United Kingdom
One-off costs of euro conversion estimated
ARTICLE - Research published today by Bannock Consulting shows that the total cost to UK business of converting to the euro are in the region of £10.3bn. Adding in the British Bankers Association estimate of £1 bn for the banking sector and Bannock…
Bank's legal might cited as grounds for appeal
UK - The fact that orders by the Bank of Thailand to financial institutions carry the equivalent weight of the law could serve as the basis for an appeal by the government in the Pin Chakkaphak extradition case.
Markets now more resistant to contagion - BIS head
INTERVIEW - Painstaking efforts to strengthen the international financial system are beginning to pay off with global markets resisting contagion from worries over Argentina's debt, according to the general manager of the Bank for International…
Strains in the eurozone
ARTICLE - The Financial Times in London published an article on 30 July by Christopher Taylor, a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social research. He was chief adviser in the European division of the Bank of England.
Blair and Brown set euro vote timetable
UK - Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have drawn up a timetable for a euro referendum and are preparing to make a judgment, probably next year, about whether to call one, reports the Financial Times in London, 27 June.
Speech by Sushil Wadhwani of the Bank of England
SPEECH - Sushil Wadhwani of the Bank of England's MPC committee spoke on 24 July.
New London Rep for Bank Indonesia
UK - The London office of Bank Indonesia has a new Chief Representative.
Interview - Stephen Nickell of the bank of England
ARTICLE - The Bank of England has created faith in the UK economy and maintained a strong pound, Stephen Nickell tells Ed Crooks of the Financial Times, 23 July.
O'Neill plays down Argentine contagion risk-report
UK - U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill sees little likelihood of contagion spreading to other emerging market economies as a result of Argentina's financial crisis, the Economist magazine reported.
IMF press conference in London
UK - At 10am UK time today, 20 July, Garry Schinasi chief of the IMF's Capital Markets and Financial Studies Division spoke at a press conference held at the Bank of England.
Debt Workouts For Corporates, Banks And Countries
SPEECH - David Clementi, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England has spoken at the INSOL International Sixth World Congress at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in London today, 19 July. He spoke about common themes to debt workouts for corporates, banks and…
Eurostat launches online economic database
UK - The European Union's statistical office Eurostat has launched a "Euro-indicators" subscription database aimed at economists and other professionals, some of whom complain that detailed data are hard to obtain.
Central banks not to blame for weak gold price
According to a study into the gold derivatives market by Professor Anthony Neuberger of the London Business School, the five-fold increase in gold lending since 1990 cannot account for the slump in the gold price over the period.
Working papers from the Bank of England
The Bank of England has released four working papers addressing ICT spending in the UK; the real interest rate gap as an inflation indicator; sticky prices, and trends in UK company profitability.
Brown rejects switching inflation target
In a keynote speech to the International Monetary Fund's international monetary and financialcommittee, attended by 24 finance ministers, UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown, rejected calls for the UK to adopt a 2% inflation target to fit in with the euro-area
BoE MPC voted 6-3 to cut rates to 5.5%-minutes
UNITED KINGDOM - Six of the nine members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to cut the repo rate to 5.5% from 5.75% during their last meeting on Apr. 4-5, according to minutes of that meeting released on Apr 18, 2001.
G-30 to meet in London on Thursday, Friday
UNITED KINGDOM - G-30 think tank of senior public and private sector financial representatives is set to meet for one of its bi-annual plenary sessions at the Bank of England from Apr 19-20.
Britain and EMU - the five economic tests
ARTICLE - GrahamBishop.com's latest publication on "Britain and Euroland" finds that the degree of divergence between Britain and key EU countries has already halved since the UK Treasury's 1997 assessment. So with a UK general election due in June 2001,…
Clementi-Basel Accord must avoid pro-cyclicality
UNITED KINGDOM - The world's banks and the financial system as a whole should make sure risk-sensitive capital requirements set out in the new Basel Accord don't aggravate cyclical economic downturns, Bank of England deputy governor David Clementi said…
Low inflation: Implications for the FSA
RESEARCH - Ed Harley and Stephen Davies from the UK's Financial Services Authority have written a paper which considers the risks to the FSA's objectives arising from the move to the current low inflation environment in the UK. The authors conclude that…
Business economist Barker appointed to BoE's MPC
UNITED KINGDOM - The UK Treasury said on Apr 5 that the chief economist at the Confederation of British Industry, Kate Barker, will replace DeAnne Julius on the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee from Jun 1, 2001.
FSA hosts major Basel conference-Apr 10-11
UNITED KINGDOM - The UK's Financial Services Authority is organising a two day conference in London on April 10-11 which will be a key milestone in the UK consultation on the revised Basel Capital Accord and the European Commission's proposals for…
Bank of England interest rate option study
CENTRAL BANK RESEARCH - In the first of a series of research papers published by the Centre for Central Banking Studies at the Bank of England, Richhild Moessner provides a survey of the structure and use of the over the counter options market focussing…
Bank of England cuts interest rates by 0.25%
UNITED KINGDOM - The Bank of England cut interest rates by another quarter point on Apr 5, 2001, bowing to pressure from tumbling stock markets and weakening economic data.