United Kingdom
BoE awards Accenture RTGS overhaul contract
Consultancy firm wins contract worth up to £150 million for payments system upgrade
People: BoE governor appoints first female private secretary
St Louis Fed appoints new COO; new appointments at Kazakhstan’s sovereign fund and central bank; and more
Covid-19 likely to affect return of paper £20 banknote – BoE
Central bank reports consumers are likely to hold onto old banknotes until they cease to be legal tender
FCA presents new design for financial services register
UK regulator says website aims to boost consumer protection and make key data easier to find
FCA launches new digital sandbox
Project will give firms access to “high-quality datasets” to test new technology
Tenreyro sheds light on BoE’s ‘epi-macro’ modelling
Staff have conducted several virus simulations, but uncertainty remains high
Haldane and co-authors conclude QE has made UK happier
Authors use survey data to track QE’s impact on household balance sheets
Common asset holdings important for stress testing – BoE paper
When banks and non-banks hold the same assets, losses can be magnified, authors warn
UK’s ‘Big Four’ told to separate audit practices
Major shake-up of accounting firms comes in wake of the Wirecard scandal
London court blocks Venezuelan government from using gold
Lawyers for Maduro regime say they will appeal over access to $1 billion store
Researchers test forward-looking uncertainty measures
BoE paper says the measures are likely to be useful for policy-making in the face of sudden shocks
BoE issues deadline for firms’ climate risk plans
PRA says firms’ climate risk disclosures and scenario planning need major improvements
UK firms must prepare for Brexit risks – FCA
EU and UK have yet to agree on equivalence, senior official warns
BoE partners with QA Media to benchmark software investments
Central bank aims to improve own software development processes, and those in the banking sector
Coronavirus panic fuels a surge in cash demand
Covid-19 has led to banknote hoarding in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the eurozone, Russia and the US, fuelled by concerns about financial system stress, write Jonathan Ashworth and Charles Goodhart
BIS expands innovation hub network
Several new locations unveiled in Europe and North America
BoE still falling short of ethnic diversity goal
Central bank has set itself aim of having 13% senior managers from ethnic minorities by 2022
Financial shocks explain ‘large share’ of US business cycle – BoE paper
New identification method helps avoid pitfalls encountered by earlier research, author says
NGFS offers concrete next steps to assess climate vulnerabilities
New climate risk scenarios will be incorporated into Bank of England stress tests and Bundesbank economic modelling, write Sarah Breeden and Sabine Mauderer
FCA to gain new powers to tackle ‘tough legacy’ issues in Libor transition
Untangling complex legacy issues is looking increasingly difficult as delays mount due to Covid-19
BoE admits bond holdings are contributing to climate change
UK central bank’s bond portfolio is out of step with international climate goals but differences in calculations makes it challenging to quantify
BoE apologises for former officials’ links to slave trade
Central bank says it was never directly involved in slavery, but former governors were
BoE expands asset purchases by £100 billion
Haldane casts sole vote against expansion as ex-MPC member Sentance warns of “autopilot”
Should the BoE go negative?
Much research into negative rates suggests central banks should have little to fear, but there are plenty of caveats