Financial Stability
Trichet: credit agencies essential
In reply to a question from MEP Nikolaos Chountis, Jean-Claude Trichet highlights the importance of rating agencies
Basel principles don’t guarantee stability: IMF paper
Complying with the Basel principles on supervision does not enhance the soundness of banks, Fund economists find
Likely euro adoption puts Estonia on positive watch
Fitch Ratings predicts Estonia will join Euro after Tallinn publishes debt figures
Bank’s Haldane moots structural change to recover social costs
Bank’s executive director for financial stability labels banking pollution “a real and large social problem”; says officials must look at architecture of financial system to resolve it
“Radical reforms” must be considered: UK lawmakers
Head of influential group of parliamentarians says British government wrong to rule out root-and-branch reform; favours contingent capital and subsidiaries to lessen risk of systemic collapse
Warsh acknowledges Fed’s quasi-fiscal action
Governor suggests Fed’s crisis-fighting measures may have tested the boundaries of central bank’s ambit
IMF: global inter-connectedness aggravated recession
IMF paper shows global interconnectedness increased output volatility during recession as trade-dependent economies were worst hit
SNB tackles too-big-to-fail
Report by the Swiss National Bank suggests countries biggest banks will need to downsize
RBA warns of inflationary pressures from emerging markets.
Reserve Bank of Australia highlights inflationary threats from Asian economies in financial stability report
Philly Fed: banking sector returns to profit
Report for fourth quarter notes bank failures also dropped
IMF calls for originators to have more exposure to tranches
Study shows that exposure to securitised loans does not imply risk-neutral behaviour
Turkey tests new policy on checking accounts
Study by Turkish central bank rejects new policy to increase payment fees for checking accounts
ECB in about-turn on collateral rules
Move reflects concern over Greece; Trichet says graded haircut system set to be introduced
Sovereign risk worries overstated: panel
Debt experts from Bank of Italy, National Bank of Denmark and French debt agency point to reassuring signs of continuing life in the sovereign debt markets
Portugal suffers downgrade
Sovereign debt marked down a notch by Fitch; move eaxcerbates eurozone tensions
Chiang Mai currency swap deal comes to life
Regional $120 billion currency swap arrangement between ASEAN members and east Asian powerhouses comes into force
BoJ improves payments and settlements after crisis
Bank of Japan enhances its payments and settlements systems following Lehman collapse
Lockhart: Fed inflation anchor under threat
Atlanta Fed’s Dennis Lockhart warns that inflation expectations may be dislodged as a result of accommodative Fed stance
Hong Kong debt market rebounds
Latest Quarterly Bulletin from Hong Kong Monetary Authority shows debt markets have normalised in the territory following Lehman collapse
Central banks should oversee systemic risk
CentralBanking.com poll shows majority of respondents think central banks together with government bodies should be responsible for monitoring systemic risk
Merkel and central bankers clash over Greek fix
Bundesbank shows reluctance to back Merkel; ECB president Trichet pushes for European rescue fund to aid beleaguered eurozone members
Bernanke: too-big-to-fail problem “unconscionable”
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke calls for a revision of regulation on firms, which are “too big to fail”
Debt holders must share the pain: Tucker
Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker says bondholders must be ready from the start to share in losses should a bank get into trouble
Greenspan slams systemic risk watchers
Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan says systemic risk oversight bodies will not catch anything regulators have already missed, calls for contingent capital instead