Data
Reserve Benchmarks 2024 – model banks analysis
New breakdowns reveal differences in central bank reserves management by size and economic group
Lessons learned on macro-pru policies
Macro-prudential tools are proving their worth although use cases vary by country; integration into over-arching policy frameworks remains a challenge
Financial system needs to be ‘quantum-ready’ – BIS study
Working paper reviews benefits and risks of computing technology
Bank of Thailand launches data-sharing initiative
Central bank and regulators plan to make consent-based data-sharing mechanism operational in 2026
Cloud and AI ‘dramatically improving’ data use at BoE
UK central bank creates cloud-based platform to streamline processing of its 30,000 data series
BIS paper explores ‘ChatGPT for central banking’
Language models can analyse sentences but needs more work when it comes to complex content
Basel III endgame adoption more than doubles
Annual monitoring exercise shows progress, but US and some emerging markets lag behind
‘Unpredictable’ risk driven by AI, geopolitics – Lagarde, Buch, Rehn
European supervisors call for caution – and more authority – at ESRB annual conference
Handful of central banks expanded swap lines in past year
Vast majority of swap lines offer US dollar liquidity
Energy data is ‘must-have’ for managing credit risk – Elderson
ECB board member calls for real data from energy efficiency certificates instead of proxies
Middle income countries form largest membership of World Bank Ramp
Central banks highlight market intel, support, training as partnership gains
Half of middle income central banks intervened in FX markets in 2023
Liquidity tranches form largest part of reserves in lower-middle income countries
IMF review of Russia’s economy ‘postponed indefinitely’
Regular Article IV consultation cancelled after international pressure
Risk departments propose benchmarks at most central banks
Investment committees increasingly empowered to approve reserve benchmarks
Most high income central banks engage in securities lending
But liquidity stress-testing tends to be common practice across middle income institutions
Large reserve holders use external managers for intel and new assets
Staff training trumps new asset class adoption as overall goal for third parties’ engagement
Asset delegation to external managers averages just 12%
One in 10 central banks considering reviews of allocations to external managers
Alpana Killawala on communications under six governors at the RBI
The former RBI comms chief speaks about the importance of strategic communications, courting the media, open mouth operations and altering a governor’s ‘rock star’ image
Central banks split over impact of US sanctions on dollar reserves
De-dollarisation, if it happens, will be very slow, central banks say
Reserve assets still rarely screened on ESG grounds
Bonds and equity indexes remain widely favoured for benchmarking
Ten central banks diversify portfolios with new asset classes
Institutions introduce green bonds and others into their reserve holdings
Asia-Pacific has highest assessing reserve adequacy metric
Ratios broadly higher among middle income central banks
Countries with high import coverage invest more in non-SDR debt
Breakdown of asset allocations shows Europe holds nearly half of world’s ESG-focused bonds
Portfolio managers make up largest share of reserve teams
Staff average annual earnings hover around $30,000 level