming years
Deputy governor justifies MPC forecast that productivity growth will finally pick up in 2016 and 2017, pointing to the potential for efficiency gains within firms as the economy grows
BoE launches ‘Bank Underground’ research blog
Blog provides platform for researchers to voice more controversial ideas; comes alongside rebranded staff working papers, written with ‘hands off’ approach from senior managers
BoE report details ‘innovative’ liquidity insurance tool
Indexed long-term repos were introduced as part of liquidity facility upgrades after the global financial crisis, and are designed to automatically adjust to stress
Bank of England's Rule says reigniting securitisation market will take time
Executive director cautions against rushing to restart securitisation market, as a return to pre-crisis ‘fragile’ market would be counterproductive
ECB’s Mersch dismisses concerns over T2S launch at weekend
ECB executive board member admits a few bugs remain in Target2 Securities system, but argues they are not major and will not interrupt this weekend’s migration
BoE staff costs rose 6% in 2015, annual report shows
Growing number of senior staff added to central bank’s wage bill for the year; Mark Carney turned down pay rises but still received package worth nearly $1.4 million
Market participants cheer FEMR recommendations
Dealers, customers and platforms all welcomed the outcome of the long-awaited review
BoE minutes help markets shape expectations, paper finds
Working paper published by ECB finds markets make use of minutes when forming short-term expectations, but relationship breaks down over longer horizons
BoE’s McCafferty says UK not yet in ‘true deflation’
External MPC member says ‘dangerous but rare’ deflation has not taken hold in the UK, although inflation expectations have shifted down slightly
BoE launches push to create global forex code that ‘has teeth’
Fair and Effective Markets Review recommends effort to establish global code of conduct as part of implementing UK regulation of fixed income, currency and commodity markets
BoE appoints Andrew Hauser to new executive director role
Head of Fair and Effective Markets Review appointed to new executive director role with responsibility over balance sheet risks, payments and banking operations
Kohn targets more ‘systematic’ macro-prudential policy
Member of the Bank of England’s FPC says the committee should keep developing a more systematic approach to identifying risks and choosing tools to address them
BoE paper questions dominance of Normal distribution
Using the t distribution and time-varying variance improves a vector autoregression’s fit with the data and forecasting performance, researchers find
Stanley Fischer praises BoE financial stability set-up as ‘leading model’
Fed vice-chair explores different arrangements for financial stability and concludes separate committee within central bank is a good model; does not rule out leaning against wind
BoE research warns failure to capture money creation distorts DSGE models
Working paper offers ‘essential ingredients’ of a DSGE model that recognises bank lending as the source of money creation, with significant implications for economic modelling
Central bank liquidity surge is not without historical precedent
Major central banks have injected $14 trillion of liquidity into the global economic system, but such surges are not without historical precedent
BoE’s Taylor dismisses calls for ring-fence to be dismantled
FPC member warns of damage that could be done if ‘increasingly shrill’ voices calling for regulation to be rolled back are heeded
BoE concerned by broken long-term investment incentives
FPC continues work on procyclicality and short-termism among pension funds and insurers, but participants at event in London suggest others may now need to pick up the baton
BoE’s Weale warns MPC may have underestimated oil price impact
A failure to grasp the full importance of ‘tail events’ may have caused the monetary policy committee to underestimate the strength and duration of the oil shock’s impact on inflation, Weale says
Historic BoE minutes shed light on troublesome money supply targets
Court minutes from the era of money supply targeting highlight the central bank’s struggle to control inflation amid unclear indicators and an occasionally fractious relationship with government
BoE asks public to nominate artist for next £20 note
Mark Carney says next individual on £20 note will be a visual artist, and asks members of the public to nominate people from the field; committee will then draw up a shortlist