Financial Stability
Federal Reserve – Beige Book (July 2010)
Federal Reserve’s July Beige Book shows significant improvement in labour markets across five of the United States’ 12 districts
Boston Fed: poor subsidise card payment transfers of rich
Boston Federal Reserve paper shows low income households subsidise the cost of card payment transfers for high income households through higher relative prices
Fed’s response averted a depression: Blinder
A paper co-authored by former Federal Reserve governor Alan Blinder says the central bank’s extraordinary polices prevented the country from entering a second Great Depression
Bank of Canada: firms don’t smooth inventories
Bank of Canada study shows high costs attached to inventories deters firms from smoothing inventory ahead of countercyclical swings
Eurozone banks tighten standards as loan demand grows
European Central Bank’s second quarter lending survey shows banks toughening standards for borrowers, reflecting unease from sovereign debt crisis spillover; demand, meanwhile, increases
King parries claims Bank will get too much power
Bank of England governor Mervyn King says creation of the Financial Policy Committee will not make central bank too powerful
King stresses wait-and-see approach to rate-setting
Bank of England governor Mervyn King dismisses suggestions that one or another view dominates rate-setting committee; deputy Charles Bean reiterates question marks over effects of quantitative easing
Policy produces dull but safe banks
In the second of a six-part series on the Japanese economy, Robert Pringle reports from Tokyo on how the crisis has impacted the nation’s global outlook
Central Bank of Turkey – Inflation Report (July 2010)
Central Bank of Turkey’s Inflation Report for July showed lending in credit markets picked up after yields on government debt fell
CEPR: Central banks stuck in interest rate trap
Centre for Economic Policy Research study says central banks will inevitably end up in a low interest rate trap during a crisis
Cross-border collateral may alleviate dollar funding strains: Emeap
Executives’ Meeting of East Asia Pacific Central Banks says crisis revealed shortcomings in regional money markets; swaps deals, cross-border collateral could alleviate some problems
Basel III features win governors' seal of approval
Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision, which oversees Basel Committee, okays parts of forthcoming Basel III proposals; calibration and phase-in arrangements to be finalised in September
Ireland’s Honohan talks about new capital adequacy requirements
Central Bank of Ireland governor Patrick Honohan sets out plans for tougher capital requirements on Ireland’s banks
Westminster spells out Bank’s importance in new regulatory structure
Bank-led committee will instruct prudential regulator and consumer body on policy; Treasury asks industry players for input on broadening new body’s objectives
EU stress tests detail exposure to Piigs debt
Stress tests show which banks are heavily exposed to riskiest sovereigns
UK lawmakers launch inquiry into regulatory revamp
Influential Treasury Select Committee says it will launch investigation of government plans for new regulatory structure
ECB insists stress tests are credible
ECB denies claims stress test scenarios were not severe enough
Albania’s Fullani sees green shoots in lending
Bank of Albania governor Ardian Fullani says banks still need to be more proactive
BIS: Top-down approach to countercyclical capital buffers preferred
Bank for International Settlements paper on capital buffers says a bottom-up approach is more favourable to a top-down as bank specific factors neglect variable differences in capital structures of firms
Bank of Italy: north hit hardest by crisis
Bank of Italy study says geographical differences in growth reflects dependence on industry
Crisis makes Tokyo more insular
In the first of a six-part series on the Japanese economy, Robert Pringle reports from Tokyo on how the crisis has impacted the nation’s global outlook
Lending in Japan remains subdued: BoJ survey
Bank of Japan survey on bank lending reports continued weakness in demand for loans by firms
Dodd-Frank starts to bite as Obama signs bill into law
US President Barack Obama draws a line under year-long legislative process, hailing bill’s benefits to consumers; ratings agencies flustered by exposure to ‘expert liability’
ECB will always end up bailing out sovereigns: Buiter
Former Bank of England rate-setter Willem Buiter says ECB will lose in “game of chicken” with finance ministries over who rescues sovereigns