Central Banking Journal
Reserve manager of the year: Bank of Mexico
The Latin American central bank has adopted a forward-looking asset allocation strategy as well as embracing absolute return approaches
Asset manager of the year: State Street Global Advisors
US financial group used global presence, and equity and fixed income expertise, to expand client base
Global markets award: HSBC
HSBC’s global reach and expertise in emerging Asian markets has supported long-term central bank clients
Innovation in reserve management: BNP Paribas Asset Management
Asset manager developed new fixed income investment strategies in 2018, delivering strong returns and diversification for clients
Custody initiative of the year: Citi
US group used global presence and technological edge to deepen relations and secure new mandates
Initiative of the year: RBNZ’s Financial Strength Dashboard
The RBNZ’s Financial Strength Dashboard offers window into nation’s banking system
Specialised lending initiative of the year: Deutsche Bank
German bank has played supportive role in ECB’s asset purchase programme
Book notes: EuroTragedy, by Ashoka Mody
Former International Monetary Fund insider elegantly tells story of currency that has defied economics
Book notes: Keeping at it, by Paul Volcker with Christine Harper
Volcker delivers fascinating history-laden memoir, writes Jean-Claude Trichet
Book notes: Macroprudential policy and practice, edited by Paul Mizen, Margarita Rubio and Philip Turner
Important overview of current state of thinking about macro-prudential policy, but uncertainties remain about current allocation of financial stability responsibilities
People: Kenyan and Samoan governors named to UN digital task force
Kenya’s Njoroge and Samoa’s Ainuu-Enari to investigate digital impact on financial inclusion
Beyond payments: central bank digital currency
Issuance of central bank digital currencies, such as Sweden’s proposed e-krona, could facilitate monetary policy beyond zero lower bound
The euro: a troubled third decade?
Italy’s pact-busting budget highlights ongoing eurozone frailties
Book notes: The Fed and Lehman Brothers, by Laurence Ball
Ball claims the Fed could have lent to Lehmans, lawfully and prudently, had it chosen to do so, writes Reddell. But agreeing the Fed could have provided liquidity support does not automatically imply it should have
The EU tries to rethink its faltering AML regime
What options are available, and what challenges remain?
Agent-based models: a new frontier for macroeconomics?
Agent-based modelling is still struggling to move from sidelines to mainstream
Book notes: The bank that lived a little, by Philip Augar
History of British commercial bank Barclays fails to address key questions, writes Michael Taylor
Tunisia’s El Abassi on central banking during a regional security crisis
Central Bank of Tunisia governor talks about capacity building, fintech and relations with the IMF
What next for the BoJ’s unprecedented ETF experiment?
Exiting the policy may prove extremely challenging, says Sayuri Shirai
Demetriades on political pressures on central banks and their governors
Former governor speaks on Cypriot banking crisis and his fears for euro stability
Book notes: The other half of macroeconomics, by Richard Koo
Richard Koo’s latest book updates his work on balance sheet recessions
Juan José Echavarría on Colombia’s path to sounder monetary and economic policy
Colombian governor talks about policy efforts to promote stability, importance of independence and implications of Venezuelan economic collapse
The Bank of England’s missing records
The bank’s official historian highlights archiving failures and damage they cause
Book notes: Capitalism without capital, by Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake
The authors have created a compelling framework to characterise and explain the nature of intangible investments in our economies, writes Michael Reddell, but their conclusions are lacking in analysis and data