Financial Stability
Freddie Mac reports $6 billion loss in second quarter
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation shows a $6 billion loss as strenuous conditions persist in US housing market; agency asks for extra $1.8 billion in Treasury assistance
Basel III watered down by politics and not fit for purpose, says CLSA risk chief
The most recent draft of the Basel III proposals has been watered down by politics, according to an Asian risk officer
Minimum capital requirements increase systemic risk
Netherlands Bank research notes that Basel II capital requirements foster homogeneity
Fannie Mae posts lowest loss since conservatorship
Fannie Mae reports a $1.2 billion loss, the lowest quarterly loss since its conservatorship
New Zealand mulls lightening banks’ reporting load
Reserve Bank of New Zealand seeks to remove doubling in reporting requirements and bring standards for Kiwi banks in line with international practice; mooted changes expected to reduce compliance cost
BoK’s Kim: Asia was well prepared for market turmoil
Bank of Korea governor Kim Choong-soo says Asian crisis taught region many lessons that helped prepare them in onset of the last crisis
IMF’s Min on Fund’s role in safeguarding systemic risk
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's special adviser Min Zhu highlights excess liquidity, international interest rate differentials and systemic risk as future issues
New Turkish notes spark spike in printing costs
Central Bank of Turkey’s Annual Report shows improved lira notes caused banknote manufacture costs to leap by more than half; governor Durmuş Yılmaz praises inflation targeting framework
Greece passes first hurdle of bailout programme
European-IMF review of Greek economic programme says country is on track to receive second tranche of funds
Ageing to drive down asset prices
Bank for International Settlements research says demographic trends will reduce house prices significantly
BIS: cross-border flows shaped by global and country specific factors
Bank for International Settlements study shows global and country specific risk factors explain cross-border bank flow patterns
Bernanke on why states face fiscal shortfalls
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke pins shortfalls on recession, legislation and pensions
Northern Rock’s bad bank posts first profit
Northern Rock Asset Management shows $267m profit for first half of year as split with so-called “good bank” lowers costs of funding; FSA slaps RBS with $9m fine for screening failures
National Bank of Slovakia – Financial Stability Report (2009)
National Bank of Slovakia’s Financial Stability Report for last year says risks to economy largely in household sector
First FSAP for US flags commercial real estate woes
The US banking system at risk from commercial real estate woes, the IMF’s first Financial Sector Assessment Programme says
BIS: Global banking at a crossroads
Bank for International Settlements study says financial crisis has changed the model for international banking
Federal Reserve – Beige Book (July 2010)
Federal Reserve’s July Beige Book shows significant improvement in labour markets across five of the United States’ 12 districts
Boston Fed: poor subsidise card payment transfers of rich
Boston Federal Reserve paper shows low income households subsidise the cost of card payment transfers for high income households through higher relative prices
Fed’s response averted a depression: Blinder
A paper co-authored by former Federal Reserve governor Alan Blinder says the central bank’s extraordinary polices prevented the country from entering a second Great Depression
Bank of Canada: firms don’t smooth inventories
Bank of Canada study shows high costs attached to inventories deters firms from smoothing inventory ahead of countercyclical swings
Eurozone banks tighten standards as loan demand grows
European Central Bank’s second quarter lending survey shows banks toughening standards for borrowers, reflecting unease from sovereign debt crisis spillover; demand, meanwhile, increases
King parries claims Bank will get too much power
Bank of England governor Mervyn King says creation of the Financial Policy Committee will not make central bank too powerful
King stresses wait-and-see approach to rate-setting
Bank of England governor Mervyn King dismisses suggestions that one or another view dominates rate-setting committee; deputy Charles Bean reiterates question marks over effects of quantitative easing
Policy produces dull but safe banks
In the second of a six-part series on the Japanese economy, Robert Pringle reports from Tokyo on how the crisis has impacted the nation’s global outlook