Financial Stability
Central Bank of Kenya creates lending facility in wake of banking troubles
Emergency liquidity offered to any bank under pressure “from no fault of its own”, as fears mount over the resilience of Kenya's banking sector
Rohde laments Denmark’s lack of banking reform clout
National Bank of Denmark governor says Danish system of mortgage credit does not necessarily fit well with Basel framework, but the country has limited options to influence reform process
Romanian central banker warns of risk from ‘unwarranted’ loan law
Romania deputy governor warns of risks posed by legislative initiatives on debt settlements passed by the country’s parliament
Perceived long-term eurozone deflation risk unaffected by oil – paper
Between 2010 and 2012, perceived short-term deflation risk was “significantly” affected by oil prices, while medium-term risk was only affected between 2013 and 2015, research suggests
Central Bank of Kenya places third bank in receivership
Chase Bank under new management after resignation of chairman and managing director; Imperial Bank progress “postponed” while audit continues
Senior deputy plays down Indonesia’s external debt burden
Mirza Adityaswara says debt burden safer than it looks; defends mandate requiring domestic deals be made in rupiah and admits loan rates "probably too high" at Hong Kong conference
Ingves raises fundamental questions about central banking
Riksbank governor sets out questions around monetary policy and macro-prudential framework in Sweden, raising the prospect of a merger with the FSA and joining the SSM
PSR has taken ‘decisive action’ in its first year – managing director
Nixon marks PSR’s first birthday with speech in Copenhagen; regulator has helped in improving access and “levelling the playing field” for market participants
Canadian banks could withstand shock from China, deputy governor suggests
Financial institutions have adequate capital liquidity to handle external pressures, Wilkins says; research suggests Canadian growth would decrease by 0.1% if Chinese growth fell by 1%
Book notes: Bretton Woods: the next 70 years
The Bretton Woods Committee has assembled a large number of distinguished authors for this volume, but ultimately the book ends up long on problems and short on solutions
Investors to sue Portuguese central bank over asset writedown
A group of bondholders in a failed bank are bringing a lawsuit against the Portuguese central bank over its writedown of their holdings in a failed commercial bank
Coen looks to wider issues affecting bank resilience
Secretary general of Basel Committee highlights importance of corporate governance and culture, IT systems and stress tests for resilience and profitability
Fiji central bank will launch second financial inclusion strategy ‘shortly’
Second financial inclusion strategy to place “special emphasis” on insurance; governor praises success of first scheme in meeting targets, but 27% of population remains unbanked
Seychelles central bank will chair new financial stability committee
Advisory body will comprise representatives from four different public bodies and meet on a quarterly basis; supported by new financial stability unit within central bank
Malaysian deputy tells companies to provide ‘more than just a payment solution’
Muhammad bin Ibrahim stresses importance of financial institutions providing “value-added services” to their customers if they are to remain competitive
Fibre optics raise concentration of forex trading - paper
Barry Eichengreen and co-authors find technological gains from submarine fibre optic cables helped increase the concentration of foreign exchange trading
Tax system severely reduces Italian banks’ profits – paper
Disparities in eurozone countries’ effective tax rates for their banking sectors may threaten banks’ ability to strengthen their capital, a Bank of Italy paper argues
Basel Committee flags further issues with bank modelling
Second study of variation in credit risk modelling using internal ratings-based approach sheds further light on what is causing banks to calculate significantly different capital requirements
FRTB data standards seen as threat to emerging markets
Need for "real" prices will limit use of models, increasing capital burden
Policy-makers could use fraud patterns as economic indicator – paper
Positive relationship exists between bank fraud and the macroeconomy, Chicago Fed risk specialist finds, suggesting fraud could offer an early warning sign of crisis