FMI
Queen's portraits from banknotes and coins to appear on stamps
New stamps issued to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee; first time the official portraits from banknotes, coins and stamps have been brought together
Estonian central bank finds public retaining kroons as memento
Bank of Estonia study finds 81% of respondents are holding on to some kroon cash; not using it for savings shows confidence in the euro, says head of cash and security department
Malaysian and Thai central banks agree deeper cooperation
Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand sign agreement to facilitate a cross-border collateral arrangement for eligible financial institutions in the countries
Bahrain completes transition to Iban
Commercial banks in Bahrain will now use international bank account numbers as preferred method for international and domestic payments
Basel guidance on settlement risk delayed until June
Updated guidance on FX settlement risk from Basel Committee and CPSS was originally due by end of 2011, but now has an expanded remit
BoE’s Salmon expects tighter regulation of payment operations
Bank of England executive director of banking services says authorities will pay more attention to network of payment operations and question the internal organisation of firms’ operations
Finland commemorates the end of the markka
New book describes the history of Finnish banknotes and museum exhibition displays competition entries for past currency design contests
Tajikistan announces enhanced payments systems
National Bank of Tajikistan launches national processing centre' striving to bring banking services up to date
Zambia raises capital ratio for banks and rebases currency
Bank of Zambia reveals government decision to hike capital requirements for banks operating in the country; three zeros also to be slashed from value of banknotes
ECB in talks with dealers on buying inflation-linked bonds
Dealers will present their case as to why the ECB should buy linkers as well as nominal bonds in a conference call today
Interview: Gerard Hartsink
European Payments Council chairman Gerard Hartsink tells Yusuf Yassin he welcomes the decision to set end-dates for Sepa migration, but says concerns about the regulation, raised in October, remain
ECB report urges progress on Sepa card payments migration
European Central Bank study says considerable effort is still needed to achieve an integrated European market for card payments
Libya begins phasing out old banknotes
Banknotes depicting the late colonel Muammar Gaddafi being removed from circulation; new currency series on the way
Euro counterfeit banknote figure creeps up
Number of known fake euro banknotes hit 310,000 during in the second half of 2011, up 5% on the first half of the year
Pakistan forges ahead with mobile banking promotion
State Bank of Pakistan signs agreement with national telecommunication authority to further the development of mobile banking in the country
Gold and currency earnings secure profit for SNB
The Swiss National Bank expects to see annual profit of SFr13 billion ($13.6 billion); able to make the regular distribution to Cantons
Japan nervous of implications of Volcker rule
Bank of Japan releases letter sent to US officials outlining impact of changes to speculative trading controls; fears Japanese government bond market will be hit
RBI’s Padmanabhan flags issues with pricing of payment products
Reserve Bank of India executive director G Padmanabhan says recent intervention in pricing of electronic products in India was warranted
Bank of Lithuania sells majority share in CSD
Finnish company buys 60% share in CSD; central bank hopes new investor will progress the depository’s offerings and promote the Lithuanian capital market
Chinese government and central bank identify targets for progress
People’s Bank of China publishes outcome of government planning meeting; document reveals aims for variety of areas including monetary policy and systemic risk management
Malaysia announces new coins’ circulation date
Bank Negara Malaysia announces new coins to enter circulation this month; new banknotes will not be released until the end of 2012
Belgium’s Coene believes in commitment of eurozone countries
Governor of National Bank of Belgium says even if Greece were to leave single currency, other member states would draw together to "protect the system"
Commemorative euro coin launched
Eurozone countries issue new €2 coin to commemorate 10 years of the currency; few central banks announce the move
Hildebrand defiant over currency trade row
Swiss governor will not resign, expresses regret at political attack on the Swiss National Bank and reveals details of how information was leaked