Central Banking
Polish paper says euro would have destabilised economy during crisis
National Bank of Poland research examines how adopting the euro would have changed the impact of the financial crisis; fixed exchange rate would have exposed economy to greater shocks
Insurers must prepare for climate change, says Zeti
Bank Negara Malaysia’s Zeti says climate change presents a huge challenge to Asian insurance industry; risk management systems must adapt
Singapore review exposes plummeting growth rates
Biannual Monetary Authority of Singapore macroeconomic review details large drop in growth rates; inflation and unemployment steady
FSB task force proposes enhancements to risk disclosure
Private-sector task force organised by the Financial Stability Board outlines seven principles designed to improve banks’ risk disclosure, with implementation of some sections to begin immediately
Basel Committee reports slow progress ahead of G-20 meeting
Report submitted to G-20 leaders ahead of summit shows just six of 29 systemically important banks are likely to be subject to Basel III rules when deadline is passed
Draghi wants European veto over national budgets
ECB president Mario Draghi says he supports German proposal that would centralise European sovereignty; believes divide with Bundesbank president can be overcome
Dutch gold also unverified
Central banks with second, third and ninth largest gold holdings in the world admit to not physically verifying overseas gold; but some host central banks do not allow external auditors into vaults
Bundestag approves Germany’s Financial Stability Act
German lawmakers approve new macro-prudential powers for financial supervisors, with the Deutsche Bundesbank gaining a key monitoring role
Albanian governor seeks EU support for Balkan countries
Ardian Fullani says European Union support would help provide the tools for greater co-operation among Balkan countries
IMF paper analyses regional impact of deleveraging
Research published by the IMF considers why Asia’s domestic credit supply suffered less than that of other regions in response to banks deleveraging in 2008
Finland paper advocates partial commitment to inflation targeting
Bank of Finland study warns of dangers involved in ‘over-committing’ to interest rate adjustments in reaction to price changes; suggests short-term reactions may be appropriate
Bank of Russia reveals 2011 annual report
Russian economy grew while central bank battled inflation; exchange rate policy adjusted in transition to fully floating regime
RBNZ’s new governor rejects QE and capital controls
Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Graeme Wheeler sees no need to introduce a ‘desperate’ measure such as quantitative easing in the country; rules out use of capital controls to limit kiwi dollar appreciation
Banking supervision gets leadership overhaul in Spain
Bank of Spain names new director-general and associate director-general at the top of its banking supervision department as initial IMF review of financial assistance programme is released
Bundesbank reveals specific location details of gold holdings
New details of the Bundesbank’s foreign gold holdings released as Bank of Italy admits also not physically verifying gold held overseas despite having world’s third largest gold reserves
Structure of banks must change as they grow, says BoE’s Haldane
The Bank of England’s Andrew Haldane discusses ways to address the ‘too-big-to-fail problem’; considers impact on banks’ economies of scale
Thailand lowers growth and inflation forecasts
Bank of Thailand says export demand has softened in latest quarterly inflation report; inflationary pressures will decrease as a result
Troika praises Ireland for ‘steadfast’ adherence to programme
Conclusion of eighth programme review says Ireland likely to meet deficit target this year; Portugal by contrast facing ‘strong headwinds’ to fiscal adjustment with 2012 targets beyond reach
Fed’s QE2 will have ‘modest impact’, says San Francisco paper
Research by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimates the second round of Fed quantitative easing will have only a small effect on GDP growth and inflation
Macedonian vice-governor assesses impact of European deleveraging
Maja Kadievska Vojnovik says Macedonia has been spared most of the direct effects from deleveraging by European banks largely due to the ‘prudent’ funding structure of local banks
Bank of Finland’s Honkapohja gets second five-year term
Seppo Honkapohja reappointed for a second five-year term on the board of the Bank of Finland; only three board members of a possible six currently in office
FSB resolution paper due in ‘next few weeks’, says BoE’s Tucker
Lack of national legislation on resolution mechanisms has made the drafting of international standards for resolution regimes tricky. But an FSB consultative paper will be issued in the coming weeks
Customer funding gaps fall at Danish banks
Stress tests performed by the National Bank of Denmark show an increase in the capitalisation of the country’s banks; funding gaps shrink as deposits soar and lending falls
Market-based funding growing in South-east Asia, says MAS chairman
Tharman Shanmugaratnam says prospects for non-bank capital funding are growing in South-east Asia