Central Banking
Fed paper examines costs of trend inflation variance
Study finds an increase in the volatility of trend inflation imposes a modest welfare cost on the economy
Unorthodox monetary policy would not suit Hungary, says paper
Research finds that unconventional central bank instruments have successfully eased market conditions in developed countries, but would have little impact in Hungary
Fed’s Tarullo lays out regulatory priorities for 2013
Federal Reserve governor highlights a number of regulatory efforts planned for the coming year; says US is ahead of its peers in introducing a bank resolution framework
Hungarian governor publishes open letter in spat with audit office
András Simor publishes letter after state audit office 'transgresses its authority' in a study into monetary policy
Fed presidents back money market fund reform
Regional federal reserve bank presidents say money market fund reform needed to increase resilience and reduce susceptibility to runs, despite SEC objections
King insists economy must rebalance
Governor says Bank of England can still contribute to recovery but is running up an ‘ever steeper hill’; inflation report downbeat on growth and inflation prospects
SNB activates capital buffer in face of overheating mortgage market
Swiss National Bank applies 1% counter-cyclical capital buffer to mortgage lenders as imbalances in the real-estate market worsened in the second half of 2012
IMF issues reality check on European banking union
Researchers say it could take five years to fully implement banking union in Europe, and warn a piecemeal approach could actually make the situation worse
Bank of Lithuania swoops on troubled Ukio Bankas
Central bank suspends commercial bank’s operations after continual governance shortcomings
Draghi tells Spanish parliament to keep struggling on
ECB chief meets with members of the Spanish parliament and says painful reform efforts are beginning to bear fruit
Richmond Fed's Lacker urges policy-makers to take away the safety net
Richmond Fed president says Federal Reserve may have been too generous with support during the financial crisis; ‘living wills’ could put fear of failure back into banks
Philadelphia Fed president wants forward guidance in ‘normal times’
Charles Plosser says helping the public understand how the Fed sets policy in normal times will make forward guidance at the zero lower bound more effective
Finnish deputy stresses support for SSM within ECB
Pentti Hakkarainen says lack of co-ordination between central banks and supervisors is the biggest lesson of the financial crisis
Constâncio sets out ECB's priority tasks in European banking union
European Central Bank vice-president aware of reputational risks from single supervisory mechanism; says ECB must work with EBA to develop a manual of supervisory practices
Yellen says forward guidance is ‘good news for workers’
Fed vice-chair says unemployment is predominantly cyclical and can be allayed by increasing aggregate demand; forward guidance will help Fed boost demand without compromising price stability
National supervisory risk guidance lags industry best practice, says FSB
Financial Stability Board report finds risk governance at some systemically important financial institutions exceeds supervisory guidance; demands more effort from developing economies
RBA offloads stake in scandal-hit Securency
Reserve Bank of Australia sells its shares in company embroiled in bribery scandal; central bank oversight of firm found to be appropriate
People: New deputies for New Zealand and Ukraine central banks
Reserve Bank of New Zealand hires top statistician as deputy governor; National Bank of Ukraine continues leadership team shake-up
Norway’s SWF buys US property for first time
East coast offices the latest purchase in pension fund’s real estate expansion; also reflects diversification away from European holdings
Small economies' central bankers must be ‘exceptionally smart to succeed', says CNB
Small economies are 'event-takers' says Czech executive director, often dependent on external conditions set by economic policies of advanced economies
ECB working paper finds fiscal consolidation improves bank balance sheets
Improvement in capital adequacy ratios results from a portfolio re-balancing from private to public debt securities, reducing the risk-weighted value of assets
Co-operation needed to avoid reduction in cross-border activity, says Canadian deputy
Timothy Lane says a reduction in cross-border activity only internalises the contagion risk; greater global co-operation needed to improve financial stability
RBI deputy wants to make banking a 'fundamental right'
Kamalesh Chandra Chakrabarty champions universal access to basic banking services; says banks’ cost structures are incompatible with the ideal
Buba’s Weidmann concerned by central bank politicisation
Bundesbank president says euro is not overvalued; finds Stiglitz comments on central bank independence 'concerning'