Central Banking
Rosengren eyes balance between bank resilience and loans
Boston Fed president tells New York conference that supervisors should encourage banks to maintain lending when striving to meet capital-to-asset ratios, but stress the need for quick recapitalisation
BoJ establishes working groups to consider how to make best use of BOJ-NET
Working group to look at ways to make effective use of settlement system; BOJ-NET to process more transactions across time zones
Currency networks shape global spillovers, BIS authors find
Authors make use of recently enhanced BIS data sets to map currency networks, studying how these affected the risk-taking channel of monetary policy during the ‘taper tantrum’
IMF will ‘take stock’ of capital flow policies
IMF may undertake further work on capital flow management and foreign exchange interventions if analysis highlights need for it; fund will also re-examine global safety net
Deputy governor warns of perils in changing Sweden’s inflation target
Sweden would only be able to raise its inflation rate successfully if other major economies around the world did also, deputy governor Ohlsson says – competiveness would disappear
Progress on resolution frameworks has slowed, FSB warns
Few jurisdictions have all the rules in place and legislative progress is slowing, Financial Stability Board says in its latest peer review of resolution regimes
Sarb hikes rate despite split decision on MPC
Monetary policy committee decides to raise key rate by 25bp after an initial 3:3 split; concerns over inflation remain for some members
Inflation and unemployment affect wage rigidity, Icelandic authors find
Research challenges New Keynesian assumption that timings of wage changes are exogenous, showing level of inflation and unemployment also matter
Bank of Israel establishes banking innovation division
New section of banking supervision department formed to help foster innovation but contain the accompanying risks; Dudi Bavli chosen to head division
Researchers propose adapted methodology to assess money market microstructure
The standard algorithm used to assess bilateral exposures in the interbank market needs adapting to make it robust to zero and negative interest rates, two economists argue
Bank of Russia unveils framework for insurance industry regulation
Russia’s central bank will monitor insurance companies for compliance with financial ratios and other indicators; has set up institute for risk management in insurance industry
BoE alert to second-round effects from low inflation, minutes show
BoE enters eighth year with rate at 0.5%; committee will continue to watch for second-round effects of inflation on wages
Guy Debelle reviews forex code progress ahead of first-phase release in May
Global code to be implemented as principles rather than rules; regulators may implement with element of variation depending on market participants, Debelle notes
Norges Bank willing to consider move into negative territory
Central bank cuts rates to 0.5% and signals further action likely to follow; executive board concerned by side-effects of negative rates, but willing to use them if necessary
Fed officials lower expectations of rate increases
Fed officials forecast rate increase of 50bp this year, compared with 100bp in December; Yellen “wary” of recent increase in headline inflation
Tests find New Zealand banks ‘robust’ to dairy stress
Stress tests conducted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in late 2015 find five largest lenders to dairy sector can withstand further drops in payout and land values
Bank capital matters for risk-taking channel of monetary policy, Norges Bank paper finds
Less capitalised Norwegian banks are more likely to extend credit to risky firms in response to a cut in the policy rate, author finds
Bank of Japan ramps up efforts to prepare infrastructure for disaster
Central bank calls for examinations of business continuity plans, learning from the 2011 earthquake, in rare report on payments landscape; BOJ-NET extends operating time
Riksbank flags concerns over pace of development in payments
Tech development proceeding ‘too rapidly’, says central bank; evolution of payments could jeopardise access
Banks start to clean up balance sheets after RBI asset quality review
Efforts will enable flow of credit in the long term, deputy says; improving capital buffers and governance structures also beneficial
Equities support Danish central bank's profits in 2015
Move into riskier assets contributes to profits in 2015, in addition to significant returns from defending the krone; costs are also on the rise following major IT project
San Marino’s new central bank chief faces NPL challenge
Staff at IMF stress need for “comprehensive strategy” to clean up balance sheets in the banking sector; Wafik Grais takes office as chairman of the central bank after prolonged vacancy
Slovenia report simulates effects of structural reforms
Report by local institute, in co-operation with the central bank and OECD, argues the time is “ripe” for structural reform in Slovenia; suggests long-term benefits outweigh short-term costs
PBoC and MAS extend $46bn swap line
Renewal of currency arrangement follows deepening of cross-border integration measures introduced last year