Macro-prudential policy
Riksbank holds rates as IMF sees ‘sizeable' risks at Swedish banks
Interest rates held at 1% as Swedish central bank attempts to support growth without adding to household debt stock; IMF Article IV report frets over large and vulnerable financial system
Bank portfolios flush with long-term assets exposed to interest rate risk as rates rise
FDIC's Gruenberg says banks' asset quality and loan balances have improved and fewer lenders are failing, but reach for yield may pose problems as interest rates return to more normal levels
Sweden puts FSA in charge of financial stability
Central bank passed over as government stresses importance of democratic accountability; new financial stability board and bolstered foreign exchange reserves also announced
Israeli banking supervisor floats full risk weights for mortgages
Draft guidance presented to Bank of Israel advisory committee yesterday would also force banks to limit the use of variable interest rates and do away with long-term loans
Riksbank deputy: Slowing Swedish growth to be buoyed by eurozone recovery
Kerstin af Jochnick says Riksbank will conduct flexible monetary policy accounting for growth in household debt until macro-prudential policy has been established
Central bank insider selected to run Russia's new ‘mega-regulator'
As head of the FMS, Sergey Shvetsov, a Bank of Russia deputy, will be in charge of ‘controlling, regulating and supervising' the country's financial markets from September 1
RBNZ restricts low-deposit mortgage lending
Graeme Wheeler says banks will face ‘speed limit’ on their high loan-to-value mortgage lending from October 1; RBNZ hopes to avoid raising rates while currency remains over-valued
Monetary policy and macro-prudential measures can make a ‘vicious circle'
Central banks must assess the risks of monetary and macro-prudential policies pulling in opposite directions and creating adverse outcomes, says former BoJ deputy director-general
Bank of Russia overhauls organisation as it prepares for expanded remit
Responsibility for financial regulation will shift from a government body to the central bank in September; the bank has also created new departments of monetary policy and statistics
RBNZ plumps for ‘speed limit’ on lending restrictions
Reserve Bank of New Zealand says any restrictions on banks' high loan-to-value mortgage lending will take the form of a quota over time, as opposed to an outright ban
Europe could learn from Germany’s macro-prudential approach
Germany’s approach to macro-prudential oversight could offer insights into how to democratise ‘hard’ policy tools and enshrine independence at a time when more power is being transferred to the ECB
New central bank policy mandates could cause vicious feedback loops
The trend for central banks to take on mandates for prudential policy in addition to monetary policy could cause dangerous feedback loops in the absence of a well-defined risk appetite
German experience offers macro-prudential lessons for Europe, says Buba's Dombret
Germany's approach to macro-prudential oversight could offer insights into how to democratise ‘hard' policy tools and define the role of national central banks, says the Bundesbank's Andreas Dombret
Regulators need a ‘holistic' view of the global financial system, says RBA's Debelle
RBA assistant governor Guy Debelle said that limited understanding of how financial reforms interact should not prompt regulators to ‘pick and choose' or delay their implementation
IMF reports show French and German banking sectors are key to European stability
IMF urges France to do away with tax disincentives to deposits in an effort to broaden banks' funding sources; emphasises Germany's role in forging a robust eurozone financial architecture
RBI governor champions ‘logically robust' financial regulation
Duvvuri Subbarao says financial markets stand out because they are not self-correcting, and because financial firms are highly leveraged and uniquely interconnected
Intertwined Caribbean need stronger cross-border regulation, argues IMF paper
While stressing that greater financial interconnectedness could have a beneficial impact, the paper warns of regulatory arbitrage and underestimation of systemic risks in the region
Nigeria's financial system stable despite major challenges
A handful of lenders continue to dominate the country's banking industry, but asset quality and capitalisation levels ‘improved significantly' last year, according to the central bank's latest stability report
Research investigates factors behind region-wide banking stability
New paper finds more competitive regional banking systems are less fragile; contagion is more dangerous when the host's banks are more liquid and better capitalised
Singapore brings inflation back in range, but household debt worries persist
Monetary Authority of Singapore warns a return to normal global monetary conditions will carry risks; says 'some' households will be at risk when interest rates rise as US tapers quantitative easing
IMF ‘cookbook' paper outlines basic recipe for macro-pru policy
The paper provide new evidence on the effectiveness of different policy instruments using survey data
IMF paper highlights importance of macro-pru and monetary policy co-ordination
Researchers find that policymakers tend to use macro-prudential instruments more quickly ‘if the ability to conduct monetary policy is somehow constrained'
Bank of England deputy tackles macro-prudential effects on banking
Paul Tucker tells Helsinki conference that banks' ‘core comparative advantage' would survive the removal of the ‘too-big-to-fail' subsidy
BIS paper finds more evidence backing ‘leaning against the wind'
Working paper by BIS and Bank of Italy researchers find such policies are desirable in the case of supply-side shocks - especially for economies with high private-sector indebtedness