Central Banking
Lack of co-ordination of bank resolution regimes behind subsidiarisation push
Asia still behind on global rules forcing subsidiarisation of foreign banks in the region
Swedish deputy wants central bank independence reconsidered
Barbro Wickman-Parak, in her last speech at the Riksbank, says independence is ‘essential’ for price stability but needs to be reviewed with regard to macroprudential policy and financial stability
Germans clash over banking union treaty change
ECB board member opposes German finance minister's plan to introduce limited version of banking union to allow time for treaty change
Irish plan for distressed borrowers attracts criticism
Central Bank of Ireland encourages cooperation between lenders of secured and unsecured debt to keep distressed borrowers from bankruptcy; Irish League of Credit Unions denounces scheme
BIS: Forex OTC markets hold steady, despite regulatory uncertainty
Semi-annual BIS survey reveals a rise in forex OTC derivatives transactions in the second half of last year
Israel cuts rates and buys forex in moves to ward off ‘Dutch disease'
Unscheduled monetary policy decision by Bank of Israel cuts base rate 25bp as central bank launches a forex purchase programme to hold the shekel down after gas finds
HKMA deputy looks to eurodollar model for offshore RMB development
Eddie Yue says offshore RMB market is facing ‘historic transition'; calls for more offshore intermediation and ‘continued relaxation' of RMB flows in and out of China
Omani central bank unveils SME measures
All banks operating in Oman will have to allocate 5% of credit portfolios to SMEs; prudential and collateral requirements relaxed to encourage lending
IMF paper searches for deeper insight into the output gap
Working paper proposes method of estimating and decomposing output gaps; inflation found to have low weight
Fin paper says hybrid monetary policy regimes are unsustainable
Bank of Finland working paper finds most former Soviet Republics operate without a free-floating exchange rate or hard peg; says hybrid policies are unsustainable
Fed paper investigates decline in US labour market mobility
Study identifies drop in interstate migration since 1980s; attributes fall to stronger internal labour markets rather than demographic or sociological factors
Sri Lanka cuts rates 50bp in defiance of IMF advice
Central bank cuts benchmark interest rate by 50bp to 7% as growth stutters and inflation falls; IMF warned yesterday against ‘further easing of monetary policy in the near term'
Reserve Bank of Australia publishes monetary policy statement
RBA Monetary Policy Statement says cash rate could change further 'to foster sustainable growth and low inflation'
Iceland’s Guðmundsson backs MAS-style stability model
Icelandic governor says managed float and strong supervision are important lessons to be taken from Singapore; says capital controls helped avoid a default in Iceland, but should not be used lightly
Plosser warns US regulations could cause unnecessary bail-outs
Philadelphia Fed president says existing efforts to end too-big-to-fail may ‘come up short' and advocates a more rules-based approach; criticises Basel III risk weights
Banks push alternative to Basel Committee securitisation model
Basel proposals would kill European market, banks warn – and some regulators sympathise
Central Bank of Nigeria hits back at ‘unfounded and mischievous’ reports
Central bank denies reports that it destroyed documents demanded in a hearing of the Nigerian parliament’s Public Accounts Committee
Bernanke outlines Fed's ‘intensified' monitoring of financial system
Focus is on Sifis, shadow banking, asset markets, and the non-financial sector, according to the chairman of the Federal Reserve
Ireland’s Elderfield says ‘imperfect’ Solvency II should still go ahead
Deputy governor highlights many imperfections in the Solvency II framework but says it is better than the fragmentation and rising costs that are the alternative
South African paper models international spillovers
Study finds South Africa is a ‘net receiver’ of spillovers from other economies; suggests this is likely to persist as business cycle synchronisation has increased
Bank of Spain financial stability report finds ratio of bad loans still growing
Contraction in new lending to households and businesses, combined with a poor macroeconomic environment, means Spanish bank loan books are on average not improving
NY Fed paper assesses risk of fire sales in tri-party repo markets
Staff report finds limited tools are available to reduce the damage from pre-default fire sales but says there are no options currently available once a default has occurred
European Parliament poised to approve next step in banking union
European political groupings have reached agreement on a text for the recovery and resolution piece of Europe's planned banking union
People: New director-general at Bank of Italy; Bank of Israel adviser ends 30-year tenure
Salvatore Rossi becomes Bank of Italy's director-general; Barry Topf leaves Bank of Israel after 30 years; and more