Financial Stability
Latest ECB lending data give cause for concern
Banks across the eurozone have tightened their credit standards for loans to businesses by 31% in response to the credit crunch that has hampered the region's money markets since the start of August, according to data from the ECB
Cash costs more than cards in Sweden
Debit and credit card payments have a lower social cost than cash transactions for purchases of more than €8 and €18 respectively, research published by the Riksbank has found.
Rules found to hinder remittance payments
Regulatory compliance is the main barrier to doing business in the area of workers' remittance payments, according to a poll of Sibos delegates.
Target2: ready to go
Five years in the making, Europe's new large-value payments system, known as Target2, is ready to go live on 19 November.
Europe set for SEPA after Sibos session
"SEPA is here! I met it in Boston," declared Jean-Michel Godeffroy, head of payments systems and market infrastructure at the European Central Bank (ECB), as Europe's payment players agreed to send, receive and process euro payments according to new…
Egypt to use SIA-SSB payments system
Egypt's central bank picked SIA-SSB, an Italian technology company, to develop its new large-value payments, the company announced at Sibos.
Liquidity, liquidity, liquidity
David Longworth, a deputy governor at the Bank of Canada, discussed three concepts of liquidity in a speech given in Toronto on Wednesday.
Banks should lead in growth effort: Zambia CB head
Caleb Fundanga, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zambia, urged the country's banking industry to invest more in order to spur economic growth and reduce poverty.
US needs global payments standards, says industry
Should the US adopt international standards in its domestic payment systems? Surprisingly, "yes" was the overwhelming answer at a packed Sibos, Nick Carver, editor of SPEED, writes from Boston.
Ex-BoE supervision head criticises FSA
According to Peter Cooke, a former head of banking supervision at the Bank of England, the Northern Rock crisis revealed the need for a proper "mechanism for crisis management", a greater official focus on liquidity rather than solvency and more…
CSDs sceptical of ECB's settlement plans
Clearstream and Euroclear, Europe's two largest central securities depositories, were sceptical that the European Central Bank's (ECB) plans to build a single settlement platform will deliver the benefits the central bankers promise, Central Bank News…
Banks struggle with SEPA set-up
More than half of banks will not be able to comply with the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiative, which comes into effect in January.
Czech CB appoints financial stability deputy
Jan Frait has joined the Czech National Bank as deputy executive director of the financial stability and economic research department at the central bank.
Albania's Fullani on maintaining stability
Ardian Fullani, the governor of the Bank of Albania, looked to reassure the country's economists and policymakers that the financial system would remain stable.
SWIFT responds to privacy fears with new EU base
SWIFT will open a Europe-based global processing centre for payments as part of a response to allay concerns over data privacy raised after the United States asked for data on financial transactions by Europeans following the 9/11 attacks.
Contrasting views on Old Lady's role in crisis
Charles Goodhart and William Buiter, both former monetary policy committee members at the Bank of England and both now professors at the London School of Economics (LSE), had sharply differing opinions on how the Bank should have handled the recent…
Crisis reveals need for better EU oversight - IMF
A lack of regulatory integration is, in part, responsible for the severe impact of the US subprime crisis on financial markets in the eurozone, according to Michael Deppler, head of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) European department.
We're not out of this yet - Greenspan
Despite a "creep back to normality" in the asset-backed commercial paper and inter-bank markets, Alan Greenspan, the former governor of the Federal Reserve, cautioned that the recent turmoil could have further repercussions.
Why King lacks allies
Just when Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, was hoping for a respite from the battering he has received from the Treasury Select Committee and others over his handling of the Northern Rock debacle, along comes a heavyweight in the shape…
Alan Greenspan on volatile markets
Interviewed on the BBC's Today programme on 28 September, Alan Greenspan waxed philosophical about the changing nature of financial markets and their relationship to the real economy.
UK business chief singles out King
Richard Lambert, a former member of the monetary policy committee who now heads the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), dismissed Mervyn King's blaming of the Northern Rock crisis on regulatory complexity as unsatisfactory.
Injections were the right response - OECD chief
Central banks were correct to inject liquidity into the banking system in order to deal with the turmoil in global money markets, said Angel Gurria, the secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Research finds East Asian ratings discrepancy
A significant discrepancy exists between agency ratings and market-based default risk measures for East Asian banks, according to a paper published by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Tuesday.
Politicians want more power to veto Bank
An enquiry into the crisis at Northern Rock by Treasury ministers is expected to result in calls for their colleague, the chancellor of the exchequer, to be able to overrule the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA).