Central Banking
UK ring-fencing an ongoing process, says PRA official
James Proudman says Bank of England is considering changes to its supervisory approach once bank ring-fences are in place; “electrification” powers will be enforced
Kashkari chooses between ‘faith and data’
Minneapolis Fed president says FOMC should have waited to see if inflation rise was transitionary before raising rates in June
Silvana Tenreyro picked for BoE MPC
LSE academic to take over from Kristin Forbes as external member of the monetary policy committee at the end of June
People: Fijian deputy takes over in interim as Whiteside departs; FCA chairman to step down
Fijian deputy governor takes over as interim governor as Whiteside departs; FCA’s John Griffith-Jones to leave next year; Fed’s payment system director to retire; and more
BIS paper: forces driving global liquidity are shifting
Paper examines factors behind changing patterns of global liquidity, finding improved prudential standards have cut volatility
Greek bailout funds approved but debt relief still contentious
IMF agrees “in principle” to new support for Greece, unlocking European funds, but parties still fail to reach accord on debt relief
BoE economist sees monetary policy benefits to demonetisation
Removal of high-denomination notes could help central bankers maintain policies of low inflation and interest rates near the zero lower bound
Aruba central bank keeping an eye on government deficit
Caribbean central bank says borrowing from the domestic market could put pressure on international reserves; says it will be monitoring the situation “closely”
FCA regulatory sandbox success paves way for new firms to enter
UK regulator to accept 24 firms for sandbox testing in second phase; first cohort has completed six-month testing period and will be reviewed before “transitioning”
Panellists divided on merits of central bank digital currency
Sweden and Singapore unsure whether digital currencies will supersede cash in the near future; fintech innovation has the potential to increase competition in financial services
BSP piles pressure on banks to adopt new chip technology
Philippines central bank imposes “hard deadline” for banks to migrate to EMV technology, as initial target has been missed
Bank of Japan strikes upbeat tone as it keeps policy on hold
The Bank of Japan decided to leave policy settings unchanged at its June meeting, but sounded more upbeat on the outlook
MPC dissent grows amid BoE dilemma
Rates remain on hold but committee split 5-3 as some argue the BoE’s difficult trade-off has shifted in favour of tackling inflation
Norges Bank sees room for improvement when forecasting wages
Evaluation of forecast performance shows both the central bank and other forecasters struggled to produce accurate estimates of wage growth and unemployment
Crapo: US Treasury reforms will be ‘complicated’
Democrats unlikely to back changes that benefit big banks, Senate banking committee chair says
Former central bank governors debate unconventional monetary policy
Trichet, Shirakawa and Weber agree unconventional tools may have outstayed their welcome; costs of tools used during the crisis will not be known for some time, Weber says
OECD urges RBNZ to adopt debt-to-income restrictions
The OECD said adding a debt-to-income limit to the RBNZ’s macro-prudential instruments could increase the resilience of bank balance sheets
Overvalued Swiss currency is keeping rates low – SNB’s Jordan
The Swiss franc remains “significantly overvalued”, despite low interest rates and forex interventions; expansionary monetary policy makes the franc “less attractive” for investors
Yellen willing to reassess 2% target
Fed chair says question of the right target level is one of the most important facing central banks today; wind-down of QE likely to be dull, she adds
ECB buys €500 million worth of renminbi for forex reserves
Belgian central bank also announces purchase of Chinese currency, plus South Korean won
FOMC votes for hike but stays cautious on outlook
Fed committee votes for second rate hike of 2017, but enthusiasm for further tightening appears to be fading
Irish central bank renews Brexit warnings
Rapid house price rise fuelled by scarcity, Central Bank of Ireland says
Wilkins offers optimistic assessment of Canadian economy
Carolyn Wilkins says Bank of Canada will assess whether current “considerable” monetary stimulus is still required; growth across sectors is an “encouraging” sign for the economy
New US dollar bills will not be polymer – Fed official
US plans to launch a new family of banknotes that will have more intaglio printing; Fed’s Lambert sees a bright future for cash