Financial Stability
Conditions for lifting capital controls ‘could hardly be better' – Guðmundsson
Central Bank of Iceland governor says it is important to press ahead with liberalisation while the economy is strong and financial system stable, in latest financial stability report
Carney speaks of ‘new’ financial system to support sustainable finance
Bank of England governor launches FAIR initiative; FSB members developing more ‘effective’ macro-prudential policies to support system
Troubled Kenyan bank to reopen under new management
Chase Bank will be managed by Kenya Commercial Bank, which may go on to acquire majority stake; questions raised over pressures on small and mid-sized banks
Basel Committee opts for local discretion on rate risk
Committee abandons attempt to create common global standard for interest rate risk, opting instead to leave discretion with banks and supervisors in final standards
Swedish regulator takes second stab at amortisation rule
Macro-prudential regulator unveils plans for mandatory amortisation similar to those struck down by the Swedish judiciary in 2015
Australian governor Stevens sees more viable options than helicopter money
Reserve Bank of Australia governor identifies a host of practical issues to helicopter money, and says there is more governments can be doing before then
Brazil and Paraguay near local currency payment system
Cross-border system could account for 5% of all trade between the countries; importers and exporters can use own currencies
Carney stresses bank resilience in face of large shocks
UK banks display resilience when threatened with Brexit-like shock, stress tests show; London "unlikely" to retain global financial centre status if Britain leaves EU, Carney says
Bank CEOs’ pay can hit regulation, economist argues
Washington University economist Anjan Thakor argues linking bank chief executives’ pay to returns on equity can have adverse effects on banking regulation
Swiss National Bank loans $200m to Ukraine
Switzerland’s central bank will loan $200m to its Ukrainian counterpart to replenish its reserves; move comes as political uncertainty clouds future of Ukraine’s IMF funding
Minneapolis Fed to explore resolution alternatives in TBTF initiative
Neel Kashkari adds alternative resolution mechanisms to the agenda as Minneapolis Fed looks for solutions to the too-big-to-fail problem; discusses outcomes from this month’s symposium
Swiss RTGS update goes live
SNB hails successful launch of completely overhauled real-time gross settlement system; design has been made more flexible, incorporating ISO 20022 messaging standard
RBNZ signs up SIA to deliver RTGS replacement
Its subsidiary, Perago, will deliver payments infrastructure for New Zealand via “off-the-shelf” system used by Riksbank and Norges Bank
IMF will consider macro-prudential policies in capital flow ‘stock-take’
Lagarde sheds light on stocktaking exercise that will use Article IVs over past three years to assess how IMF’s guidance on “capital flow management” has worked in practice
The People’s Bank of China’s internet finance dilemma
China’s central bank faces a challenge encouraging the development of market-based internet financial services while regulating a business where a $7.6 billion Ponzi scheme recently blew up
Medium-sized banks are main contributors to systemic risk in Brazilian interbank market, paper says
Emergence of bank communities may act as triggers for systemic risk, stress test scenario shows; medium-sized banks carry non-negligible default probabilities
Prudential measures may create risks for developers – RBA
Tighter regulations designed to tackle housing risks may cause problems for large building projects started before the tougher rules came in
Asylum seekers at risk of financial exclusion, EBA warns
European countries must ensure asylum seekers are not excluded from financial services by anti-money laundering rules, EBA says; calls on some authorities to take action
Riksbank lays out ideas for macro-prudential overhaul
Executive board accepts many – but not all – recommendations of King and Goodfriend review, and offers some radical ideas of its own
Poloz: CCA central banks ‘challenged’ in meeting their core objectives
New BIS Americas head believes financial stability should be built into regional policy decision-making even when not specifically stated as a core mandate; macro-pru "in sight" for many in region
Towards a more stable monetary world order
A global network of independent central banks could act as a manager of expectations for asset and foreign exchange prices to reduce the burden of future crises, argues David Harrison
Angolan authorities request help from IMF
IMF to start talks with authorities regarding an economic programme, which one analyst believes exceeds loan received after financial crisis
Russian first deputy governor warns of dollarisation risks
Russian banks and non-financial companies are creating risk for the economy by demanding foreign currency-denominated loans and deposits, a senior Bank of Russia executive warns
Central Bank of Cyprus activates deposit-guarantee scheme for failed bank
Central Bank of Cyprus activates deposit-guarantee scheme for creditors of a bank under administration; FBME's banking licence was revoked following US allegations of money-laundering