Gold
Speeches at the SNB's annual shareholder meeting
SPEECH - At the annual general meeting of the Swiss National Bank in Berne on Apr 20, the president of the Bank Council, Eduard Belser, and SNB chairman, Jean-Pierre Roth, both gave speeches to present the central bank's annual report. Belser reports on…
India's cbank tightens banks' bullion trade norms
INDIA - The Reserve Bank of India has tightened bullion trading norms for commercial banks after some of them faced potential losses from their exposure to a cooperative bank that specialises in gold trade.
Ex-Yugo states agree on division of gold reserves
YUGOSLAVIA - The five states that emerged from ex-Yugoslavia have agreed on the division of gold assets worth some $477 million, Yugoslavia's central bank governor said on Apr 11.
SNB sells another five tons of gold
SWITZERLAND - The Swiss National Bank sold 5.33 metric tons of gold in the latest 10-day reporting period ended April 10, according to SNB statistics released Apr 13.
Central banks unlikely to sell gold-BoF forex head
FRANCE - The world's central banks, which hold about 35,000 tonnes of gold, were unlikely to be big sellers, Herve Ferhani, the Bank of France's head of gold and foreign exchange, said on Apr 9, 2001.
Austrian cbank says it sold 30 tonnes of gold
AUSTRIA - The Austrian National Bank said on Apr 5, 2001 that it had recently sold 30 tonnes of gold, ending speculation about who was behind sales that came to light in European Central Bank figures on Apr 4.
SNB profits boosted by gold revaluation
SWITZERLAND - In its 2000 annual report released on Apr 3, 2001, the Swiss National Bank said that net profit for 2000 had jumped to 28.2 billion Swiss francs ($16.3 billion), boosted by a one-off 27.7 billion franc revaluation of gold holdings.
Is the crisis problem growing more severe?
ARTICLE - In the latest issue of journal Economic Policy, economist Barry Eichengreen et al ask whether financial crises are becoming more frequent and more disruptive. Looking back over 120 years of financial history, the authors find that there is …
SNB announces next tranche of gold sales
The Swiss National Bank is to sell 100 tonnes of gold by September
Study effects of gold lending says Italy's Santini
Central banks must study the effects of gold lending in order to see if they can raise returns on their portfolios without dirupting the market said the Banca D'Italia's Santini yesterday.
Russia cbank says too soon to ease forex sale rule
Russian Central Bank Chairman Viktor Gerashchenko said in an interview published on Mar 7, 2001 that it was too early to reduce the percentage of foreign currency receipts that Russian exporters are required to sell in exchange for roubles.
Canada gold sale said part of established program
Canada's sale of 20,000 ounces of gold in Feb 2001 was made as part of an established program to sell all of the precious metal held by the central bank, a finance ministry official said on Mar 5, 2001.
Gold lease rates tighten further, spot adds gains
Gold was reversing a recent downward trend in Europe as it rose to fix on Feb 27, 2001 at the highest level since Jan 8, 2001 building on short-covering gains made overnight with more advances on the cards, traders said.
Belgian central bank issues loans warning to banks
The National Bank of Belgium used its annual report on Feb 20, 2001 to fire a warning shot to commercial banks about lending to high tech firms. The central bank, which is pitching to take on a greater role in banking supervision in Belgium, said banks…
Swiss SNB gold sales total 5.4 tons in 10 days
The Swiss National Bank said on Feb 20 its gold reserves fell by CHF77.6 million to CHF34.33 billion in the 10-day reporting period to Feb. 20, 2001.
'Suing the BIS'- by William Hall
William Hall of the Financial Times reports on the difficulties the Bank for International Settlements has got into as it struggles to counter the accusation that the price it has offered to buy back its shares from the private sector is "absurdly low".
Belgium eyes central bank gold profit for pensions
Belgium's government plans to use profits from the past transfer of gold from its central bank to the European Central Bank to start a state pension fund it had hoped to fill with proceeds from the sale of mobile telephone licences, Belgian media…
Estonia c.bank Jan reserves down amid rules change
Estonia's central bank said on Feb. 7 its gold and foreign currency reserves dropped 14.4 percent in January 2001 from December 2000 as new regulations easing the use of commercial banks' mandatory reserves went into effect. The central bank said in a…
Bank of Estonia total assets down 6.5% in Jan 2001
The total assets of the Bank of Estonia declined by 6.5 percent during January to 16.1 billion kroons (USD 955 mln) at the end of the January 2001. The central bank's gold and currency reserve dropped by 2.2 billion kroons or 14.4 percent to 13.2 billion…
ECB-forex reserves almost unchanged at 260.9 bln
The European Central Bank said on Jan. 30, 2001, foreign currency reserves of the euro zone central banks in the week ending January 26 were "virtually unchanged," while its gold holdings were also unchanged. The net position of the ECB and euro zone…
China cbank spokesman on management of gold
A spokesman for the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said Dec 22 that without authorization from the State Council and ratification of the PBOC, no institutions or organizations are allowed to organize gold trading market.
Trichet backs disputed BIS share buyback plan
Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet said on Wednesday that he believed a disputed plan by the Bank for International Settlements to buy out private shareholders was fair.
China c.bank says gold exchange venue not set
China's central bank said on Tuesday it had not decided where to set up the first national gold exchange, denying a newspaper report it would be located in Shanghai.
Yugoslavia an IMF member, to receive $100m-Dinkic
Yugoslavia will have $100m at its disposal on the basis of gold reserves, which Former Yugoslavia has in the Bank of International Settlements in Basel, Mladjan Dinkic, Yugoslav National Bank governor, announced this evening.