Financial Stability
Britain to abolish cheque clearing in 2018
Payments overseer says plans contingent on 2016 review demonstrating alternatives exist
Austria nationalises failing lender
Austrian government takes over Hypo Group Alpe Adria from state of Bavaria as central bank financial stability report shows tier 1 capital ratios in the sector are set to drop
Cutting interest rates the best solution: ECB paper
A European Central Bank working paper argues that interest rate cuts and controlled inflation help adverse financial conditions, while simplistic interpretation of Taylor rule does not
Crisis down to global imbalances: Obstfeld, Rogoff
Maurice Obstfeld and Kenneth Rogoff say global imbalances key source of crisis
Bank of England – Quarterly Bulletin
Bank of England says secondary corporate bond market needs more support
Abu Dhabi bails out Dubai
Richest emirate agrees to provide $10 billion to Dubai World; central bank to support local banks
Bubbles a bigger threat than inflation: HKMA’s Chan
Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Norman Chan sees irrational exuberance as greater risk than spiralling prices
Central banks should have control over credit
Two economists argue in support of a role for credit in central banks’ mandate, and analyse the claim that financial crises are “credit booms gone wrong”
Bank of Canada – Financial System Review
Bank of Canada review says overall vulnerability of the system has declined, but individual households are in an increasingly brittle position
Shirakawa on a delicate balancing act
Bank of Japan’s governor notes role of experience in safeguarding stability
SNB steps towards exit
Swiss National Bank announces end to credit easing
CentralBanking.com panel: it’s too soon to exit
Charles Goodhart, Paul Mortimer-Lee, Lucrezia Reichlin and Gabriel Stein concur that dangers are greater from exiting too early than too late but warn that asset prices risk becoming over inflated
Czech’s Tuma accuses IMF, EBRD over CEE comments
Czech National Bank governor says multilateral organisations failed to differentiate between central and eastern European countries at the height of the crisis
SMEs are pulling through: ECB’s Tumpel-Gugerell
European Central Bank board member says small firms are the backbone of the euro economy and have done well in the crisis; outlines advantages of SEPA for SMEs
Riksbank – Financial Stability Report 2009:2
Sveriges Riksbank’s second report of the year finds conditions have improved, but emphases the brittle nature of financial markets’ confidence
BoJ’s special funds operation most effective for CP market
A Bank of Japan paper argues that outright purchases and repo operations were only briefly effective compared to the authority’s special funds operation
BIS on how to make stress tests better
Research examines the reasons for poor performance of stress tests pre-crisis and notes implications for their design and conduct in the future
Bank’s Bailey links rise in banknotes with turmoil
Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey says crisis has sparked rise in demand for currency; says trend reflected in other major economies
Influences on crisis fighting in emerging markets
International Monetary Fund examines why some emerging-market economies took special-liquidity-easing measures during the crisis
Chakrabarty: mobile payments uptake low in India
Reserve Bank of India’s Kamalesh Chakrabarty says mobile banking yet to take off
Bunning labels Bernanke “definition of moral hazard”
Kentucky senator says he will do everything in his power to stop Ben Bernanke winning a second term
IMF backs HK peg weeks after bubble warning
International Monetary Fund says it supports peg; support comes after research paper cites risk of bubbles from currency strategy
Bank of England moots corporate bond sales
Bank of England proposes extension to quantitative-easing programme to cover corporate bond sales in bid to boost liquidity
BoE should keep close eye on bubbles: Dale
Bank of England’s Spencer Dale says the central bank’s current policy stance increases the likelihood that asset prices may move out of line with their fundamental values