Opinion/Central Banks
Comment: Rethinking financial stability reporting
The Bank of England recently unveiled its revamped Financial Stability Report. Starting with the title of the publication, the Bank has taken a new approach to both the presentation of report and its content. The changes are an effort to focus the report…
Comment: More pounds in their pockets
According to the most recent IMF data on reserve holdings, the pound sterling has surpassed the yen as the third most popular reserve currency. A number of factors could see the pound's popularity increase further.
Comment: A new era for the BoJ
As expected the Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time since March 2001 at its monetary policy meeting on 14 July. The decision to end the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) with a 25 basis point hike in the overnight rate was unanimous one.
Comment: Will McCreevy's approach work?
The European commissioner for internal market and services, Charlie McCreevy, has called for an industry-driven "code of conduct" to reduce the costs of European cross-border settlement and clearing, rather than propose a directive. Will his famous light…
Comment: Dutch banks lose on payments
A recent report by McKinsey, a consulting firm, finds that Dutch banks are losing money on processing payments. Moreover, the report suggests that margins will be under even greater pressure as banks have to implement a plethora of new regulations.
Comment: LCH.Clearnet chief departs
After months of speculation that his days were numbered, David Hardy resigned as chief executive of LCH.Clearnet on 5 July. The announcement was met with an air of inevitability. The episode raises some fundamental questions about the European clearing…
Comment: The ECB's gamble
The president of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet, has announced that the central bank will take the highly unusually step of meeting in person on 3 August, rather than conduct the scheduled conference call. In doing so, Trichet has effectively pre-announced…
Comment: All eyes on Trichet
All but two of the 43 economists polled by Bloomberg recently expect the European Central Bank (ECB) to keep interest rates at 2.75% this week. All eyes will, however, be on the central bank's president, Jean-Claude Trichet, to see if he alludes to the…
ANALYSIS: The irresistible rise of e-trading
Technological innovations are making electronic trading the method of choice - even in assets where floor-based trading looked set to dominate. Resisting technology can prove costly for the world's more established exchanges.
Comment: Bernanke's ally
The nomination of Frederic Mishkin to fill one of the two vacant seats on the Fed's board of governors will bolster the chairman, Ben Bernanke, in his attempts to quantify the central bank's inflation objective and move towards a more rule-based monetary…
Comment: Passing the buck
The current outcry over American intelligence officials' access to private information linked to international money transfers has raised some thorny issues over who regulates the international messaging and financial telecommunications group, SWIFT.
Comment: Bold CBT holds its breath
After another emergency meeting over the weekend the Central Bank of Turkey has raised interest rates by 225 basis points (bp). This has taken interest rates to 17.25%, following an initial hike of 175 bp earlier this month. Will this bold move make any…
Comment: Vacant BoE MPC seats
Following the sad and unexpected news of the death of David Walton, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, the British Treasury has yet another appointment to make.
Comment: Uganda eyes inflation target
The Bank of Uganda will implement an inflation-targetting framework in the near future, the governor of the central bank, Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, told CentralBankNews.com. Only a lack of adequate and timely data is holding it back.
Comment: Hawkish Fed
After a string of speeches by its senior staff this week, the Fed appears to be in an increasingly hawkish mood. The growing perception that that US interest rates will have to rise further could be bolstered by today's release of consumer price data for…
Comment: The housing bubble debate
In a recent working paper for the Czech National Bank Stephen Cecchetti, an economist at Brandeis University concludes that "monetary policymakers have no choice but to face the risks posed by asset price bubbles head on".
Comment: Rates on the up
Monetary policymakers from Mumbia to Madrid to Pretoria stepped firmly on the monetary brakes yesterday, with no less than six central banks hiking rates.
Comment: BCCI 'farce' all over
A final line was drawn yesterday under the "farcical" BCCI. The book is closed on the matter with the Bank of England's financial compensation falling short of the amount it said it would push for when BCCI liquidators, Deloitte, dropped its £1 billion…
Comment: Sharing the cost of banking crises
The need for an ex-ante commitment to sharing the cost of cross-border banking crises in Europe is suggested in a speech by Eva Srejber and a paper by Charles Goodhart and Dirk Schoenmaker. But is it feasible?
Comment: Fed ponders communication strategy
The minutes of the US Fed's last monetary policy meeting, released this week, have enhanced the perception of an uncertain FOMC, and strengthened the view that further rate increases will be required. A close look at recent events show that the issue of…
Comment: Reserves management update
How much has changed in the last year in the world of official reserves management? The same issues - the threat of a weakening dollar, central banks' role in bring this about and their response to it, a continuation of the unprecedented accumulation of…
Comment: Bank of Japan update
The Bank of Japan's monetary policy committee meets this week with an interest rate decision expected on Friday. With any ideas of an imminent rate hike all but ruled out, the emerging consensus is that the shift could come in July.
Comment: Weber reveals his monetary policy stance
Axel Weber set out his thinking on the role of monetary policy and interest rates in three recent speeches. This article explores his views.
Central banks should close the governance gap
Central banks seem reluctant to adopt private-sector “best practice” in governance, but there are benefits in doing so says Jeremy Foster