Europe
Europe would benefit from more centralised macro-prudential tools, says ECB vice-president
Macro-prudential regulation of housing sector successful in UK, and the SSM should be in a position to set similar policy in the eurozone, Constâncio says
Constâncio: ECB working to overcome stress test limitations
Current ECB stress tests have multiple limitations including some macro-prudential considerations, ECB vice-president says
ECB to log bank loans to firms above €25,000 from 2018
New system will log all loans by eurozone commercial banks to firms above a value of €25,000 starting in March 2018; ‘AnaCredit’ likely to expand coverage to natural persons
Eurozone banking sector less reliant on central bank funding, ECB report says
Commercial banks relied less on central bank financing in 2014 and only achieved ‘moderate’ extension of credit; shadow banking sector becomes increasingly important
Europe should adopt expansionary fiscal policy, Fed's Stanley Fischer says
The ECB must continue with its ‘courageous’ supervisory and monetary policies, but they would be stronger if backed by an expansionary fiscal policy, says Stanley Fischer
‘First empirical survey of European forbearance’ uses asset quality review data
Weak macroeconomic conditions, supervisory regimes and the weakness of individual banks drive the amount of forbearance on loans practised by European banks, working paper argues
Asymmetric credit growth drove pre-crisis eurozone imbalances, paper argues
Credit growth and competitiveness major causes of current account deficits, researcher says
Long-term low interest rates risk financial instability, Geneva report argues
Long-run accommodative monetary policy could raise risks to financial instability, Charles Bean and other economists argue; issuance of leveraged loans in US corporate market on the rise
Eurozone monetary policy works through credit channel, paper argues
Strong evidence eurozone monetary policy works through the credit channel rather than the interest rate channel, paper says; unconventional monetary policy strongest in crisis
EU must ‘contain divergence’ between member states, says Polish central bank head
Marek Belka says reforms will not be supported unless European Union prevents economic divergence; speakers say quality of structural reform debate must improve
Eurozone policy-makers and researchers puzzled by trends in long-term inflation expectations
Eurozone inflation more strongly influenced by inflation expectations, the ECB notes; two central bank working papers say data shows unexpected changes
Eurosystem’s asset purchase programme should increase growth by 1% annually, paper says
The Eurosystem’s asset purchase programme could increase growth and inflation by 1% annually for two years, a working paper from the Bank of Italy predicts
European Commission unveils capital markets union ‘action plan’
European capital markets must be standardised and liberalised, commission says; specific areas of focus include infrastructure funding and securitisation markets
IMF staff calls for ‘comprehensive strategy’ on non-performing loans
IMF staff call for creation of asset management companies to free up European banks from distressed debt; cites Spain as good example
Lithuanian paper explores macroeconomic imbalances
Working paper advocates a more refined analysis of the misalignments in current accounts and real effective exchange rates for the macroeconomic imbalance procedure
Competition can boost macro-financial stability, research finds
A survey of 54 European banks shows increased competition increases the fragility of individual banks but decreases systemic risk, working paper says
Draghi: too early to judge impact of global events on eurozone inflation
Mario Draghi says slowing growth in EMs, strong euro and weak commodity prices have ‘renewed downside risks’ to outlook; Peter Praet says eurozone still ‘going through correction phase’
ECB paper traces roots of falling financial integration
Policy interventions beyond traditional capital controls may have ‘unintended’ impact on financial integration, including some macro-prudential measures based around currency
Danièle Nouy targets greater regulatory harmonisation
Supervisory board chair highlights efforts taken to harmonise regulatory framework in Europe but stresses more must be done; says SSM is ‘working very well’ as it approaches first anniversary
UK mobile payments growth continues as Vocalink eyes overseas projects
Report identifies factors that may be holding back growth in mobile payments in the UK; Vocalink ‘hoping to be involved’ in US work on faster payments
BoJ’s Shirai explains why negative rates fit Europe better than Japan
Policy board member Sayuri Shirai says impact of rates varies according to market structure, noting differences in the type of investors and credit conditions in the jurisdictions
ECB concerned by impact of draft German law on supervision
European Central Bank suggests proposals could impact consistency across the banking union and its own supervisory discretion in response to Federal Ministry of Finance
Former COO of BNP nominated as Banque de France governor
François Villeroy de Galhau picked by French president to succeed Christian Noyer as central bank head; past experience includes BNP Paribas and French treasury
ECB paper makes case for Bayesian model averaging in stress-test models
Working paper highlights the differences between using Bayesian model averaging and a series of handpicked equations