Financial Stability
European supervisors must improve consistency on capital requirements, Angeloni says
European regulators must take more consistent approach to capital requirements, Ignazio Angeloni says; authorities have to improve macro-prudential policy co-ordination
FPC members deny charges of 'groupthink'
Clara Furse and Richard Sharp argue debate is robust and give examples of where they have challenged the financial policy committee’s majority views; agree to consider issue further
BoE’s Bailey dismisses ideas for radical banking overhaul
PRA chief stands by the current design of banking regulation, rejecting more radical options involving higher levels of equity as “just not practical”
Jamaica successfully restarts bond market, governor says
Government debt issuance in February was oversubscribed; Wynter hopes surplus liquidity will continue to increase, helping to accommodate ‘crowding-in’ of private investment
Bank of Portugal director responsible for banking supervision resigns
Board member with responsibility for banking supervision resigned on March 7; Antonio Varela had previously been state-appointed non-executive director on troubled bank Banif
Slovakian central bank boosts provisions for financial risks
National Bank of Slovakia records gross profit of €144.6 million in 2015, as both income and operating costs fall
BoE’s Brazier values flexibility with bank buffers
Alex Brazier says Bank of England will have a bias towards ‘acting early and gradually’ on capital buffers; will not look for “irrefutable proof” of bad events
Carney locks horns with MPs on EU stance
Bank of England maintains neutral stance on the issue, despite coming under fire from members of the committee; Carney and Cunliffe defend independence
Bundesbank publishes data on German ‘closed-end’ investment funds
Deutsche Bundesbank begins publishing data on German ‘closed-end’ investment funds; sector had total assets of €82.4bn in January 2016, with nearly half of investments in property market
Ukraine eases domestic currency and forex restrictions
Ukraine’s central bank loosens restrictions on foreign and domestic currency deposit withdrawals; Gontareva says Ukraine is on track to hit inflation targets but warns of political risks
Central banks running out of room amid turbulence, BIS warns
Confidence in central banks is “faltering” as policies prove impotent, while negative rates erode bank profitability and debt levels weigh on global growth
Securitisation can dampen business cycles, paper finds
When securities are bought by ‘non-financial agents’ instead of financial intermediaries, they can help dampen rather than amplify cycles, research says
Report finds 11% of Rwandans remain financially excluded
Women and younger people more likely to be financially excluded; share of population excluded falls from 28% to 11%
Kaplan to ‘closely monitor’ debt and ageing demographics in line with growth
Dallas Fed president will also look to other major economies throughout 2016 for patterns that may affect growth; the Federal Reserve will need to be patient, he says
Central bank models need to adjust to nature of exchange rate pass-through, paper says
Exchange rate pass-through shown to be incomplete, endogenous, nonlinear and asymmetric; working paper seeks to quantify effect over time
External conditions move Bank of Mexico to lower growth forecasts
Central bank cuts growth forecasts for 2016/2017 by half a percentage point; global slowdown starting to have larger impact
‘Substantial drawbacks’ remain in European supervisory colleges’ work, EBA says
European supervisory colleges still have ‘substantial’ drawbacks in key aspects of their work, despite making improvements in 2015, the European Banking Authority says
Networks did not spread 2008 shocks in eurozone money market, paper argues
Banking networks in the eurozone did not play a major role in spreading shocks in the financial crisis, ECB working paper argues; eurozone banks are ‘not network dependent’
PBoC confirms Russian swap transactions
Chinese and Russian central banks disclose 'several currency swap trades' since October, but do not disclose further details
Sarb and Bundesbank expand co-operation
Annex to existing MoU will see Bundesbank representative based in the country; two central banks will work together on financial stability, among other issues
Cunliffe: UK housing risks back on the rise
BoE deputy governor says household balance sheets are “stretched” and some risks are growing; suggests dominance of debt as housing finance is undesirable, but unlikely to change
Lautenschläger says some leveraged finance practices need watching
ECB’s head of supervision notes increase in ‘covenant-lite’ deals
Dutch pension funds show signs of herding, paper says
Regulatory price of risk for different asset classes 'should be balanced', warns Dutch working paper, in light of herding behaviour