Central Banking
Julio Suárez appointed next Bank of Guatemala president
Vice-president has been appointed to lead the central bank by the Guatemalan government, and will take office on October 1
Zambia’s Gondwe lauds interventions to support kwacha
Michael Gondwe declares success in Bank of Zambia’s use of monetary policy to shore up a sliding kwacha; says central bank now in a position to loosen tight liquidity conditions
PBoC signs $1.63bn swap deal with Central Bank of Sri Lanka
Three-year arrangement between Chinese and Sri Lankan central banks follows deal in August allowing the latter to invest in China's interbank bond market
Yellen: Unexpected $400 expense would put majority of US households in financial bind
Federal Reserve chair notes many of 25 million poorest US households have no wealth or negative net worth
Debit card fraud losses rise 13.1% in two years in the US, report shows
Fraud losses associated with debit card transactions in the US rose to $1.57 billion in 2013, according to a Fed report, but the amount lost per transaction was relatively stable
FOMC's Lacker denounces committee's new normalisation principles
Richmond Fed president says FOMC expectation not to sell MBS as part of balance sheet reduction flies in the face of half-a-century's worth of Fed practice
BoE paper: ‘No evidence' QE operated via bank-lending channel in UK
If quantitative easing gives rise to short-lived deposits in a given bank, the traditional bank-lending channel is diminished, BoE paper finds
Lower outside demand and structural bottlenecks explain EM slowdown, IMF paper finds
Slowdown a ‘remarkable feature for a non-crisis period' in emerging economies that was largely unanticipated by scholars and forecasters, paper notes
Central Banking poll finds tepid response to EU stress tests
Some 60% of respondents to Central Banking poll say the EU stress tests are ‘not stringent enough’; ECB will release results for eurozone banks along with AQR findings next month
People: BoE legal adviser to retire in April 2015; Banque de France appoints new deputy director
BoE loses chief legal adviser next year; Banque de France promotes its director of risk operations; Czech National Bank names new deputy director; and more
Sarb governor Gill Marcus to step down
Governor of South African Reserve Bank will leave when her term expires in November; move came as a surprise to many market watchers
FOMC to raise rates before shrinking balance sheet
Federal Reserve unveils principles for policy ‘normalisation' as members' calls for rate hike grow louder; normalisation not necessarily expected to 'begin soon'
ECB releases rotation schedule for voting governors
New voting rotation system sees Spanish, Irish, Greek and Estonian governors sit out first decision in January; ECB allots €82.6 billion to 255 banks in first targeted LTRO
Financial liberalisation much more encompassing ‘than just technical lifting of controls'
Market participants face numerous unexpected challenges as they adapt to more liberal operational environments, says Bank of Finland board member at China financial liberalisation event
State-owned banks played counter-cyclical role in EMs following financial crisis
Credit growth by foreign banks lagged behind that of domestic banks in Asia, Latin America and ‘emerging Europe', IMF working paper finds
FSB warns of ‘increasing signs of complacency' in financial markets
Concerns about the mispricing of liquidity risks are also raised at plenary meeting in Cairns this week, but ‘core of financial system continues to strengthen'
Peru governor says Fed ‘normalisation’ will help reverse domestic slowdown
Central Bank of Peru governor Jose Velarde says Fed has ‘probably not’ done enough to limit international spill-over, but growth in the US will partially offset a slowdown in China
Barnier hints at longer pensions clearing exemption for OTC derivatives
The EC's outgoing head of internal markets, Michel Barnier, has hinted the Commission will extend a pension funds derivatives clearing exemption beyond 2015
Mortgage credit subsidies 'disastrous for the poor'
Credit subsidies a ‘short-sighted palliative for addressing economic inequality', argue leading academics in Central Banking Journal article
Brazil’s central bank staff complete second day of strike
‘Technical’ workers are seeking greater recognition as more roles are taken by ‘analysts’ that earn higher salaries; central bank says protests have not affected its core activities
Mobile money accounts trump number of adults in Kenya, IMF data show
African bank depositors increased five-fold between 2004 and 2013, IMF's fifth annual Financial Access Survey shows; includes data on mobile money for first time
IMF paper: Colombia needs to lower collateral constraints to boost growth
Measures to increase financial inclusion in Colombia should be ‘monitored closely’, since some of them ‘may imply trade-offs’; collateral constraints viewed as impediment to growth
FSB estimates of Chinese shadow banking fall short of target, IMF representatives suggest
FSB's ‘filtering out' of parts of the non-bank financial system in China paints incomplete picture, IMF Asia division chief and HK representative say
‘Flower power’ drives new Dominican Republic banknote series
The Dominican Republic is issuing upgraded banknotes to include the country’s new national flower; Israel and eurozone also introducing new notes in the market