Financial Stability
Complex instruments still pose systemic risks – paper
Discretion granted by financial reporting standards increases opacity and complexity, say authors
Book notes: Money in the Great Recession, by Tim Congdon
A stimulating collection of papers on the monetarist theory that had central bankers in late 2008 focused on boosting the quantity of broad money “the Great Recession would not have happened”
BIS issues new ‘streamlined’ stress test principles
Banks have made significant advances in stress testing since financial crisis, Basel Committee says; issues new ‘guidelines’ that focus on stress test evolution
Amended NSFR accommodates extraordinary monetary policy
Basel Committee issues its first technical amendment to the net stable funding ratio, to allow flexibility in the treatment of liquidity-absorbing operations
Patrick Njoroge on reshaping banking and finance to work for the masses
The Central Bank of Kenya governor speaks to Christopher Jeffery and Rachael King about exchange rate intervention, food prices, banking reform and financial inclusion
Some banks’ living wills have ‘shortcomings’ – US agencies
The latest assessment finds previous “deficiencies” have been corrected, but four banks show less serious “shortcomings”
BoE sets out post-Brexit supervision plans
Central bank says UK will aim to stay open as banks, insurers and CCPs are brought under the PRA’s oversight; changes imply heavy workload for the supervisor
GFXC publishes final word on last look
The Global Foreign Exchange Committee releases the new and final version of Principle 17, and adds two examples to illustrate best practice
Macro-pru tools helped offset taper tantrum – paper
Macro-prudential measures helped reduce the impact on cross-border lending growth, say authors
One big bank falls short of ECB’s capital requirements
One bank falls short and a second comes close, although five banks failed the test in 2016
UK households pessimistic about fortunes in 2018
Survey published by BoE reveals UK households do not expect an improvement in their financial positions in the coming year
Bank Indonesia to nudge more people to open bank accounts
The country aims to boost the percentage of the population with bank accounts to 75% by 2019
Ukrainian central bank warns over ‘lengthy delay’ to IMF aid
National Bank of Ukraine calls for urgent action on state-owned banks; governor’s post remains unfilled
Lagarde warns of recessions in African economies
Some countries’ GDP due to shrink despite headline growth, IMF chief warns
Iran needs financial sector reform – IMF staff
Central bank should have greater independence and supervisory powers, urge IMF staff
Bank of Canada is focusing on household debt levels, governor says
Governor says levels of debt keep him awake at night
MAS expands consumer debt management toolkit
New measure caps “unsecured credit” that banks can offer indebted borrowers; it is a “pre-emptive measure”, says MAS official
EBA publishes NPL standards in bid to foster market
Reporting templates ask for granular data in bid to establish EU dataset
Russian central bank bails out country’s ninth-largest lender
Move is sign of continuing squeeze on private banks, observers say; Bank of Russia also cuts policy rates for fourth time in 2017
Credit no longer supporting Chinese growth – research
China’s economy has become “saturated with credit”, argues IMF research paper, with fiscal stimulus primarily boosting manufacturing
Stress tests find vulnerabilities in European pension funds
More than a quarter of institutions could not fulfil their commitments following an adverse scenario
National Payment Gateway launched in Indonesia
New national platform to consolidate fragmented infrastructure, reducing costs and improving efficiency