Capital
‘Ostrich approach’ to financial stability is a mistake
Denmark’s top supervisor, Jesper Berg, says scaling back IFRS 9 would be a costly error, despite the economic challenges raised by Covid-19
ECB asks eurozone banks to stop dividends
Bank of Israel also asks banks to reassess the distribution of dividends
Concentrated firepower: central banks must expand their arsenal
Philip Turner argues central banks should be prepared to go further to avoid economic and financial collapse
Basel III reforms pushed back to buy time for coronavirus response
Basel Committee chief says banks and supervisors need operational capacity to cope with the virus shock
A vaccine for the global economy
Olivier Blanchard, Peter Praet and Daniel Alpert discuss shorter- and longer-term actions to tackle the flaws exposed by the Covid-19 crisis
The dawn of a safer and sounder European banking sector
Implementation of two pillars of banking union has led to significant improvements in the safety and soundness of the European banking system
Central banks grapple with dollar funding crunch
Indicators of stress hit highest levels since global crisis; dollar backstops may soon be tested
Norges Bank cuts rates 50bp in emergency meeting
Central bank offers extraordinary three-month loans to banks and calls on government to reduce countercyclical buffer
BoE launches package of Covid-19 response measures
UK central bank cuts policy rate and countercyclical capital buffer, and unveils measures to support lending
RBI prepares rescue plan for failed bank
State Bank of India agrees to help rescue Yes Bank, which remains under “moratorium”
Carney sets out ‘grand unifying theory’ of macro-pru
Loss function for financial stability echoes format of Taylor rule, but requires much more judgement; speech is Carney’s last as BoE governor
ECB mulls wider clearing house access to account facilities
Including CCPs in the Eurosystem may remove the need for them to seek a banking licence
Ghana’s Addison on banking reform, innovation and the future of the eco
The Bank of Ghana governor speaks about the next steps in banking reform and why West Africa may need more time to start using a common currency
Book notes: After the crash, by Sharyn O’Halloran and Thomas Groll
The book seeks to identify seeds of the next crisis, and the overriding impression is a plea for more regulation
Do low rates spur investment?
Many believe low interest rates spur investment, but there appears to be little hard evidence to support such claims, writes former IMF head Jacques de Larosière
Stability versus solvency
There is still far too much regulatory forbearance on troubled bank debt. More on-site inspections and genuine writedowns are needed to fix the banking system
BoE’s Taylor argues for solution to IFRS 9 ‘headache’
Loss provisioning rules could worsen downturns and present issues for stress-testing, official says
Book notes: The power of money, by Robert Pringle
Economists would benefit from reading this “remarkable” book, which contains “brilliantly written snapshots” about money’s historical and social roles
Fed could postpone stress buffer beyond CCAR – experts
Delays prompt speculation that the new rules will only be known after the stress-test results in June
Bulgaria: long live the currency board
Bulgaria should reject the euro and extend its currency board to cover bank deposits
Basel III implementation creating fragmentation, warns FSI paper
Authors say some variation is good, but more could be done to cut fragmentation
Fed’s Quarles warns big balance sheet could harm credibility
Fed official proposes tweaks to discount window and G-Sib surcharges to improve monetary framework
Central Banking Awards 2020: second group of winners unveiled
Prizes awarded for governor, reserve management, green initiative, asset manager and custody
Governor of the year: Mark Carney
Carney has played a vital role in managing Brexit risks while driving efforts towards climate, payments and dollar funding reform