United Kingdom
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.
BoE Plenderleith comments on sterling bond market
SPEECH - In a speech to a conference organised by the Association of British Insurers on Apr 2, 2001, Ian Plenderleith, executive director of the Bank of England and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, reviews developments in the sterling non-gilt…
Computer support for reserves managers-Nugee
RESERVE MANAGEMENT - Deciding on the right level of computer support for reserve managers in a world of fast changing technology often makes it preferable to outsource some IT provision, says John Nugee, former head of reserve management at the Bank of…
BOE Julius to leave central bank in 2 months-FT
UNITED KINGDOM - DeAnne Julius, one of the most dovish members of the Bank of England's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, is poised to leave the central bank in two months.
New measure of core inflation in the UK-BoE paper
CENTRAL BANK RESEARCH - The Bank of England's monetary policy committee research unit has published a paper which addresses the usefulness of measures of core inflation. The paper, commissioned by external MPC member DeAnne Julius, uses an 'improved'…
BoE faces £1bn BCCI lawsuit
Following a ruling on Thursday 22 March, Deloitte and Touche, liquidators of the Bank for Credit and Commerce Interantional, have been given leave to sue the Bank of England for its alleged failures as supervisor of BCCI
The New Economy: Myths and Realities-Wadhwani
SPEECH - In his Travers Lecture at the London Guildhall University on Mar 20, 2001, Sushil Wadhwani, an external member of the Bank of England monetary policy committee, argues it is possible that measurement issues have led forecasters to overestimate…
Financial competition, risk and accountability
BOOK - A new book has just been published by Palgrave "Financial Competition, Risk and Accountability: British and German Experiences" edited by Frowen and McHugh. Recent decades have seen a sharp increase in financial competition and excessive risk…
BoE ready to cut UK rates if necessary-minutes
Britain's central bank is ready to lower borrowing costs if the global economic outlook worsens or British consumer spending starts to ease, minutes of the Bank's last policy meeting showed on Mar 21, 2001.
Thorpe leaves UK's Financial Services Authority
Phillip Thorpe is stepping down as managing director of the UK's Financial Services Authority and will be taking on a new role as president of the Futures Industry Institute based in Washington, DC.
UKRAINE: Former deputy central bank chief detained
Reserves scandal claims former deputy governor
BoE ready to act if sharp US downturn-Plenderleith
Britain's central bank will be ready to cut interest rates again if the slowdown in the U.S. economy proves more severe than expected, Bank of England Executive Director Ian Plenderleith said on Mar 14, 2001.
Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin - Spring 2001
RESEARCH PAPER - The Bank of England has published the spring 2001 issue of the Quarterly Bulletin, the first issue to be published to a new timetable separated from the quarterly Inflation Report. There are four key articles, mainly dealing with the UK…
UK banks at fault over Abacha money laundering-FSA
RESEARCH REPORT - The UK Financial Servicies Authority has concluded an investigation into UKbanks' financial dealings with the deposed Nigerian leader, General SaniAbacha. The report is strongly critical of control failures at 15 UK bankswhich laundered…
Recent Developments in Financial Markets-Clementi
SPEECH - In a speech titled "Recent Developments in Financial Markets: Some Implications for Financial Stability" delivered at the Banca D'Italia on Mar 9, 2001, David Clementi, deputy governor of the Bank of England, discusses some recent developments…