Central Banking
Establishment of Southern African currency union delayed: Sarb’s Mminele
South African Reserve Bank deputy governor Daniel Mminele says timeline for adoption of Southern African Development Community single currency will be reviewed
Central banks’ gold purchases continue; 20-year selling trend bucked
Official sector continued to be net buyers of bullion in three months to January; figures confirm that central banks were net buyers for first time in 20 years in 2010
High food prices drive political instability: IMF paper
Fund paper shows rising international food prices attributes to political instability in low-income countries
Bank’s Sentance warns of misjudging spare capacity
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee external member Andrew Sentance warns of difficulty in measuring spare capacity
Regulators misprice assets during interventions: Richmond Fed
Richmond Federal Reserve study investigates the accuracy of monitoring bank assets during regulatory interventions
Buba’s Weber on central banks' stability mandate
Bundesbank president Axel Weber says central banks will continue to play prominent role in new regulatory and supervisory framework
Future of macro policy far from set, says IMF’s Blanchard
Exploration is the order of the day, IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard claims; predicts central role for behavioural economics
BoE rate-setters split four ways once more
Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee minutes shows three members continued to vote for rate hikes despite downward revision in fourth quarter of 2010 growth figures
IMFC names Tharman Shanmugaratnam as new chair
Singapore’s finance minister and former central bank head succeeds Youssef Boutros-Ghali, Egypt’s former finance minister
The folly of foreign exchange intervention
The G-7’s bid to stem the yen’s appreciation threatens to damage Japan’s economy, Geoffrey Wood believes
Déjà vu and monetary policy: Lockhart’s recent comments
A lack of consideration for price pressures signals that Fed officials continue to misconstrue the nature of central bank independence, Thomas Cargill writes
Fed profits soar to record $82 billion
Federal Reserve posts another record profit, trumping 2010 by $28 billion; $79 billion transferred to Treasury
Ireland’s chief regulator gets tough on corporate governance
Chief regulator Matthew Elderfield says poor governance exacerbated by cosy nature of corporate life in Ireland
Barclays shows interest in Maiden Lane II assets: reports
Reports that Barclays may consider an offer for residential mortgage-backed securities held in New York Federal Reserve’s Maiden Lane II portfolio could thwart AIG bid
Hungary revamps inflation report
National Bank of Hungary says enhancements will improve efficiency of monetary policy communications
SSRN paper on reaping benefits of cross-border banking
Social Science Research Network study examines costs and benefits associated with cross-border banking
SNB signs MoU on membership to Bank Council
Federal Department of Finance and the Swiss National Bank sign Memorandum of Understanding on criteria for appointments to central bank’s governing body
Bank’s Cleland: £5 note replenishing scheme “on track”
Bank of England head of banknotes division Victoria Cleland says £5 note replenishing scheme was on schedule but may need to be stepped up
BoJ study on adoption of spread-adjusted Taylor rule
Bank of Japan study lends support to use of spread-adjusted Taylor rules as suitable response to adverse macroeconomic shocks
QE helped boost broad money growth: BoE paper
Bank of England Q1 2011 Quarterly Bulletin says quantitative easing programme helped revive broad money growth during recession
FSB criticises industry for lack of progress on risk disclosure
Financial Stability Board says more action needed on liquidity, counterparty, structured credit disclosure practices
Interview: Daniela Russo
The European Central Bank's director-general of payments discusses the CPSS-Iosco report on regulating financial market infrastructures
ESRB discusses regulatory division of labour; names external experts
European Systemic Risk Board’s second meeting covers how regulatory responsibilities will be split; Balcerowicz, Brunnermeier and Wyplosz among external experts
US Treasury to offload $142 billion in agency MBS
US Treasury announces plans to wind down portfolio of agency securities bought from beleaguered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during crisis; move not expected to impact Fed policy