Foreign Exchange
Reserve manager of the year: Bank of Israel
Israel’s central bank has made breakthroughs in its sensitivity analysis of near-optimal portfolios, as well as making notable gains from its diversification strategy
Asset manager of the year: State Street Global Advisors
Boston-based asset manager not only has depth and reach – it has taken customisable services to a new level
Global securities lending services provider of the year: BNP Paribas Securities Services
The French bank has helped a range of official institutions to glean additional revenue from their bond holdings in tight markets
Technology provider of the year (risk management): Calypso Technology
Calypso scored several prestigious client wins in Denmark, France, South Africa and Spain by tailoring its platform to the needs of central banks
Reserve Bank of Tonga makes further tweaks to exchange controls
Reserve Bank continues to relax exchange controls, removing monthly limits and some identification requirements; IMF says central bank making progress
Lebanon’s innovative financial operations not sustainable – IMF
Central bank used a complicated mechanism to simultaneously boost foreign reserves and improve banks’ capital positions, but it cannot be used without limit, the fund warns
Barbados has failed to find growth balance, says governor
Further restrictions on spending needed to protect country’s reserves, says Worrell
African central banks have cut euro exposures, says Uganda’s Kavuma
Combination of negative interest rates and falling reserves hit euro holdings but most central banks still avoid investments within Africa
SNB ups allocation to currency reserves
New rule allows for higher allocations to reserves provision even in periods of low nominal growth; foreign exchange intervention now a key monetary tool
Ukraine’s central bank calls for action against illegal forex dealers
NBU says authorities failed to act against 32 illegal operations in Kyiv; says it will publicise further information on unauthorised forex dealers
Ukrainian central bank proposes abolition of forex restrictions
The central bank’s multi-stage plan includes a draft law, despite political disputes
Some way to go for renminbi as reserve currency – Bundesbank's Thiele
Chinese investment markets should be opened up to foreign investors, Thiele says
Rand volatility not driven by South African economic ‘surprises’ – IMF paper
IMF working paper finds that surprises in commodity prices, domestic politics and US economics impact the volatility of the South African rand rather than economic surprises in South Africa or China
IMF lauds renminbi SDR launch, but some see momentum stalling
Fund officials praise China’s proactive approach to meeting SDR goals, but others warn progress on renminbi internationalisation may be slowing
BIS survey points to turnaround in global forex volumes
Latest survey suggests more than a decade of growth may have come to an end, as data points to a restructuring away from spot trades towards derivatives
Capital outflows look manageable as Iceland moves to lift controls – central bank
A “stress test” of potential outflows implies the Icelandic financial system and central bank reserves will cope when capital controls are lifted; the government bill prepares to release funds
China to create own version of FX code
A newly established Chinese FX Committee is working on creating a Chinese version of the Global Code of Conduct, for domestic and foreign banks operating in the onshore market
PBoC gives World Bank green light as China’s first SDR bond issuer
World Bank to issue China’s first bond denominated in special drawing rights, in “landmark” step towards opening up Chinese bond market
Singapore’s GIC warns of lower returns in coming years
High valuation of asset prices and modest growth outlook points to lower returns in coming decade or two, GIC says; 20-year annualised real rate of return fell last fiscal year
Indian reserves climb to $360.2bn at end-March
Reserve Bank of India’s latest report on reserve management shows 2.8% increase over six months; two-thirds of foreign currency assets invested in securities
Bangladesh has more FX reserves than it needs, chief economist says
Biru Paksha Paul says Bangladesh only needs enough reserve to cover six months’ worth of imports, and it has now exceeded that; sees benefits from low fuel prices in recent years
A year of progress for Chinese reforms, but there is much still to do
Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, writes about China’s growth prospects, RMB exchange rate reform and the past years’ stock market fluctuations
Discontinuation of Libor would result in ‘significant systemic risk’, Powell says
Fed’s Powell discusses future of Libor; discontinuing the benchmark rate could entail “substantial losses”, he says
Renminbi investments to be included in Singapore reserves
Monetary Authority of Singapore says its investments in the Chinese currency will be included in official reserves “from June 2016 onwards”, now it is easier to repatriate funds