European Central Bank (ECB)
ECB publishes letters between Trichet and Irish government
Letters relate to the period leading up to Ireland’s decision to enter an EU/IMF programme; ECB threatened to withhold access to ELA unless Ireland sought a bailout
Draghi dismisses reports of ECB rift
ECB president says it is ‘fairly normal to disagree about things’ and points to divisions on FOMC; earlier reports had raised questions over Draghi’s leadership style
ECB staff told to prepare for further measures
ECB keeps monetary policy stance unchanged; governing council tells staff to ensure the ‘timely preparation' of unspecified 'further measures’ to be implemented ‘if needed’
ECB unveils new website as SSM launches
Central bank launches new website dedicated to banking supervision, which features responsive design techniques to support viewing across desktops, tablets and smartphones
ECB’s Godeffroy sees clear path to 2015 T2S launch
Director-general leading Target 2 Securities project says testing is largely going to plan; platform to create ‘survival of the fittest’ environment for European CSDs
Visco calls for ‘block disposal’ of impaired assets
Bank of Italy governor laments growing stock of NPLs in country’s banking system; calls for ‘active management and recovery procedures’ to address it
Danièle Nouy says banks are ready to lend on eve of SSM
SSM supervisory board chair says banks are ready to lend and flow of credit to real economy now depends on ‘other actors’; first wave of ECB staff migrate to new premises
Dutch central bank adopts new supervisory structure
The Netherlands Bank is creating four new divisions as part of its response to the SSM launching this week; Femke de Vries has been appointed secretary-director as part of reshuffle
ECB enlists asset managers to carry out ABS programme
Deutsche Bank and State Street among private sector actors that will help spur credit creation in eurozone following ‘competitive' tender procedure; no fees disclosed
French paper considers impact of TLTROs on funding costs
Banque de France economist examines the funding conditions attached to the ECB’s targeted long-term refinancing operations; sees potential benefits for banks
Buba’s Dombret leads calls to focus on bank profitability
Andreas Dombret says German banks may be resilient, but they are not competitive; commentators at leading accountancies stress the need to focus on profitability
Monte dei Paschi’s shares plummet in wake of ECB results
Shares in Italy’s third-largest bank drop by 20% as the market reacts to stress-test results; MPS claims it was ‘penalised’ by methodology
ECB health check leaves 13 banks to raise €9.5 billion
Results of comprehensive assessment show 25 banks with capital shortfalls, but remedial actions taken throughout year leave just 13 banks short of targets
ECB will release bank health check results on Sunday
The European Central Bank will publish the asset quality review and stress test results for 130 eurozone banks this weekend. Here, Central Banking set outs what to look for.
IMF paper sees EU inflation expectations holding firm
Working paper says low core inflation in eurozone has had ‘significant’ impact on the rest of the region, though the main driver of disinflation remains food and energy prices
Cœuré says payments innovation is a double-edged sword
ECB’s Benoît Cœuré says new innovations such as virtual currencies can reveal ‘inefficiencies’ in existing products or approaches, but ‘often imply financial or security risks’
ECB health check ‘putting strains’ on Cyprus central bank
IMF staff report finds the operational capacity of the Central Bank of Cyprus is being stretched by the transition to the SSM, including the ECB's comprehensive assessment
Constâncio says ECB needs new tools to tackle shadow banking risks
Vice-president says central bank will need a broader arsenal to cope with risks in the shadow banking sector, suggesting the US and UK both have powers that could be useful
ECB taking minutes leak ‘very seriously’
Quotes from governing council discussions between May 2012 and January 2013 appear in press; reveal Jens Weidmann’s concerns over ELA provided to Cypriot bank
French paper examines impact of ECB policy changes on asset prices
Working paper considers how ‘policy shocks’ affected short-term interest rates, as well as the expected future path of short-term interest rates, between 2002 and 2013
Mersch: Asset buying may widen income inequality
Non-standard measures ‘shouldn’t last too long’, according to ECB executive board member Yves Mersch, because they could ‘widen income inequality’
Danièle Nouy: Fed facing similar data challenges as ECB
The supervisory board chair delivers concluding remarks to the ECB conference on statistics; notes similarities between approach of Fed and European authorities to data problems
ECB eases collateral requirements for Greek bonds as borrowing costs soar
European Central Bank says it will reduce the haircut it applies to Greek government bonds, but insists it is not an ‘ad hoc reaction’ to this week’s market stress
ECB conference tackles ‘reconciliation’ of statistics as central bank’s powers expand
Senior central bank officials from across Europe discuss the challenge of creating an integrated approach to statistics across monetary policy, financial stability and supervisory functions