Central Banking
Basel update shows biggest banks' CET1 position improving
Latest periodical review of progress towards Basel III standards shows the world's biggest banks are closing the gap on core Tier I capital requirements; US issues guidelines for Basel compliance
RBNZ institutional set-up makes forward guidance easier, says Grimes
Former chair of Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s board of directors says the concentration of power in the hands of the central bank’s governor makes forward guidance easier and policy-making clearer
Hong Kong and Australia see risks in low interest rates and Chinese NPLs
Impact of any shift in the yield curve on banks' balance sheets ‘may not be small', according to HKMA; RBA urges lenders to maintain prudent risk appetite as rates remain low
MAS's Menon says Basel rules could hit infrastructure finance
Basel III regulations could disincentivise long-term lending, particularly to private-sector projects, warns Monetary Authority of Singapore managing director Ravi Menon
ECB’s Russo: indirect clearing model needs work
Head of payments and market infrastructure at the ECB calls for greater clarity from regulators on the capital treatment of indirect clearing
New Riksbank deputy explains reasons behind dissent
In his first public address as a Swedish monetary policy-maker, Martin Flodén says a cut in interest rates will help inflation target to be reached sooner, limiting financial imbalances in the long term
Pianalto confident in case for faster retail payments
Cleveland Fed president Sandra Pianalto says the lack of 'concrete' evidence in favour of a near-real-time payment system should not stand in the way of its creation
Fed paper models monetary and fiscal policy interdependence
Working paper analyses interdependence between monetary and fiscal policy-making, testing policy experiments and finding a ‘non-negligible’ interaction between the two
ECB appoints Oliver Wyman to conduct ‘comprehensive' eurozone bank review
European Central Bank appoints the same consultancy firm as conducted Spain's banking stress tests and is doing the same for Slovenia; more details of the comprehensive review to follow soon
Central banks struggle to publicise new banknotes
Netherlands Bank finds that two-thirds of the Dutch population do not check the authenticity of their banknotes, which adds to the difficulty of communicating changes in their security features
US monetary policy weakened by fees and interest changes, paper finds
Research finds payment of interest on excess reserves and higher fees on uncollateralised overdrafts boosted efficiency but damaged the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy
BoE MPC members scramble to reaffirm low rates
Ben Broadbent, David Miles and Paul Tucker deliver speeches stressing their commitment to forward guidance and assuring markets the committee is ‘not in a rush’ to tighten policy
Dallas Fed’s Fisher criticises FOMC decision
Richard Fisher vociferously opposed keeping asset purchases at $85 billion each month; warned the committee that doing so would damage the Federal Reserve’s credibility
FDIC chair discusses US effort to balance capital and leverage requirements
Martin Gruenberg says Basel III relies too heavily on capital ratios, potentially incentivising big banks to employ ‘imprudent' leverage strategies; discusses regulatory remedies
ECB paper develops macro-pru tool probing impact of sudden capital outflows
Results show limited impact of a liquidity shock on banks' solvency ratios in the short term, but ‘moderate to high' effect on the supply of credit to the broader economy
Politically-aligned governors more likely to 'survive', research finds
Paper unearths evidence that central bank governors with the same political leanings as the government in power last significantly longer in their roles
Buffett’s ‘greatest hedge fund’ claim puts spotlight on the Fed
Warren Buffett's claim the Fed is ‘the greatest hedge fund in history’ fuels bloated balance sheet and politicisation debate; Fed veteran Gary Stern says 'sage of Omaha’s' comments are ‘misguided’
NY Fed trials new reverse repo facility
Federal Reserve Bank of New York tests new overnight reverse repo facility; William Dudley believes it will bolster the Fed’s control over short-term money market rates
Fedwire data can give accurate picture of interbank fed funds market, paper shows
NY Fed researchers find Fedwire-derived data on fed funds borrowing are strongly correlated with the figures subsequently reported by banks
Somalia appoints first female governor to scandal-hit central bank
Central Bank of Somalia to be led by female governor for first time; predecessor resigned after UN report placed central bank at the heart of a 'systematic misappropriation' of public funds
BoE executive director departs for private sector
Paul Sharma quits Prudential Regulation Authority after 20 years as a regulator, to move to consultancy Alvarez & Marsal; marks second high-level departure from PRA in the past week
BoJ’s Shirai says Japanese forward guidance is different from BoE and Fed's
Sayuri Shirai emphasises differences between Bank of Japan’s forward guidance and that employed by the Fed and Bank of England; refutes BoE claim that BoJ’s guidance is ‘open-ended’
Fed’s Tarullo draws on Crockett speech in outlining macro-prudential priorities
Daniel Tarullo sets out five central aims for current macro-prudential policy, taking lessons from a ‘prescient’ speech made by Andrew Crockett in 2000
IMF paper discerns East African transmission mechanisms
Transmission mechanism ‘functions best' when signals are clear and the monetary regime simple and coherent; non-monetary factors are ‘main drivers' of macroeconomic outcomes in examined countries