Financial Stability
Performance measurement in central banks
Iain Thomson suggests ways central banks can incorporate best practice in commercial-sector performance measurement.
The ECB’s collateral framework
Francesco Papadia rebuts criticisms that the way the ECB treats government securities keeps market spreads artificially low.
The new Banca d’Italia
Mario Draghi’s first actions as governor have brought a much-needed breath of fresh air to the Banca d’Italia. Isabella Bufacchi reports from Rome.
Managing liquidity risk in a global system
In this exclusive article, Sir Andrew Large worries about the robustness of the financial system in times of stress – and calls for greater clarity from policymakers about lender-of-last-resort issues.
Fiji announces new banknote designs
The Reserve Bank of Fiji on Friday 10 February signed an agreement for the printing of a series of new design Fiji banknotes with De La Rue International Limited of United Kingdom.
RBNZ to raise Settlement Cash Level to $2,000m
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will raise the Settlement Cash Level (SCL) from its current level of $500 million to $2,000 million, for value date 13 February 2006.
BoJ to implement next-generation RTGS project
The Bank of Japan said Friday it has decided to implement the next-generation real-time gross settlement (RTGS-XG) project.
Deutsche Bundesbank adopts SwiftNet FileAct
According to a report on Finextra.com, Deutsche Bundesbank is to adopt SwiftNet FileAct to begin standardizing its communications system for low value payments, bringing its branches in line with Germany's national Real Time Gross Settlement as it…
Survey of foreign exchange settlement risk
The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems said Wednesday it will carry out a survey of how banks and other selected institutions manage the risks they can incur when settling foreign exchange transactions.
RBNZ to raise settlement cash level temporarily
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will temporarily raise the Settlement Cash Level (SCL) from its current level of $20 million to $500 million, for value date 2 February 2006.
IMF's Rajan on perspectives on global imbalances
In the speech 'Perspectives on global imbalances' given on 23 January Raghuram Rajan of the IMF called on the US to cut its fiscal deficit to help counteract global imbalances.
Russia-Belarus to have common currency from 2008
Russia and Belarus will have a common currency starting from 1 January 2008, representatives of the Interbank Currency Council said on Friday.
Hunt on for 'radioactive dollars' in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is currently hunting for dozens of "radioactive dollars" circulating in the country's financial system.
BoE's Gieve: Oil prices should not impact on rates
John Gieve, the new deputy governor of the Bank of England, on Thursday 26 January rejected suggestions that UK interest rates should rise simply because of very high energy costs.
IMF paper: Vanishing contagion?
This IMF Paper, published January 2006, says that while a number of emerging market crises were characterized by widespread contagion during the 1990s, more recent crises have been mostly contained within national borders.
NY Fed's Geithner on global imbalances
In the speech 'Policy implications of global imbalances' given on 23 January Timothy Geithner of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said the massive and growing U.S. current account deficit presents a threat to the world economy and an eventual…
Z$50 000 bank note coming to Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's inflation ravaged citizens will soon have a new Z$50 000 bank note to make shopping easier, central bank governor Gideon Gono announced on Tuesday 24 January.
BoE's Lomax on global financial imbalances
In a speech at the Chatham House conference on Global Financial Imbalances given on 24 January Rachel Lomax of the Bank of England said large global economic imbalances increase the risk of financial market disruption, which could hurt economies.
Britain's fiscal rule is more leaden than golden
Lectures to Britain from the European Union on fiscal discipline are hypocritical and pointless, according to this article published on Monday 16 January. However, the UK government's "golden rule" has masked an escalating deficit on state spending that…
ECB says forgers favouring 20-euro notes
The European Central Bank has reported the number of forged bank notes traced in 2005 fell 2.5 percent, but the number of 20-euro notes rose sharply in the second half of the year.
RBI plans RTGS cover for 5000 branches
The Reserve Bank of India said it plans to bring another 5,000 bank branches under the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system mechanism by June 2006.
Enough said, Mr. Park
This Editorial published on Friday 13 January urges Bank of Korea Governor Park Seung not to cause any more losses to the country through his verbal mistakes. Following comments made Thursday by Mr Park, the won surged immediately, causing a big…
Thailand to speed up adoption of e-payment
The Bank of Thailand plans to accelerate the adoption of electronic payment in place of cash and cheque settlement to cut financial costs and ensure efficient and quick services.
Bank of England Financial Stability Review, Dec 05
The Bank of England published its latest Financial Stability Review for December 2005 on Friday 16 December. Near-term risks to the UK financial sector from default by households, firms and overseas borrowers seem limited, and conditions in international…