United Kingdom
Carney sees ‘clear interest’ in preparing for transition to lower-carbon economy
While central bankers will not determine response to climate change, they should ensure markets adjust efficiently, according to Carney, which means boosting transparency
BoE paper extracts inflation expectations from market rates
Market rates are an imperfect measure of expected future inflation, say economists, who break them down into constituent parts, stripping out risk premia and the ‘wedge’ between RPI and CPI
Macro-prudential institutions were designed too hastily, Tucker warns
Group of economists including former BoE deputy warn macro-prudential policies are too poorly understood and were too hastily assembled to be effective, outlining possible enhancements
Charlie Bean expects natural rate to change course
Former BoE deputy believes evidence points to a gradual rise in the natural rate of interest; suggests government is better placed than central bank to solve zero lower bound problem
BoE’s FPC says no immediate action required on buy-to-let
Bank of England financial policy committee is ‘alert’ to impact of buy-to-let loans on the housing market and overall financial volatility but finds no ‘immediate’ case for action
UK banks won't face FRTB capital hike – BoE official
Policy expert says most trading risks already captured under Pillar 2 framework
People: FCA names COO; RBA shuffles assistant governors
Financial Conduct Authority announces Georgina Philippou as COO; Michele Bullock named assistant governor for business services in Australia; and more
Carney looks for well-managed markets to drive prosperity
BoE governor says London must lead development of global standards as the central bank’s open forum is opened for registration
Buy-to-let investors take houses off the market quicker and spend less
BoE working paper examines BTL in the UK between 2009 and 2014, finding properties spend five days less on the market and usually sell at a discount
Haldane weighs solutions to ZLB constraint
Andrew Haldane considers benefits and costs of adopting higher inflation targets, accepting QE as a conventional policy tool and creating central bank-issued digital currencies
BoE paper explores impact of dark trading on primary exchange
Bank of England paper argues dark trading did not lead to worse market quality on the primary exchange for members of the FTSE 100 index between September and December 2012
BoE says cash unlikely to ‘die out’
An article in the Bank of England's quarterly bulletin illustrates the continuing use of cash in the UK, despite the introduction of new payment technologies over the last decade
Bank of England wary of China risks but UK outlook steady
The MPC’s view is not materially affected by recent volatility in the financial markets as it keeps policy on hold; domestically, an increase in wage growth is offset by higher productivity
UK mobile payments growth continues as Vocalink eyes overseas projects
Report identifies factors that may be holding back growth in mobile payments in the UK; Vocalink ‘hoping to be involved’ in US work on faster payments
BoE Court chair ‘uneasy’ about government audit plans
Anthony Habgood concerned by ‘potential threat’ to the Bank of England’s independence in setting policy from handing the National Audit Office the power to conduct ‘value for money studies’
BoE reveals new £20 note will be polymer
Next series of £20 banknotes will feature polymer substrate, in line with £5 and £10 notes; as yet unnamed visual artist will be included in design
UK payments regulator approves of code of conduct
Big UK banks have published a voluntary code of conduct for those providing indirect access to payment systems, in a bid to improve standards
UK payments have room for improvement, report finds
Report identifies priorities for better payments among consumers, businesses and government, finding desire for faster, more flexible payments with less room for error
Carney asked to review MPC code
Andrew Tyrie asks BoE governor to review MPC code of conduct and ensure it prevents committee members from having, or appearing to have, a conflict of interest
BoE economists mine tweets for early-warning indicator
Central bank put its work on ‘text mining’ and big data to work during Scottish independence referendum in an attempt to create an early-warning indicator for bank runs
UK regulators spare Co-op Bank £120m fine
Bank of England and FCA ‘censure’ the troubled bank for multiple failures including not being open with regulators, but drop a £120 million fine on financial stability grounds
Change to broken benchmarks years away, say industry commentators
After the FCA produced a review criticising banks for not learning the lessons of Libor and forex, observers predict no major benchmark reform until efforts co-ordinated with industry
BoE’s McCafferty breaks ranks in first new-style monetary policy meeting
BoE holds first monetary policy meeting under new setup and launches new format for policy communications, including inflation report redesign
UK payments regulator evaluates efforts to improve access
Banks and payment systems now expected to be more transparent about criteria for access; regulator says this is now bearing fruit, but the real tests are yet to come