Central Banking
Czech paper deconstructs exchange rate variability in advanced economies
Researchers find that economic fundamentals are only responsible for a third of the medium-term exchange rate variability, although this increases when the euro is involved
Bank of Canada revamps website
The Canadian central bank has sought to simplify the design of its website and make it easier for users to locate information across a variety of devices
RBA takes next step in opening up payments market
Shake-up of access regimes aims to give more room for competition in the Australian payments market; proposed changes still need amendments to legislation to go ahead
Fed not to blame for recent emerging market sell-off, says BIS
Recent rush of capital out of emerging markets was due to country-specific factors, not tapering by the Fed; Borio reiterates call for better policies, lamenting a ‘disappointing element of déjà vu’
Hämäläinen returns to ECB in latest SSM board appointments
Central bank fills three of its four slots for representatives on the SSM’s supervisory board, with former board member Hämäläinen joined by Canadian supervisor Julie Dickson, and the ECB's own Ignazio Angeloni
International perspective helps resolve domestic economic puzzles, says Canada deputy
Bank of Canada deputy governor John Murray underscores the importance of looking beyond borders when setting monetary policy
Banks switch strategies way ahead of new regulation, paper finds
ECB working paper studying a set of Finnish banks finds they anticipated Basel II by up to seven years, shifting their credit portfolios in preparation for the new regulatory environment
FOMC members discuss international spillovers of Fed monetary policy
Charles Plosser and Richard Fisher sound off on accommodating policies' impact on other countries, but make no promises of international considerations on FOMC
IMF minutes to go public after three years, not five
IMF plumps for greater transparency for the majority of its board meetings, but those used to discuss allocation of fund resources will stay secret for five years
Swiss upper house rejects initiative that would force SNB to double gold holdings
Proposal that would require central bank to hold at least 20% of total assets in gold is slated for referendum but political establishment is strongly opposed
Nature of shock explains linkages between monetary and macro-pru policies
Riksbank article studies linkages in a dynamic general equilibrium model, where macro-prudential policy is exemplified by a countercyclical capital buffer
Stevens dismisses concerns over Australia’s higher inflation target
RBA governor and deputies grilled over appropriateness of higher inflation target than most advanced economies; questions also raised on credit growth, competitiveness and the move away from mining
BoE launches banknote security app
Bank of England launches an interactive application for use on mobile devices that helps the public identify security features on its banknotes
BoE says publishing Fed-like transcripts would restrict debate
Following recent calls on the bank to follow Fed’s example and release verbatim records of old meetings, BoE says it wound prevent ‘free-flowing’ debate
EU banks fear capital hit from CCP approval delays
For banks to apply a 2% risk-weight, non-EU CCPs must be approved by Esma and their home-country rules by the EC; banks fear that will not happen by June 15 deadline in some cases
Serbian ‘dinarisation’ showing mixed results
National Bank of Serbia’s attempts to encourage use of the domestic currency show mixed results as dinar deposits increase, but dinar loans fall
ECB holds rates on back of ‘positive’ data
Mario Draghi attributes ECB inaction to improvement in economic data; new staff forecasts show inflation climbing to 1.7% only in the last quarter of 2016
World's biggest banks $80bn short of Basel III capital
Results from Basel Committee's latest monitoring exercise of banks' compliance with new regulatory framework shows progress but also some setbacks
Recovery needed to cement lower credit risk at Slovenian banks
Credit and solvency risk in Slovenia down following restructuring of banking system in December
Caruana calls on central banks to explain reaction functions
BIS general manager says central banks must manage expectations as they normalise monetary policy, partly by explaining how ‘policies might change as conditions evolve’
Korea and Indonesia agree $10 billion swap line
Kim Choong-soo and Agus Martowardojo sign an agreement that will allow their central banks to exchange up to $10 billion worth of local currencies
Ukraine wins EU rescue package as finance ministry threatens debt restructure
European institutions will come up with €11 billion over the next five years; European Commission proposes international donor co-ordination mechanism
East African Community secures €4.5 million EU loan
The deal is aimed at bolstering regional integration and forms part of bigger effort to bind African markets closer together
ESRB handbook calls on macro-prudential regulators to overcome ‘inaction bias'
Comprehensive guidance on macro-prudential tools was published yesterday by the European Systemic Risk Board