European Central Bank (ECB)
Orphanides: governments should rein in ‘immense power’ of central banks
Central bank balance sheets give them power to dramatically affect the distribution of wealth, undermining democracy, former Central Bank of Cyprus governor argues
Constâncio calls for ‘deep reflection’ on public support for banks
ECB vice-president Vítor Constâncio suggests European Union should consider relaxing its rules on state aid to banks; cites IMF concerns and example of US bail-out
Model-based regulation in Germany had unintended consequences, researchers say
The move to model-based banking regulation in Germany studied in working paper; loan default and loss rates rose for loans created under new regime
Draghi protests at Slovene police raid on central bank premises
Mario Draghi protests over a Slovene police raid on the country’s central bank and seizure of ECB information; calls on commission head Jean-Claude Juncker to take further action if necessary
Nouy sees need for rethink of reporting systems
Danièle Nouy says new thinking is needed to help banks and supervisors deal with a ‘paradigm shift’ in data collection; European reporting framework for all banks should be considered
Granular data aids policy transmission understanding, Draghi says
ECB president highlights “very rich information set” launched this week; involves reporting data on up to 35,000 daily transactions in the money market
Italian banking system sees first major test of European bail-in regime
Leaked letter from ECB triggers sell-off in major Italian commercial bank; European and Italian authorities still fail to reach agreement on resolving NPL problems
Policy-makers should base analysis on broad set of monetary aggregates, paper argues
Analysis of the stability of demand for components of monetary aggregates in the eurozone argues against reliance on a single measure, researcher says
QE has mitigated trade shock to eurozone, ECB’s Praet says
ECB's easing has prevented trade shock from reducing eurozone growth rates, Peter Praet argues; "increasing evidence" that negative deposit rates improve QE’s pass-through
Releases of monetary data aid market rate expectations – paper
Working paper published by ECB shows releases of monetary data is helpful to financial markets in forming rate expectations
Mersch stresses importance of democratic legitimacy in Europe
Executive board member at the ECB wants to see the decision-making process in Europe enhanced; calls for a “shared EU-wide identity”
Effective lower bound has ‘tail risk’ influence on monetary policy, ECB paper argues
The ‘tail risk’ induced by the possibility of rates reaching their effective lower bound can cause serious undershooting of inflation targets, an ECB working paper argues
Draghi: Central bankers must align policies
ECB president calls for greater alignment and better communication of economic policy across national borders; calls for globally co-ordinated fiscal expansion on lines of 2008-09
Europe’s regulatory challenges seen increasing in wake of ‘Brexit’
The UK’s possible departure from the European Union could intensify regulatory problems in region, one analyst says; Mifid and European Banking Authority may be key areas of concern
ECB restores ‘waiver’ to let Greek banks access cheaper finance
ECB restores waiver to Greek government bonds, lowering the cost of finance for Greece's central bank; demands further adherence to conditionality, but holds out possibility of buying government bonds
SSM challenges eurozone banks to improve governance
Supervisor warns most significant banks in eurozone fall short of international best practices; presents lessons from assessment of management bodies and risk appetite frameworks
Eurozone investment still ‘unsatisfactory’, Draghi says
Mario Draghi calls for extension of European Investment plan and national reforms targeted at "bottlenecks"; eurozone investment still "unsatisfactory" despite recent gains, ECB president says
German Constitutional Court rules in favour of ECB programme
Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court rules ECB may undertake outright monetary transactions, but sets strict conditions to be monitored by the German government
ECB researchers add financial sectors to eurozone general equilibrium model
Modifications to general equilibrium model of eurozone allows proper modelling of domestic and cross-country effects of financial shocks, ECB researchers argue
Electronic payment system standards will be a 2016 priority, EBA says
Developing technical standards for European electronic payment systems will be a priority for 2016, the EBA says; authority will continue to work closely with ECB
ECB bulletin article criticises EU fiscal arrangements
The eurozone's fiscal arrangements are "vague", article in the ECB’s latest economic bulletin says; criticises Commission's proposed fiscal metrics and calls for single eurozone treasury
Nouy renews calls for Pillar 2 'guidance'
European supervisors should employ "capital guidance", Danièle Nouy says; large eurozone banks currently disadvantaged compared with competitors, ECB's supervisory head argues
Oil price falls may have negative effects on global economy, ECB warns
Falling oil prices may negatively affect global GDP growth and could threaten financial stability across emerging markets, ECB bulletin says; demand not supply now main pressure on prices
Prospective eurozone members fail to meet convergence criteria, ECB says
Seven prospective member countries show greater convergence in their economic indicators but fail to meet requirements for their legal frameworks, ECB report says