Regulation
Philippines removed from money laundering list
The Philippines has been removed from a list of money laundering havens held by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF,) central bank governor Rafael Buenaventura said on Friday 11 February.
Spain's Caruana on the implementation of Basel II
In a speech given on 18 January to the European Parliament Jaime Caruana of the Bank of Spain outlines the reasons why Basel II matters so much and how it will support the continued safety and soundness of the banking system.
Capitalising central banks: A net worth approach
This IMF Working Paper provides a simple, quantitative, net worth-based, approach to assessing the need for central bank capital. It derives a concept of "core capital" as the minimum capital needed by a central bank to ensure the credibility of its…
PBOC's Xiaochuan on legal & financial system
In the speech 'Improve legal system and financial ecology' given on 2 December (published 28 Jan) Zhou Xiaochuan of the People's Bank of China told the "Forum of 50 Chinese Economists" that from the perspective of the central bank, he wishes them to work…
Yemen holds course on money laundering
The Central Bank of Yemen held a training course on 30 January, on combating money laundering, using electronic banking processes, and investment funds.
Basel Committee publish implementation update
The Basel Committee published its newsletter No. 4 on Tuesday 1 February. The purpose of this update is to inform the banking industry, the supervisory community and other interested parties about the work that is under way within the Basel Committee's…
Update on initiatives to combat money laundering
The Joint Forum published an update to "Initiatives by the BCBS, IAIS and IOSCO to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism" on Tuesday 1 February. Compiled from contributions by each of the three Secretariats, it focuses on recent guidance…
Banking structures in the new EU Member States
The European Central Bank published a report on Banking structures in the new EU Member States on Tuesday 1 January. The publication has been prepared by the Banking Supervision Committee of the European System of Central Banks.
POBC sees gradual move to market interest rates
The People's Bank of China said on Tuesday 1 February thatit will proceed with establishing a market-oriented interest rate regime in a series of gradual moves timed to ensure the viability of the commercial banks.
Statement on implementation of Basel II framework
The federal banking and thrift agencies released an interagency statement on implementation of the Basel II framework and the qualification process for the framework's "advanced approaches" on Thursday 27 January.
UK Discussion paper:supervising financial services
This joint paper by HM Treasury, the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England says that there is no single or simple way to achieve supervisory convergence and sketches out five related challenges that need to be addressed to make progress on…
Indonesia's cb issues new banking regulations
Bank Indonesia is to issue eight new banking regulations on Tuesday 25 January, including relaxation of the legal lending limit and a guideline on the granting of credits to disaster-affected customers, central bank's governor Burhanuddin Abdullah said.
Central bankers shift funds from US to eurozone
Central banks are reducing their holdings of dollars in favour of the euro, according to a survey of 65 central banks published on Monday 24 January by Central Banking Publications.
Greek, Turkish supervisors to exchange information
Greece's central bank said that it will sign a cooperation agreement with Turkey's Banking Regulatory and Supervisory Agency regarding the exchange of information.
President calls for BI supervisory board
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has demanded the immediate setting up of a Bank Indonesia (BI) supervisory board as required under the new central bank law, according to Finance Minister Jusuf Anwar.
IMF's Knight on vulnerability of emerging markets
In a speech on 'The vulnerability of emerging markets to shocks: what has changed since the mid-1990s?' given on 9 November, Malcolm Knight of the BIS said good progress is now being made on making financial systems more resilient to shocks.
St Louis Fed's Poole on GSE risks
In a speech on 'GSE risks' given on 13 January, William Poole of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be required to hold more capital to cushion against shocks, even ones that seem unlikely.
Oman central bank hosts corporate governance forum
An Arab banking forum on corporate governance was scheduled to open on Monday January 17th under the patronage of Hamoud bin Sanjour al-Zedjali, Executive President of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).
Thailand plan may cut central bank powers
According to a report published on Friday 14 January, Thailand's finance ministry is planning an overhaul of the financial regulatory system, which would restrict the power of the Bank of Thailand by creating a new independent agency to supervise banks…
Minehan on the US economy: 2005 and beyond
In a speech on 'The US economy: 2005 and beyond' given on 12 January, Cathy Minehan of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston said increased regulatory red tape is harming business spending, the IPO market and jobs growth.
NZ/Australian banking regulation
In January 2004, New Zealand's Minister of Finance and the Australian Treasurer announced a proposal for closer integration of the prudential regulation of the New Zealand and Australian banking systems. The RBNZ made public on Wednesday 10 January the…
Iraq's cb gets recommendations from USAID program
Bank Supervision advisors under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Iraq Economic Governance II program have delivered a set of recommendations to the Central Bank of Iraq on assessing risks and designing enforcement actions…
FRC issues new regulation strategy
The Financial Reporting Council, the UK's unified, independent regulator for corporate reporting and governance, announced its intention to become more pro-active in its enforcement of accounting standards, in a strategy plan issued on Tuesday 21…
Zimbabwe closes seventh troubled bank
Zimbabwe's central bank shut commercial bank CFX over the weekend, bringing the total number of closures in 2004 to seven, as problems in the country's financial system continue.