Governance
New appointments for two Basel-based committees
Agustín Carstens, governor of the Bank of Mexico, and William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, take on positions on international committees
Hildebrand succumbs to pressure and resigns
Governor of the Swiss National Bank steps down; mounting political pressure follows uproar over wife’s currency trading activities
Central Bank Directory highlights rise in female central bank governors
Four new female governors takes worldwide total to 12; Central Bank Directory also notes 4.1% increase in central bank staff in European Union
Norges Bank paper on central bank independence in the post-war era
Norges Bank case study shows central banks in the UK and Sweden had a higher degree of operational independence than Norway, despite its legal autonomy from government
Fed 'very close' to adopting inflation target, says Bullard
St Louis Federal Reserve president says FOMC nearing agreement to introduce inflation targeting in US; move is part of effort to improve transparency at the Fed
Clarity in central bank communications remains strong: Netherlands Bank paper
Netherlands Bank study shows central banks communicate policies effectively, despite high degree of uncertainty and less favourable inflation outlook during recent years
Praet named ECB’s de facto chief economist
European Central Bank executive board member Peter Praet will take over economics responsibilities at central bank
Banque de France to slash personnel numbers
Banque de France to replace only 50% of retirees in attempt to lower staff numbers; 2,500 posts to be lost by 2020
Hungary passes controversial central bank bill
Hungarian parliament votes in favour of amendments to National Bank of Hungary law; central bank warns that law presents serious threat to economy
Lithuania overhauls banking supervision
New streamlined financial markets supervision body will save government $1.9 million a year; economist in charge of new Supervision Service
Zambian parliament ratifies new governor
Zambian politicians agree on candidate to take over the role of governor of the central bank; Michael Gondwe fills void at top of the institution
Obama nominates two new members to Fed board
Former undersecretary of the Treasury Jerome Powell and Harvard economist Jeremy Stein put forward to fill vacant seats on Federal Reserve Board of Governors; need Senate backing
Riksbank appoints new head of general secretariat
Former head of Riksbank’s monetary policy department Anders Vredin replaces Kai Barvèll as head of general secretariat
Barroso urges Hungary to drop controversial bill
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso challenges Budapest over proposed amendments to National Bank of Hungary law; central bank raises rates by 50 basis points
Bank of Italy selects Rossi to join governing board
Bank of Italy names secretary-general Salvatore Rossi as deputy director-general, filling seat left open by governor Ignazio Visco on central bank board
South Africa announces new deputy governor
Francois Groepe selected by president Zuma to be the new deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank
Sri Lanka appoints four new assistant governors
Monetary board selects assistant governors for key departments; aims to ease succession challenges
Bank of Canada appoints new special adviser for Carney
Evan Siddall to become senior representative for financial markets at the Toronto regional office; will also sit on Monetary Policy Review and Financial System Review committees
Czech Republic holds off euro entry
Czech Republic will not join single currency until at least 2015 after central bank and finance ministry urge government not to enter Exchange Rate Mechanism II next year
Hungarian government proposes banking regulator merger
Hungarian parliamentary committee sets out amendments to National Bank of Hungary law that will merge institution with financial regulator; move would see governor Andras Simor demoted to deputy head
New director for IMF Institute
Christine Lagarde announces Sharmini Coorey as new head of the IMF’s economic management training body; also reveals new directors of the external relations and human resources departments
Saudi Arabian reshuffle sees new governor appointed
Muhammad al-Jasser moved to government post; Fahd bin Abdullah al-Mubarak takes over as governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
Zambian president sparks ‘fake’ money panic
Zambian president refers to 'fake' money in circulation; finance minister accuses central bank of shirking legalities in awarding latest banknote printing tender to German company