New Zealand
RBNZ proposes tougher rules for bank outsourcing
Banks must show they can open at 9am the day after entering resolution; foreign-owned banks need to supply separation plans
Graeme Wheeler: LVR restrictions seem to be working
RBNZ governor looks back over five turbulent years; says housing market restrictions have reduced systemic risk and the market seems to be cooling
People: RBNZ continues reshuffle; Fed appoints payments leader
Mills to fill Bascand’s shoes at RBNZ as assistant governor moves to financial stability; St Louis Fed vice-president to initiate faster payments project for the US central bank; and more
RBNZ to stick with ‘simple-yet-conservative’ regulation, says Spencer
Financial stability head acknowledges there could be risks to deviating too far from global norms, but says New Zealand prefers to keep regulations strict and simple
Philip Turner urges RBNZ to focus analysis on ‘new normal’
Former BIS official gives positive review of RBNZ’s monetary policymaking process, but recommends the central bank focus its efforts on understanding changing economic structure
Neutral rate down to around 3.5% in New Zealand – RBNZ deputy
Rate is challenging to estimate but central bank’s models and surveys suggest it has fallen in recent years to around 3.5%
RBNZ pushes back on IMF financial assessment
Central bank says it stands by its “three-pillar” approach to market discipline, but will look at ways of enhancing co-operation and other aspects of the framework
RBNZ sees no need to impose prescriptive cyber-security rules now
Head of prudential supervision at central bank says it is looking to market discipline to ensure high standards
RBNZ’s Bascand says banks now less reliant on offshore funding
New Zealand banks are attempting to reduce risk and respond to regulatory changes by tightening lending standards and “aggressively” competing for deposits, says RBNZ deputy
RBNZ considers cutting contingent instruments from capital regime
Central bank casts sceptical eye over debt instruments with in-built conversion triggers, following recent problems in Europe
RBNZ’s Hannah: central bank is working to close trust gap
Survey in 2014 showed how poor public understanding of the central bank’s work went hand in hand with low trust
OECD urges RBNZ to adopt debt-to-income restrictions
The OECD said adding a debt-to-income limit to the RBNZ’s macro-prudential instruments could increase the resilience of bank balance sheets
Wheeler hits out at commercial bank for unforgiving commentary
RBNZ governor says commentary threatens its integrity, damaging the central bank and financial markets; former RBNZ official says Wheeler overreacting
RBNZ consults on DTI limits with full macro-pru review scheduled for 2018
Central bank evaluates benefits of limit and how it would interact with current macro-pru policies; consultation offers reassurance to households about welfare costs
Growth in offshore funding is creating risks – RBNZ
Financial stability report notes growing reliance of banks on offshore funding sources could become a problem; housing market risks require new prudential tools
Forecasting would improve with more regular data, says RBNZ’s McDermott
New Zealand is one of two advanced economies that uses quarterly data instead of monthly; current schedule has limited forecast improvements, RBNZ assistant governor says
IMF urges new macro-pru tools for RBNZ to tackle housing market
Debt-to-income tools would complement existing macro-prudential toolkit and help rein in household credit, fund says; RBNZ in pursuit of such powers but decision must come from government
RBNZ’s Krippner: term structure models can make for better policy
Central bank economist talks about his work on modelling monetary policy at the zero lower bound, and what comes next
People: RBNZ’s Bascand takes new role; Lithuanian deputy reappointed
Geoff Bascand becomes head of financial stability; Raimondas Kuodis gets a second term; Bank of Israel promotes two officials
New Zealand government reviews monetary policy process
Opposition pledges it will make major changes to central bank mandate if elected
RBNZ paper develops ‘intuitive and reliable’ output gap measure
Authors turn to a “Beveridge-Nelson filter” to produce an output gap estimate that performs better than those produced by other filtering techniques
RBNZ paper sets out new house price indexes
Improved dataset allows design of three new indexes, all of which produce “credible-looking” outcomes
RBNZ to rethink capital requirements
Review will reassess country’s approach to Basel III implementation, after Australia decides to bolster its banks’ capital to be “unquestionably strong”
RBNZ presses ahead with dashboard plan, despite bank concerns
Banks raise fears over the dashboard plan to publish disclosures on RBNZ website, but the central bank says it believes it can address all the concerns