Bank of England (BoE)
Canadians want more women on banknotes, poll shows
Bank of Canada’s banknotes should reflect more gender equality and a better celebration of women, according to the Canadians who participated in an online survey by the central bank
Bank of England MPC still split 7-2 on rates
Minutes from the December meeting show Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale voted for a 25bp hike for the fifth consecutive month; they argue wage growth could ‘pick up sharply’
Robert Pringle's Viewpoint: The global finance system is in bad need of repair
Muddling through is not enough: neglect of global money can trigger political earthquakes that sweep away any chance of reasonable debate and compromise
First BoE stress test uncovers capital shortfall
One UK bank failed the Bank of England's stress test scenario and two more have had to raise additional capital; Carney says future tests may be less forgiving
Bank of England unveils sweeping transparency changes
Bank of England to publish transcripts of monetary policy meetings, cut number of meetings, revamp committee structures and more; Barry Eichengreen says benefits likely to ‘dominate’ costs
Cluster effect helps explain size of UK banking sector, BoE bulletin finds
Firms and people locating near one another means banks may be able to provide services more efficiently in the UK than other countries, researchers say
BoE’s Bailey considers relevance of macro-prudential tools in insurance sector
Deputy governor says there is a ‘good argument’ for a macro-prudential response to a situation where insurers are liquidating their assets on a pro-cyclical basis
BoE extends Funding for Lending Scheme
Scheme will continue for an additional year in a bid to boost credit provision to small businesses; Mark Carney admits lending to smaller firms is still problematic
BoJ launches ‘plain language’ economics journal
‘Research Lab’ journal aims to convey Bank of Japan’s research in a ‘concise and plain’ fashion, with the publication tailored for mobile phone and tablet users
BoE researchers posit dual model of interbank markets
Working paper separates exposures from funding to show the two parts of the interbank market have different structures; large ‘core’ banks present contagion risk
BoE paper says loan fair value techniques come with 'health warnings'
Researchers say it is unlikely that any one technique will capture all relevant aspects of valuation across all types of bank loans
People: BoE poaches IMF researcher; Nigeria's central bank deputy stands down
Michael Kumhof leaves the IMF to join the Bank of England as senior research advisor; Kingsley Moghalu leaves the Central Bank of Nigeria after five years; and more
New payments regulator in UK may have uneasy relationship with BoE
Treasury committee highlights potential for conflicting objectives between newly formed payments regulator and the Bank of England; Tyrie says independence ‘pretty heavily circumscribed’
Central banks weighing the benefits of bitcoin
Digital or ‘crypto’ currencies are controversial among central banks, but some see merits in their use and a few may even issue their own; more digital currency innovation likely in future
BoE officials defend use of labour market data in policy-making
Mark Carney and other top officials say labour market data quality is variable but always carefully examined; central bank may publish details of agents’ assessment of the economy
BoE picks Deloitte to review RTGS failure
Consultancy firm to conduct investigation into outage in real-time gross settlement system that saw system break down for several hours
BoE’s Taylor defends complexity of leverage ratio plans
External FPC member says countercyclical leverage ratio may be more complex than a flat rate, but allows the Bank of England to be less heavy-handed with the rule and avoid perverse incentives
Top EU court should dismiss UK bonus cap plea, says advocate general
Opinion rejects UK’s main legal challenge to EU bonus cap law and argues use of word ‘cap’ is misleading; UK Treasury says opinion ‘demolishes’ case for fixed ratio
BoE’s Forbes says financial ‘deglobalisation’ has upside
Kristin Forbes highlights ‘massive contraction’ in global bank flows as main factor reversing financial globalisation, resulting in both positive and negative effects on the UK economy
Robert Pringle’s Viewpoint: Time to cure central bankers’ deflation phobia
The policies followed since the ‘great crisis’ have not succeeded in restoring confidence. It is time to try a different approach
UK bank reforms may be ‘diluted’, warns parliamentary commission
Former members of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards warn regulations are at risk of being misinterpreted, diluted by lobbying, or applied incorrectly
BoE to challenge orthodoxy with research ‘revolution’
More combative approach to Bank of England’s research will see economists challenge orthodoxy – including the central bank’s own policies – as often as they support it, says Andrew Haldane
Carney dismisses call for helicopter money
Bank of England governor says he ‘cannot envisage any circumstance’ where direct central bank financing of government debt would be justified – but some central banks may already be doing it
Carney: Inflation ‘likely’ to drop below 1%
Bank of England signals rates firmly on hold into 2015 as probability rises of inflation falling below 1% in the short run; real wage growth likely to accelerate over the year