Bonds
RBI launches bond market shake-up
Host of measures aim to develop markets, increase participation and improve liquidity in Indian capital markets, following review by former deputy governor Harun Khan
More work needed to make case for GDP-linked bonds – BoE paper
The design of GDP-linked bonds needs to align macroeconomic need with investor demand, according to a paper authored for the G20 summit; clearer guidelines and principles could aid adoption
BoE bond purchases run into difficulties
Central bank fails to meet quota of long-dated government bond purchases despite offering a high price, pointing to an unusual failure of its bond-buying mechanism
Sri Lanka releases trading stats as it seeks to develop market
First set of data shows 3.42 billion rupees traded, with transactions over 50 million rupees to be reported within 30-minute window
ECB paper compares ability of indicators to predict bond risk premia
Researchers assemble 132 macroeconomic indicators and compare their performance against financial measures as predictors of eurozone countries’ bond risk premia
Bank of Tokyo abandons JGB primary dealer role
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ steps back from role citing “business optimisation”, in the latest sign the Bank of Japan’s policy is putting the squeeze on bank profits
Argentine central bank holds rate on its bonds with eye on inflation
Reference rate held at 30.25% ahead of second inflation figure release; second monthly statistic from Indec due today, no official annual figure yet
ECB restores ‘waiver’ to let Greek banks access cheaper finance
ECB restores waiver to Greek government bonds, lowering the cost of finance for Greece's central bank; demands further adherence to conditionality, but holds out possibility of buying government bonds
Australian fixed-income markets continue to function ‘satisfactorily’, says Debelle
Regulatory change contributing to satisfactory performance, assistant governor notes; large share of activity in derivatives helping bond market to be successful
Beware the bond price snapback, says BIS’s da Silva
Poor understanding of inflation drivers and possible disequilibrium from ultra-low rates mean emerging markets should not get too comfortable, says deputy general manager
Divergent monetary policies are top concern for reserve managers in 2016
Reserve managers view divergent monetary policies among the world’s top central banks as the most pressing challenge they face in 2016; asset and currency diversification continues
ECB papers take detailed look at bond market data
Two papers from the European Central Bank take a detailed look at data on the development of credit spreads in eurozone corporate bonds
RBI moves to curb concentrated credit risk
Central bank hopes new prudential measures will reduce banks’ “very high” exposures to large corporations and encourage firms to turn to capital markets for funding
Optimising official reserve portfolios
Bank reserve managers require a modern, flexible approach to achieving the investment trinity of safety, liquidity and return. This strategy is typified by BlackRock’s model multi-asset portfolios, which use indexes as building blocks, maintain high…
RBI deputy outlines ‘key tasks’ for market development
Harun Khan lays out the main areas of work in broadening financial markets, including efforts to improve liquidity and access and improving central bank communication around debt management
Kuroda: Negative rates having ‘visible’ impact on JGB yields
Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda says rates are falling across the yield curve, falling negative up to a maturity of “around” 10 years; sees effects spreading in future
Competition in treasury auctions reduces bidder surplus, working paper finds
Data from before and after Austria’s entry into the European Union shows increased competition in bond auctions substantially reduces bidder surplus, researchers say
BoJ establishes working groups to consider how to make best use of BOJ-NET
Working group to look at ways to make effective use of settlement system; BOJ-NET to process more transactions across time zones
Jamaica successfully restarts bond market, governor says
Government debt issuance in February was oversubscribed; Wynter hopes surplus liquidity will continue to increase, helping to accommodate ‘crowding-in’ of private investment
Slovakian central bank boosts provisions for financial risks
National Bank of Slovakia records gross profit of €144.6 million in 2015, as both income and operating costs fall
Eurozone sovereign debt crisis has increased financial fragmentation, paper argues
Eurozone corporate bonds have different risk premia according to which country a company is headquartered in, paper argues; fragmentation has ‘dampened effectiveness’ of ECB policy
Argentina inches towards repaying debt
Montreux Partners LP and EM Ltd settle; four creditors yet to agree on removing injunction
BoJ moves to ‘ease stress’ in JGB market
More generous limits applied to securities lending facility designed to alleviate strains in the market for government bonds, though liquidity indicators do not show clear signs of tightening
Illiquidity, concentrated bond holding raise volatility – paper
The volatility of financial market price shocks in the Bund and taper tantrums was aggravated by illiquidity and concentrated holdings of bonds, working paper finds