The Americas
Central banks maintain average of four cash centres
Figure has remained stable for the last five years
Slightly more central banks have access-to-cash policies
Almost two-thirds of respondents have access policies and nearly half minimum service rules
Majority of central banks maintain currency denominations
Only a few countries removed denominations from active circulation in past five years
Visual aids nearly universal on banknotes
Majority of respondents use four or five features on their paper currency
Central banks report increase in value of banknotes in circulation
Average volume of notes declines by 2.9% year on year
Central banks report continued fall in cash usage
Share of cash payments remains high in upper-middle income jurisdictions, but falls marginally overall
Bond market turmoil could aid Fed policy, say FOMC members
Phillip Jefferson and Lorie Logan say financing points to strong economic momentum
Commercial real estate poses financial stability risks – research
Researchers say current strength of commercial real estate loans may not persist
Federal Reserve Board joins Instagram and Threads
Move to social media platforms follows those by regional Feds and other central banks
Bank of Canada researchers claim breakthrough in credentialisation
System’s creators use a Merkle tree to create “secret-free and quantum-safe” method
‘Buy now, pay later’ may target the financially fragile – NY Fed
Researchers warn sector may not be resilient
Wallstreet and others rank highest for reserves technology services
Ion’s Wallstreet treasury system tops the 2023 rankings
Reserve managers rank JP Morgan top for custody and banking
BlackRock preferred for knowledge transfer and capacity building
Reserve managers vote BlackRock as overall best asset manager
Goldman Sachs and “other” asset management firms also score highly
Policy-makers should shun ‘black box AIs’, Fed’s Cook warns
AI could displace jobs while raising productivity, Federal Reserve governor says
High income countries less likely to tranche reserves
Overall, 72.4% of central banks divide their portfolios into liquidity and investment sections
Fewer than half of reserve managers perform liquidity stress tests
Approach tends to be more common among African and American institutions
FX reserves commonly invested in US Treasuries, bank deposits
SIBs and EU NextGeneration fund trail behind, as reserve managers avoid infrastructure and crypto
Federal Reserve holds rates and revises projections upwards
Powell says path for soft landing has “widened apparently”
Pandemic may have altered US credit score reporting – paper
Government support and spending changes improved many individuals' ratings, researchers find
Few central banks expanded existing swap lines over the past year
Nearly one-third of new and existing lines are denominated in US dollars
Trade in other currencies will reduce USD reserves share, say managers
Over 72% of respondents believe efforts to denominate trade in other currencies will have long-term effect
External managers hired to set up new asset classes and train staff
Central banks also look to external managers to boost returns and access market intelligence
Tight monetary policy can scar economy, SF Fed research finds
Central banks may not be able to undo effects on productivity and potential output, paper says