Banks
German sovereign wealth rules "lean and liberal"
Germany's planned legislation to limit investment by sovereign wealth funds will allow foreign funds to buy banks, media companies and consumer industries, but not in the energy sector.
Norwegian deputy predicts lower bank profits
Jarle Bergo, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Norway, said on Thursday that conditions in the property and money markets were likely to drive down commercial banks' profit margins.
Bahamas steps up supervision
The Central Bank of The Bahamas has asked resident commercial banks to submit group organisational charts in order to comply with the Basel core principles for effective banking supervision.
Bank Indonesia changes loan regulations
Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, has announced new limits the type and amount of corporate bonds which commercial banks can classify as "loans" in their official loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) calculations.
Philippines: e-rediscouting system
In a speech made on the launch of an electronic rediscounting system, Amando Tetangco Jr, governor of the central bank of the Philippines, said that the system would expand access to credit of countryside areas in the Mindanao region.
Ingves on how to regulate cross-border banks
Stefan Ingves, the governor of the Riksbank, set out the challenges authorities face in regulating increasingly integrated financial markets.
Zhou says room to raise reserve requirement
China still has room to raise the commercial banks' reserve requirement ratio, the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported Thursday 17 May, citing People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan.
BI vigilant on regulatory 'grey areas'
Bank Indonesia deputy governor Muliaman D. Hadad said recently that in the revised regulations, the central bank had clarified several "gray areas" that had dissuaded the banks from extending loans to particular types of firms.
Fed's Kroszner on community banks
In the speech 'Community banks: The continuing importance of relationship finance' given on 5 March Randall Kroszner of the Federal Reserve said U.S. community banks are generally healthy and profitable despite tougher competition from larger banks and…
Interest rates round-up
A brief round-up of recent interest rate decisions in central banks in emerging markets.
Buba paper on the diversification of German banks
The Bundesbank Discussion Paper "Does diversification improve the performance of German banks? Evidence from individual bank loan portfolios" investigates the link between banks' profitability (ROA) and their portfolio diversification across different…
Eurosystem central bank staff cuts gather pace
The number of central bankers in the eurosystem stands at 49,559, a fall of 5.3% or 7,237 staff since one year ago, and 11.9% lower than when the euro was launched in 1999, reveals the 2006 edition of Central Banking Publications' Central Bank Directory.
ECB and NCBs release joint statistics
On Tuesday the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks (NCBs) of the euro area for the first time released joint tables of euro area statistics and their national breakdowns on their websites.
Legal aspects of European System of Central Banks
The European Central Bank published a book on Wednesday 26 October . The book contains a collection of articles on the European Union and the ESCB, the Eurosystem, monetary law, central bank independence and central bank statutes as well as on financial…
EU banking sector stability report
The European Central Bank published a report on EU banking sector stability, prepared by the Banking Supervision Committee of the European System of Central Banks on 17 October.
Foreign central banks resume buying debt says Fed
Data released on Thursday 20 January by the Federal Reserve showed foreign central banks resumed buying US Treasuries in the latest week, but cut their agency holdings for a second week.
Ukraine central bank introduces stability measures
The National Bank of Ukraine announced on Tuesday 30 November that it is forbidding commercial banks from making early deposit withdrawals and has set limits on cash and noncash foreign-currency transactions to preserve stability during the country's…
Asian central banks on the horns of policy dilemma
These are tricky times for Asian central banks, this article reports. With semi-public wranglings between central banks and finance ministries, this is one of the least predictable environments for policy forecasting since the 1997-98 Asian financial…
What's missing at Asian central banks? Credibility
This article argues that Asia lacks a central banker with the clout enjoyed by the Federal Reserve chairman or the ECB president. This lack of credibility exists because of their aggressive manipulation of currency rates, their spotty histories of…
Liebscher on the role and functioning of the ESCB
In a speech on 'The role and functioning of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB)' given on 6 July, Klaus Liebscher of the Austrian National Bank expressed his conviction that the enlargement of the European Union and the economic and monetary…
Fazio's address to the Euro-Mediterranean seminar
In his welcoming address to the Eurosystem and Mediterranean Central Banks Euro-Mediterranean seminar, Antonio Fazio said the talents that the central banks have brought to the European system is founded on autonomy and independence, sometimes carefully…
Krueger speech to African central bank governors
In a speech at a luncheon for African Central Bank Governors given on 23 September Anne Krueger of the IMF said that achieving macroeconomic stability is a prerequisite for durable growth. It is not, of course, enough. From my contacts with African…
E-barter V fiat money: will central banks survive?
Bank of England Working Paper by F H Capie, Dimitrios P Tsomocos and Geoffrey E Wood titled "E-barter versus fiat money: will central banks survive?". In the paper the authors argue that the information-economising properties that allowed money to…
Political support needed for Africa currency union
Africa's central bank governors gathered together to discuss the possibility of forming a regional currency union, but concluded that however desirable and technically feasible it may be, it cannot be done without the support of politicians, reported the…