Eurozone
Nouy sees banking union driving deeper integration
ECB report finds financial integration back to levels achieved before sovereign debt crisis; Danièle Nouy expects banking union to help create ‘deeper integration of a higher quality’
Draghi says ECB may have to reassess Greek emergency liquidity
ECB president says situation in Greece may force governing council to revisit the terms of emergency liquidity, as another round of negotiations breaks down
Lithuania bought 1.6 tonnes of gold as part of euro switch
Purchases representing around 25% of total gold holdings made during switch to euro; Bank of Lithuania investment director tells Central Banking investments are now more diverse
Public to vote on design of €2 commemorative coin
Eurozone residents invited by European Commission to pick one of five designs for a coin marking the 30th anniversary of the EU flag; partly a tool for raising awareness of economic governance
Economists split on reality of cross-border co-operation
Panelists at an event in London see continued obstacles to countries working together effectively during a crisis, although regional co-operation could be a partial solution
Europe/US policy divergence ‘good news’ for monetary system, says top central banker
Spill-overs should not be a factor in monetary policy decisions; precedents for European and US policy to diverge, says top-level European central banker
ECB adviser admits more clarity needed over stress tests
Banks should be given a clearer picture of why their stress test numbers don’t pass muster with the ECB, says Christoph Siebenbrunner of the Austrian National Bank
SMEs benefit from easier European credit standards
Latest ECB bank-lending survey shows credit standards continuing to ease for enterprises in Europe during the first few months of this year; demand for loans widely expected to increase further
Rossi calls on supervisors to ‘build a real single house’
Senior deputy governor at the Bank of Italy stresses the importance of harmonising supervisory practices across the eurozone to ‘exploit the potential’ of the SSM
Varoufakis defends reshaped Greek reform agenda
Greek finance minister says extension bought time for a ‘serious conversation’ with creditors and outlines ways in which he wants reforms to differ from troika prescriptions
ECB research assesses fiscal impact of bailouts
ECB paper analyses the impact on a government’s fiscal position of assistance measures; finds majority of the financial needs (4.9% of 5.1% of GDP) were recorded is first three crisis years
Former ECB banknotes director describes 'arduous path' to Europa launch
Antti Heinonen details the challenges and occasional mishaps in delivering a ‘quantum leap’ in eurozone banknote designs, with the latest new note to be issued later this year
Nouy sets out SSM priorities for 2015
Supervisory board chair Danièle Nouy reveals focus on profitability drivers of largest banks in eurozone, as well as their risk appetite and governance; first annual report published
BoE and ECB strike deal on CCP cooperation
Central banks agree to information exchange and provision of cross-border liquidity in a crisis as the UK government drops two outstanding cases against the ECB
IMF report urges review of euro timeline in Romania
Staff fear convergence could take longer than expected; encourage the transition to a ‘full-fledged’ inflation targeting regime at the central bank
Greek governor paints bleak picture of life without the euro
Yannis Stournaras insists leaving the eurozone is ‘not an option’ for Greece, as it would impose ‘huge costs’ on the financial system and real economy alike
Forward guidance can help QE succeed, Finnish research says
Article in Bank of Finland bulletin considers whether eurozone is at risk of Japanese-style deflation, finding the ECB’s asset purchases reduce the odds of this outcome
Third TLTRO sees extra €98 billion borrowed from ECB
Latest allocation of cheap loans pushes total amount borrowed to €310 billion; measures aimed at repairing transmission mechanism and encouraging loans to real economy
Protestors clash with police as ECB opens new premises
Demonstrations organised to coincide with inauguration of new ECB building lead to outbreaks of violence; Draghi calls for economics and politics of integration to be ‘reconciled’
Draghi wants shared sovereignty over structural reforms
ECB president fleshes out vision for ‘common governance’ of product and labour market reforms in the eurozone; advocates adopting an ‘institution-based approach’ to common governance
Cyprus governor 'will not resign' despite political pressure
Chrystalla Georghadji will continue exercising her duties as governor despite the Cypriot president ordering an investigation into what he perceives as a ‘conflict of interest’
ECB paper models Philips curve from professional forecasts
Working paper finds the curve consistent with professional forecasts has flattened since the financial crisis, with the relationship between inflation and unemployment weakening
ECB’s Mersch tells banks to take advantage of reforms
Banks should tap into the ‘sizeable’ opportunities offered by banking union, ECB executive board member says, which could help them provide more credit to SMEs
Court rules against ECB in CCP case
European court finds ECB does not have authority to regulate securities clearing systems in the EU, upholding a UK plea against rules forcing CCPs to be located in the eurozone