United Kingdom
FSA's McCarthy on challenges of Basel II
In the speech 'The challenge of Basel II for regulators' given on 18 September Callum McCarthy of the Financial Services Authority said that different regulators operate under very different legislative frameworks, and in very different political…
Paper on proposed changes to supervisory review
The UK Treasury has issued a discussion paper on proposed changes to the supervisory review process for mergers and acquisitions in the financial sector which considers the rationale for reform of the existing regime.
Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Autumn 2006
The Bank of England published its Quarterly Bulletin for Autumn 2006 on Monday 25 September. The latest issue includes the article "The UK international investment position."
MPC considered rate rise says BoE's Gieve
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee considered raising interest rates for the second consecutive month in September, deputy governor Sir John Gieve told the Financial Times newspaper in an interview published Monday 25 September.
BoE minutes show inflation concerns worry MPC
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee members said in minutes released Wednesday 20 September that inflation is likely to speed-up and growth will stay around the long-term average.
Bank of England Inflation Attitudes Survey, Sep 06
The Bank of England published its September 2006 Inflation Attitudes Survey on Monday 18 September. Britons' expectations of future inflation steadied in August, but were still way above the Bank of England's 2.0 percent inflation target.
Barker says MPC surprised by house price jump
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Kate Barker told the Daily Telegraph the recent jump in UK house prices has surprised the MPC.
King plays straight bat in central bank talk
According to a study published Thursday 14 September by stockbroker ICAP Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia's governor is easier to understand than his US peer, but both lose out to Mervyn King.
Comment on central banking
The Financial Times published three interesting articles on Tuesday and Wednesday 13 September, including a piece on the IMF by Rachel Lomax and Tiff Macklem.
Bank capital, asset prices and monetary policy
In this Bank of England Working Paper the authors study a general equilibrium model in which informational frictions impede entrepreneurs' ability to borrow and banks' ability to intermediate funds.
Inflation targeting can boost stability-Bank paper
This article from Reuters, published Thursday 17 August, takes a look at the recent research paper from the Bank of England, co-authored by governor Mervyn King.
BoE paper on the danger of inflating expectations
According to the Bank of England Working Paper "The danger of inflating expectations of macroeconomic stability: heuristic switching in an overlapping generations monetary model" the volatility of inflation and output has fallen in most advanced…
SPEED: the new journal for financial plumbers
SPEED - short for Settlement, Payment, E-money and E-trading Development - is a new journal aimed at all those policy-makers in banks, central banks and system operators who are trying to ensure that the financial infrastructure, often called the …
Bank of England drafts first 'Dear Gordon' note
This recent article from Bloomberg presents a fictional letter to UK chancellor Gordon Brown written by Mervyn King in the future explaining why the Bank of England exceeded its inflation target by more than 1 percent.
Minutes show Blanchflower dissented on rate rise
The Bank of England's interest rate setting Monetary Policy Committee voted six-to-one to raise its key repo rate by a quarter point to 4.75 pct at its meeting on 3 August, minutes released Wednesday 16 August showed.
BoE's Bean says rate move was no surprise
The inflation rate two or more years in the future matters more than the current rate for setting monetary policy, Bank of England Chief Economist Charles Bean was quoted as saying on Wednesday 16 August.
The curse of the parochial view
This article by Samuel Brittan of the Financial Times, published Friday 11 August, compares the reaction to the recent round of central bank interest rate decisions.
UK freezes bank accounts of terror suspects
The Bank of England said Friday 11 August it had frozen the accounts of 19 of the 24 men arrested in an alleged terror plot, and publicly released their names.
Bank of England Inflation Report, August 2006
The Bank of England published its August 2006 Inflation Report on 9 August. In the report the Bank said its expected profile for growth and inflation over the next two years was higher than in May.
Is King readying his pen reluctantly or eagerly?
The UK press has jumped on the admission by Mervyn King that he might soon have to write a letter to the chancellor if inflation climbs above the 3% limit, but such a letter would not be the admission of failure that many imply.
Bank of England appoints Finance Director
The Bank of England announced on Wednesday 2 August that Warwick Jones has been appointed Finance Director of the Bank of England from 1 October. Mr Jones will be an Executive Director of the Bank and a member of the Executive Team.
Surprise as Bank of England tightens early
The Bank of England raised interest rates by a quarter-point on Thursday 3 August, bringing the official bank rate to 4.75% after a year on hold.
Comment: BoE brightens silly season slumber
The Bank of England surprised practically everyone on 3 August by raising rates by 25 basis points. The Bank's next Inflation Report, to be released on 9 August, and the minutes from the August meeting will make intriguing reading. The move will also the…
The Old Lady can afford to be patient
According to this article by the Financial Times, published on Wednesday 2 August, there is a big difference between the predictability of the ECB's plans on Thursday, and the uncertainty surrounding the Bank of England's decision the same day.