Central Banking
Madigan appointed as key aide to Bernanke
The Federal Reserve Board yesterday named Brian F. Madigan as the chief adviser on interest rates to its chairman, Ben Bernanke.Madigan will take over as director of the division of monetary affairs on 23 July.
IMF paper on public debt markets
This IMF paper reviews the state of domestic public debt markets in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
ECB on structural reforms
The European Central Bank (ECB) has published, on 6 July, a report on "Structural Reforms in EMU and the Role of Monetary Policy: a Survey of the Literature."
Explaining interest rate differentials
In this NBER working paper, Marvin Goodfriend and Bennett T. McCallum, suggest that a central bank that fails to recognise the distinction between inter-bank and other short rates could miss its appropriate settings by as much as 4% per year.
Italy's Draghi on financial innovations
In a speech on 4 June Mario Draghi, governor of the Banca D'Italia, reviewed some of the most important financial innovations seen in recent years, and the consequences they have had for financial markets and institutions.
New Mexican deputy governor confirmed
Roberto del Cuerto has been approved by the Mexican congress to become one of the central bank's four deputy governors. He will fill a position on the bank's monetary policy board which has been vacant for some months.
Bank of Thailand intervenes to weaken baht
The Bank of Thailand, the country's central bank, announced on 5 June that it has intervened in the currency market in an attempt to slow down the rise of the baht, the national currency.
Bank Indonesia cuts benchmark interest rate
Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, has cut its benchmark interest rate by a further 25 basis points to 8.25%, the governor Burhanuddin Abdullah announced on 5 July.
Bank of England raises bank rate by 0.25%
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England voted on 5 July to raise the official bank rate by 0.25% to 5.75%. The previous change in bank rate was an increase of 0.25% to 5.5% on May 10 this year.
New head at Canadian regulator
Jim Flaherty, the Canadian finance minister, has announced the appointment of Julie Dickson as the new head of the country's financial services regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI).
Former BaFin employee guilty of embezzlement
A German court has found a former employee of BaFin, Germany's top financial markets regulator, guilty of embezzlement. The employee, whose name was not disclosed, was yesterday sentenced to six years in prison.
Singapore's Tong: Asia's economic prospects
Goh Chok Tong, chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said, "At the political level, Asia is also coalescing. However, political coalescence is progressing more slowly than economic integration," he said in a keynote address on 4 July.
ECB leaves rates on hold
After leaving interest rates unchanged on 5 June, European Central Bank (ECB) president, Jean-Claude Trichet, signalled that the central bank will hike rates again later this year.
Smaghi: challenges facing EU
"The EU (European Union) will be confronted with three major challenges: rapid technological change, globalisation and an ageing population," Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, member of the executive board, European Central Bank (ECB), said.
RBI's Reddy on India's financial sector
YV Reddy, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said "The critical task before the public policy, in general, and Reserve Bank of India, in particular, is to strengthen the structural factors in the economy but determinedly moderate the cyclical and…
Deutsche Bundesbank - annual report 2006
Germany's central bank marks its half century by looking back at the performance of the economy in 2006 and notes the new projects, such as T2S, the Bundesbank is working on.
Noyer on French banks' vulnerabilities
Christian Noyer, governor of the Banque de France, said there is an "ever more urgent need for new methods of risk assessment and for appropriate supervision that can react swiftly to these changes," at a speech given on 29 June during the presentation…
Jelasi: Serbia's "big strides" towards EU
In a speech on 29 June Radovan Jelasi, governor of the National Bank of Serbia, said "Serbia is taking big strides towards the European Union, standard of living is improving and there are ample professional challenges around."
ECB's financial markets legislation
The European Central Bank (ECB) published "European Legislation on Financial Markets" on 3 July.
Turkey's payment systems
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a report on payments systems in Turkey on 3 July.
No change in Australian interest rates
The Reserve Bank of Australia has left interest rates unchanged at 6.25%, where they have remained since November 2006. The decision was widely expected.
FSA report pans sub-prime lenders
A report issued by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the United Kingdom adopts a highly critical stance with respect to sub-prime mortgage lenders and advisers. The report says that these parties have failed in their responsibilities to…
Russian inflation at 5.7% in first half of year
Sergei Ignatyev, the chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, said on 4 July that inflation in the consumer price index (CPI) amounted to 5.7% in the period January-June this year. Ignatyev's comments came during a testimony before parliament.
Dubai watchdog issues hedge fund code
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has published a draft Hedge Fund Code for public comment. A consultation paper and a copy of the draft code were made available on the DFSA's website on 4 July.