Federal Reserve System
Yellen says rate hike ‘could come sooner than currently expected'
Fed chair acknowledges ‘considerable uncertainty' about level of US slack on FOMC, prompted by labour market changes that 'have yet to be understood'
FOMC members ‘increasingly uncomfortable' with Fed's forward guidance
Members are interpreting recent economic upturn very differently, new minutes show; views differ on how to communicate labour market improvements to the public
Fed orders banks to break open black boxes
Vendor models need to be properly validated for 2015 stress tests, Fed insists – but banks say they are finding it hard to get the required information
Central banks need significant discretion to make swap lines work, says ECB
The pricing, size and maturity of standing currency swap lines when activated need to be left to central bank discretion, ECB says in latest Monthly Bulletin; language is 'intentionally unspecific’
Stanley Fischer upbeat on US productivity potential
Fed vice-chair says productivity cycles are ‘extremely difficult to predict'; emphasises possibility that productivity will continue to rise in line with historical average
Twenty-five defining moments
Central Banking identifies 25 of the most significant events to have shaped the official sector during the past 25 years.
Can central bankers live up to their role as the guardians of finance?
Central bankers need to be the risk managers of the financial system to help mitigate the fallout from future crises. Those that engaged in the latest bouts of QE have not made a good start
Book notes: The Dollar Trap, by Eswar S Prasad
A lively and compelling analysis on currency wars in the wake of the financial crisis – and the likely persistence of the US dollar as the world’s pre-eminent currency
Book notes: Deliberating American Monetary Policy, by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey
Using recordings of meetings of not only the FOMC but also of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee, the book tries to understand how monetary policy is decided
Emerging market governors favour Fed policy normalisation, says MAS’ Menon
MAS head Ravi Menon says most emerging market central banks want to see the Fed normalise policy, China is at an inflection point and Singapore could lose out from new OTC derivatives rules
Fed survey says 40% of US households still struggling to make ends meet
A third of respondents said they were ‘somewhat or much worse off' than before the financial crisis, while a fifth are spending more than they earn
Mexico’s Carstens hails Fed’s communication on tapering
Augustin Carstens says Fed has ‘gone out of its way’ to spell out timing and dangers of adjustment; calls on Europe and Japan to ‘depend less on monetary policy’
Agustín Carstens on Fed policy, shadow banking and Mexico's economic strengths
Agustín Carstens, governor of the Bank of Mexico, speaks about the work of the IMF, tackling shadow banking and how Mexico has kept a strong economic position in the midst of the financial crisis.
Fed blasts big banks over ‘unrealistic' living wills
Eleven firms, including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, must take ‘immediate action to improve their resolvability', US central bank says
OCC 'disappointed' at lack of accounting convergence
With US and international loan-loss accounting rules set to diverge, bank regulators are preparing to level up the resulting capital differences
Fed's Plosser dissents over unchanged forward guidance in face of US 'rebound'
Janet Yellen sees second dissent since taking the Federal Reserve chair in January; FOMC language suggests members are becoming more sanguine about economic trajectory
Credit cards account for more than half of all payment cards in the US, report shows
Credit cards accounted for 334 million of the 776 million ‘general purpose cards' used in 2012; Over 250 million mobile payments made using mobile wallet application, Fed study finds
IMF calls on Fed to formally explain policy normalisation strategy
IMF stresses need for 'greater clarity' on how Fed intends to exit accommodative policy stance; warns use of Fed funds rate could 'pose challenge' amid balance sheet reduction
‘Shadow' Fed funds rate suggests Fed should have loosened more following crisis
Kansas City Fed study says Fed should have been more active in early stage of ‘Great Recession' but also notes policy became ‘considerably' more accommodative over time
Robert Pringle’s Viewpoint: Start policy normalisation now!
Policy changes are needed to reduce the chances of another recession
Yellen tells Congress Fed is ‘most transparent in the world'
Fed chair Janet Yellen faces Congressman who wants to enforce rules-based monetary policy, telling him it would compromise central bank independence
Yellen endorses calls for ‘community banker' on Fed board
Fed chair Janet Yellen says legislating to earmark seats on the board would be a mistake, but agrees the board would be improved by the addition of a community banker
Fed set to finish taper in October
FOMC mulls decision on whether to raise Fed funds rate or shrink balance sheet first before year-end; fears either strategy could jeopardise Fed's communication efforts
FOMC members offer conflicting takes on US inflation path
Jeffery Lacker says inflation is moving closer to the Fed's 2% target, while Narayana Kocherlakota warns reaching it may take another four years