Feature/Reserves
The allure of private markets
SWFs have piled into the asset class while reserve managers remain wary
Central bank assets enjoy ‘99%’ immunity
Why central bank assets possess legal immunity – but not from sanctions
Ukraine: the challenges for central banks
Rules on the weaponisation of money would help to protect a ‘public good’ amid geopolitical splits in a testing environment for central banks, write Gavin Bingham, Paul Fisher and Andrew Large
Will the dollar remain the world’s reserve currency?
Bank of Russia sanctions are unlikely to undermine the US dollar’s central role in reserve portfolios. But a relative decline in US economic weight and technological innovation are benefiting other currencies
Does Switzerland need an SWF?
A sovereign wealth fund could adopt longer-term strategies, invest in less liquid assets and increase exposures to riskier assets such as equities, potentially boosting returns
How Turkey’s president created chaos in economic policy-making
Observers allege presidential domination of the central bank, unauthorised FX transactions and untrustworthy statistics
Should the Fed’s Fima facility be made permanent?
The emergency repo facility reassures reserve managers about access to dollar cash during a breakdown in the US Treasuries market
The ultimate store of value
Róbert Rékási, head of foreign exchange reserves management at the Central Bank of Hungary, speaks to Central Banking’s Victor Mendez-Barreira about how Covid-19 has changed gold investment trends
Has Covid-19 made gold shine brighter?
The price of gold has skyrocketed this year, but central banks have not flocked to invest as they have done in the past, write Rachael King and Victor Mendez‑Barreira.
Gold reserves in central banks – 2020 survey results
Reserve managers share their views on future gold holdings, target allocations, purchasing and storage approaches, the use of ETFs, and the impact of Covid-19, in the results of a new joint Central Banking-Invesco survey. By Nick Carver and Robert Pringle
The complex art of reserve management
The coronavirus lockdown represents another inflection point for central banks seeking to optimise the management of their $12 trillion in FX reserves
How Singapore manages its reserves
MAS managing director Ravi Menon explains Singapore’s total approach to reserve management, which includes the use of customised fixed income benchmarks and tapping into external investment expertise
Renminbi reserves are still relatively small
Renminbi investments still account for a much smaller fraction of global forex reserves than China’s significance in the world economy would merit
The PBoC’s efforts to solve the ‘impossible trinity’
Chinese central bank intervenes to manage offshore renminbi rate; uses swaps, rather than selling reserves in latest currency interventions
Is the pursuit of a common accounting standard for monetary gold a fool’s errand?
More consistent accounting for monetary gold could address transparency concerns and help smaller emerging economies to achieve greater independence by clarifying treasury transfers
Implementing a holistic and dynamic risk budget
The National Bank of Denmark has implemented a dynamic risk budget that takes the bank’s unavoidable policy risks as the point of departure. The new approach has led to a reassessment of investment exposures and how they are rebalanced over time and…
The optimal size for central bank balance sheets
As the Fed seeks to reduce the assets on its balance sheets, Charles Goodhart examines the role between monetary and fiscal policy, central bank and debt office, and the optimal size of a central bank’s balance sheet
Risk management services provider of the year: OpenLink
OpenLink has continued the evolution of its Findur product with the development of collateral management functionality, notably supporting the Bank of Canada in its move towards collateral posting
Reserve manager of the year: Bank of Israel
Israel’s central bank has made breakthroughs in its sensitivity analysis of near-optimal portfolios, as well as making notable gains from its diversification strategy