United States
Loan approvals down, conditions tighten: Fed poll
Borrowers in the US face rising costs and tougher conditions for loans, a survey published by the Federal Reserve on Monday shows.
Compliance key for subprime solution
The Federal Reserve's planned rule to aid subprime homeowners must be effectively enforced if it is to be successful, said Randall Kroszner, the governor of the Federal Reserve responsible for supervision.
Fed to add another $60 billion in February
The Federal Reserve said on Friday that it will inject an extra $60 billion into the money markets through two term-auction facility operations.
Philippines lowers rates to 5%
The Central Bank of the Philippines's rate-setting monetary board on Thursday cut its key policy rate by a quarter-point to 5%.
Fed faces uncertain times and difficult decisions
Stephen Cecchetti, the Rosenberg professor of global finance at the Brandeis International Business School, discusses why the outlook for the United States economy is so hard to call and if the Federal Reserve was right to cut rates.
Fed profits up 13%
The Federal Reserve System was $38.6 billion in the black for 2007.
Fed cuts rates by half a point
The Federal Open Market Committee voted on Wednesday to lower rates by 50 basis points to 3%.
Markets expect half-point cut from Fed
The majority of analysts expect the Federal Reserve to cut rates by a further half-a-percentage point on Wednesday.
Fed auction reveals relative interbank calm
Money market tensions in the United States showed further signs of abating on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve published the results of its latest Term Auction Facility operation.
The role of human error in the yield curve
Investors' systematic forecast errors are an important source of business-cycle variation in measured risk premia, research published by the Atlanta Federal Reserve finds.
Banks must be scolded, not helped, by the Fed
Monetary and regulatory policy should be about reinforcing solid conduct in financial markets and punishing bad behaviour. But the recent rate cut from the Fed does little of the sort, says Avinash Persaud, the chairman of Intelligence Capital, a…
Two papers on banking efficiency
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve has published two papers looking at recent evidence on how banks can achieve optimal efficiency.
Fed slashes rates by 75 basis points
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Tuesday lowered rates by 75 basis points to 3.5%, the biggest cut since autumn 1984.
Bank governance strengthened by independence
Independent directors at commercial banks can provide an important internal governance mechanism for protecting shareholders' interests especially in large-scale transactions such as mergers and takeovers, research published by the Kansas City Federal…
Tony Solomon, former NY Fed president, dies
Anthony M. Solomon, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, died last Friday, at the age of 88.
Poor growth will curb inflation: Fed's Pianalto
The impact of the housing crisis on the rest of the United States economy will help dampen price hikes, says Sandra Pianalto, the president of the Cleveland Federal Reserve.
Fed must "respond pragmatically" to poorer outlook
Policymakers must be prepared to respond pragmatically to a recent bout of worse-than-expected data on the United States economy, said Dennis Lockhart, the president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve and a non-voting member of the Federal Open Market…
Fed's Bernanke supports fiscal package
Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, told United States lawmakers on Thursday that he would support plans for a fiscal package to encourage growth so long as it was implemented quickly, was efficient and was temporary.
Merrill reports $8.6 billion loss for 2007
Merrill Lynch, an investment bank, on Thursday reported $11.5 billion-worth of subprime-related writedowns for the fourth quarter of 2007, taking its losses for last year to $8.6 billion. The bank recorded losses for the fourth quarter alone of 2007 was …
Fed's Beige Book charts modest growth increase
The latest edition of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, published on Wednesday, suggests a slowdown in the pace of growth during November and December.
Structural change responsible for Great Moderation
The so-called 'Great Moderation' in macroeconomic volatility in the United States since the mid-1980's was down to structural change rather than good luck, research published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research finds.
Paper highlights influence of Taylor rule
The rise in influence of the Taylor rule, which shows how monetary policy should adjust to ensure growth and inflation remain near target levels, played an important part in the shift towards a more transparent, more independent era of central banking,…
GIC and Kuwaiti SWF invest in Citi
Citi, the world's biggest bank, revealed on Tuesday that the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and the Kuwait Investment Authority were part of a group of investors involved in a $12.5 billion capital injection.
Merrill confirms Kuwaiti and Korean involvement
The Kuwait Investment Authority and Korean Investment Corporation became the two latest sovereign wealth funds to capitalise on banks' subprime losses, buying into Merrill Lynch, an investment bank.