Central Banking
Welteke settles for €25,000 fine
Ernst Welteke has agreed to pay 25,000 euros ($30,000)to charity to end a criminal probe into his conduct. Last week we reported his lawyers had rejected a demand of 50,000 euros saying the sum was "much too high".
Bundesbank board don't want new code of conduct
Some board members of the Bundesbank do not want to comply with a new code of conduct for the time being, following the scandal surrounding former president Ernst Welteke, and the latest one reportedly involving public money to build luxury villas for…
ECB board bypass Frankfurt
Apparently none of the Frankfurt based European Central Bank's board members actually live in Frankfurt, the FT revealed this week.
Trichet shown red card for speaking English
French deputies walked out of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly on Monday 21 June when ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet began addressing a meeting in English, according to Reuters.
Germany draft Weder onto 'Five Wise Men' panel
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's cabinet approved Beatrice Weder di Mauro, a university economist, as the first woman and first foreigner to join the government's council of economic advisers, the so called "Five Wise Men".
Fed seeks nominations to Consumer Advisory Council
The Federal Reserve Board has announced that it is seeking nominations for appointments to its Consumer Advisory Council. Eleven new members will be appointed to serve three-year terms beginning in January 2005.
Zimbabwe's Gono ducks missiles on SA trip
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono was in South Africa this week to launch Homelink, a plan to encourage Zimbabweans living abroad to send home money through government channels. But the trip descended into chaos when Gono was booed by crowds…
Taiwan appoints new regulator chief
Taiwan has appointed Jaw Sheng Kong as chairman of the newly formed Financial Supervisory Commission. Kong, 48, is currently chairman of state-owned Taiwan Sugar Corp, said the Executive Yuan, the island's Cabinet.
France's Noyer on indexed bonds, inflation
In a speech on 'The role of inflation - indexed bonds in the process of setting monetary policy: a central banker's perspective' given on 9 June, Christian Noyer of the Bank of France said central banks have to make use of the widest possible set of…
Caruana on 60 years after Bretton Woods
In a speech on '60 years after Bretton Woods - a central banker's view' given on 10 June, Jaime Caruana of the Bank of Spain said central banks have also undergone changes similar to those at the IMF. Developments in macroeconomic theory and the…
Gerashchenko chosen as new Yukos chairman
Former chairman of the Central Bank of Russia Viktor Gerashchenko was elected chairman of Yukos, the Russian oil giant, on Thursday 24 June.
Ecofin unlikely to press Hungary on deficit
The council of European Union finance ministers (Ecofin) is scheduled to evaluate Hungary's convergence program on July 5, and preliminary consultations do not indicate that the council will urge Hungary to speed up its budget deficit reduction plans,…
Four CIS countries consider single currency
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine are pondering the possibility of a single currency that will be legal tender on the territory of the Common Economic Area they are creating, a senior official at the Belarussian National Bank told a news conference…
BoJ's Fukui says too soon to end easy money policy
Bank of Japan chief Toshihiko Fukui said on Friday 25 June that it is too early to discuss ending the central bank's ultra-loose credit policy.
EU proposes easing of stability pact
At its regular meeting on Thursday 24 June, the European Commission recommended that a country's economic situation should be taken into account when applying the stability and growth pact, Deutsche Welle reported.
ECB's Padoa-Schioppa on challenges post-FSAP
In a speech on 'Challenges of financial integration in the post-FSAP period' given on 23 June, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa of the ECB said efforts in the post-FSAP period should be devoted to best implementing the new framework. If exploited ambitiously, the…
Fed's Kohn on regulatory reform proposals
In testimony 'Regulatory reform proposals' given on 22 June, Donald Kohn of the Federal Reserve said that the Federal Reserve Board strongly supports legislative proposals that would authorise the payment of interest on demand deposits and on balances…
Riksbank investigates premature rate announcement
Sweden's Riksbank said on Thursday 24 June that it was investigating the premature publication of its interest rate decision.
Sweden holds interest rates unchanged
At its meeting on Wednesday, 23 June, the Executive Board of the Sveriges Riksbank decided to leave the repo rate unchanged at 2 per cent. The Riksbank said that the recovery in Sweden and abroad is progressing largely as anticipated.
BoE's King on asset prices and oil price impact
In his opening statement to the Treasury Committee given on 24 June, Mervyn King of the Bank of England said, when asked if it was the case that the Bank had dropped its gradualist approach: "No ... I don't think we have," adding that in any case the BoE…
Bank of England Inflation Attitudes Survey, May 04
The Bank of England's May 2004 quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey was published on 18 June. Asked about the future path of interest rates, 71% expected rates to rise in the next 12 months, up slightly from 69% in the February survey.
The Norwegian Banking Crisis
It has been ten years since the Norwegian banking crisis ended. This publication considers the crisis in retrospect and provides a comprehensive, but reasonably compact description in English of the Norwegian banking crisis. It contains six chapters and…
Rates not to blame for slow growth: Padoa-Schioppa
The European Central Bank's reluctance to cut interest rates below 2 per cent isn't to blame for slow growth in the 12 nations that share the euro, said Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, an ECB board member, in an interview with newspaper La Stampa.
IMF urges more flexible yuan policy
Rodrigo Rato, the new International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director, on Thursday 24 June told China's leaders that now would be a good time to make their yuan exchange rate policies more flexible.