Financial Stability
Greek woes worsen as Fitch downgrades and capital flees
Fitch knocks two notches off rating; No solution over what will be done to help country’s banks facing capital flight
Bernanke: Fed needed more tools to confront crisis
Federal Reserve’s Bernanke expresses distaste at decisions made during the crisis to a Dallas crowd
SEC announces tighter rules for asset-backed securities market
Proposals come after crisis underlined dangers of instruments’ complexity
Icesave casts pall over Iceland’s credit outlook
Ratings agency Moody’s kicks its outlook on Iceland down to negative on intractable Icesave dispute, change leaves Icelandic bonds hovering just above junk status
FSA appoints new communications chief
Tom Kelly joins FSA directors’ board in bid to revive relationship with government
Greenspan defends position on free market
Former Fed Chairman deflects criticism over adherence to Ayn Rand's views on laissez-faire capitalism
Trichet: fixing public finances precursor to price stability
Jean-Claude Trichet calls for member states to put public finances in order
IMF: credit markets key to economic recovery
IMF study shows that a healthy financial sector is essential to a speedy recovery in the economy
Fed’s Duke warns community banks are under threat
Governor Elizabeth Duke highlights some of the dangers posed by troubled real estate markets on community banks
NY Fed’s Sack warns of excessive reforms
New York Fed’s Brian Sack discusses lessons from the crisis but cautions reforms may be superfluous
Ireland’s bad bank worse than expected
Details of the National Asset Management Agency spook markets as commentators worry over whether the agency is structurally sound, Anglo Irish bailout under spotlight
Property woes will force more bank bailouts: economist
Officials right to flag risks posed by commercial real estate but Washington must also present a clear message on how to deal with the issue
RBA’s Stevens pledges new regulation
Governor Stevens compares the troubles in financial markets to a patient in cardiac arrest, but claims new regulation will be the cure
Trichet: credit agencies essential
In reply to a question from MEP Nikolaos Chountis, Jean-Claude Trichet highlights the importance of rating agencies
Basel principles don’t guarantee stability: IMF paper
Complying with the Basel principles on supervision does not enhance the soundness of banks, Fund economists find
Likely euro adoption puts Estonia on positive watch
Fitch Ratings predicts Estonia will join Euro after Tallinn publishes debt figures
Bank’s Haldane moots structural change to recover social costs
Bank’s executive director for financial stability labels banking pollution “a real and large social problem”; says officials must look at architecture of financial system to resolve it
“Radical reforms” must be considered: UK lawmakers
Head of influential group of parliamentarians says British government wrong to rule out root-and-branch reform; favours contingent capital and subsidiaries to lessen risk of systemic collapse
Warsh acknowledges Fed’s quasi-fiscal action
Governor suggests Fed’s crisis-fighting measures may have tested the boundaries of central bank’s ambit
IMF: global inter-connectedness aggravated recession
IMF paper shows global interconnectedness increased output volatility during recession as trade-dependent economies were worst hit
SNB tackles too-big-to-fail
Report by the Swiss National Bank suggests countries biggest banks will need to downsize
RBA warns of inflationary pressures from emerging markets.
Reserve Bank of Australia highlights inflationary threats from Asian economies in financial stability report
Philly Fed: banking sector returns to profit
Report for fourth quarter notes bank failures also dropped
IMF calls for originators to have more exposure to tranches
Study shows that exposure to securitised loans does not imply risk-neutral behaviour