Europe
Most circulating stablecoins pegged to the greenback
Jurisdictions with stablecoins in use are largely high and upper-middle income countries
Lagarde downplays odds of early exit
ECB president uses interviews to say she is on a ‘mission’ with a ‘baseline’ of serving out her term
Europe’s strength in numbers could mitigate risks, says Panetta
Italian governor calls for progress on capital markets union to help guard against geopolitical threats
Financial stability seen as top risk from private digital money
Concerns differ somewhat by region
Reform rules or risk ‘coercion and mercantilism’ – Lagarde
ECB president says it is better to revise current international order than to abandon it
Majority of CBDCs designed to be domestic only
But a fifth of central banks are working on multi-currency CBDCs
Central banks report 28 operational bitcoin ATMs on average
Jurisdictions with larger institutions have the most machines
Changing of Lagarde: who might take over at the ECB?
De Cos and Knot among contenders, following reports that president may be stepping down early
CBDCs politicised in one in five jurisdictions
Public and private sectors mostly concerned about privacy of digital currencies
More financial integration key for Europe’s resilience, says Nagel
Bundesbank president says eurozone can adapt to new geopolitical reality
Net zero transition could boost productivity – BoE paper
Impact of carbon tax depends partly on spillovers from green technology, economists say
ECB analysts call for European supervision of asset managers
Largest groups’ balance sheets and cross-border activity merit closer look, blog argues
Russia has limited room for manoeuvre on policy – experts
Rate cut reflects nervousness rather than confidence about inflation and growth trajectory, say analysts
Fintech licences issued yearly remain below 10 on average
Number of fintechs in operation averages just over 60
ECB to offer repo line access to almost all central banks
Euro liquidity ‘granted by default’ unless breaching AML/CFT rules or sanctions, says Lagarde
Central banks keep trialling link between wCBDC and RTGS
Most respondents motivated to issue wCBDC to enable financial innovation
QT ‘crucial’ if ECB is to tackle future crises, says Nagel
Bundesbank president says dollarisation by way of stablecoins could weaken European sovereignty
Russia eases by 50bp despite inflation risk
Central bank says pro-inflationary threats are still greater than disinflationary ones
Repeat of past mistakes fuels risk of new crisis
Jesper Berg and Hans Geeroms argue that bank lobbying has succeeded in securing a dangerous softening of rules
Majority of central banks still lack CBDC issuance powers
Legal mandates are scarce in both larger and smaller central banks
People: Change at the top in South Sudan
Plus new appointments in Austria, Romania and at the ECB
IMF and NBU rework models to reflect Russia-Ukraine war
Forecast process redesigned to take account of battlefield uncertainty and additional policy tools
Suspended Bulgarian deputy appointed as caretaker PM
Country’s president says Gurov is only candidate not tainted by association with outgoing government
Two in five CBDCs designed to be programmable
Over half of respondents’ retail CBDC projects are at research phase