Financial Stability
Turmoil not likely to hamper growth, says Mboweni
South Africa's economy will continue to prosper in spite of the recent global banking crisis because of its favourable macroeconomic position, said Tito Mboweni, the governor of the South African Reserve Bank.
Latin America set to escape worst of turmoil
Rodrigo de Rato, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), expects Latin America to avoid most of the effects of the recent financial turmoil, though its economy may be hampered by the aftermath.
King names lessons learned from crisis
Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, said on Tuesday he had identified three lessons, so far, from the banking crisis.
Instability fundamentals have weathered revolution
The financial fundamentals that hold the key to the dynamics of instability remain despite three decades-worth of structural change in the system, according to research published by the Bank for International Settlements.
Speed up on SEPA: ECB's Tumpel-Gugerell
Banks need to step up their efforts if they are to be prepared for the launch of the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) on 1 January next year, according to Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank.
King speaks on Northern Rock
Three weeks ago, thousands of depositors queued on the streets outside branches of Northern Rock to take their money out. Those scenes, broadcast around the world, were shocking. How did they come about and how can we prevent them in future? My focus…
Open-ended guarantee for Northern Rock depositors
At the request of Northern Rock, the UK Treasury has agreed to extend the guarantee arranged in mid-September for retail depositors to any new deposits savers make or have made since 19 September. The guarantee will remain in place "during the current…
Convergence makes Europe more resilient - Trichet
The adoption of the single currency has made the eurozone far more resilient to external developments than its individual member countries were, according to Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank.
Padoa-Schioppa to chair IMFS
Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italy's economy and finance minister, is to head the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC).
Israel to print plastic notes
The Bank of Israel said its next issue of 20 sheqel notes will be on polypropylene, a type of plastic.
Ex-Nigerian finance minister rejoins World Bank
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance and foreign minister in Nigeria, is set to become a managing director at the World Bank.
Latest ECB lending data give cause for concern
Banks across the eurozone have tightened their credit standards for loans to businesses by 31% in response to the credit crunch that has hampered the region's money markets since the start of August, according to data from the ECB
Cash costs more than cards in Sweden
Debit and credit card payments have a lower social cost than cash transactions for purchases of more than €8 and €18 respectively, research published by the Riksbank has found.
Rules found to hinder remittance payments
Regulatory compliance is the main barrier to doing business in the area of workers' remittance payments, according to a poll of Sibos delegates.
Target2: ready to go
Five years in the making, Europe's new large-value payments system, known as Target2, is ready to go live on 19 November.
Europe set for SEPA after Sibos session
"SEPA is here! I met it in Boston," declared Jean-Michel Godeffroy, head of payments systems and market infrastructure at the European Central Bank (ECB), as Europe's payment players agreed to send, receive and process euro payments according to new…
Egypt to use SIA-SSB payments system
Egypt's central bank picked SIA-SSB, an Italian technology company, to develop its new large-value payments, the company announced at Sibos.
Liquidity, liquidity, liquidity
David Longworth, a deputy governor at the Bank of Canada, discussed three concepts of liquidity in a speech given in Toronto on Wednesday.
Banks should lead in growth effort: Zambia CB head
Caleb Fundanga, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zambia, urged the country's banking industry to invest more in order to spur economic growth and reduce poverty.
US needs global payments standards, says industry
Should the US adopt international standards in its domestic payment systems? Surprisingly, "yes" was the overwhelming answer at a packed Sibos, Nick Carver, editor of SPEED, writes from Boston.
Ex-BoE supervision head criticises FSA
According to Peter Cooke, a former head of banking supervision at the Bank of England, the Northern Rock crisis revealed the need for a proper "mechanism for crisis management", a greater official focus on liquidity rather than solvency and more…
CSDs sceptical of ECB's settlement plans
Clearstream and Euroclear, Europe's two largest central securities depositories, were sceptical that the European Central Bank's (ECB) plans to build a single settlement platform will deliver the benefits the central bankers promise, Central Bank News…
Banks struggle with SEPA set-up
More than half of banks will not be able to comply with the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiative, which comes into effect in January.
Czech CB appoints financial stability deputy
Jan Frait has joined the Czech National Bank as deputy executive director of the financial stability and economic research department at the central bank.