Central Banks
NALM Americas 2013: Panellists play down expectations of QE wind-down
Central bankers think it unlikely the US Federal Reserve will wind down its quantitative easing programme – but some acknowledge an exit could hit emerging markets hard
Bank of Canada reins in risk concerns
Review of Canadian financial system finds risks from European sovereign debt crisis and Canadian housing market are retreating; special report says collateral demand is ‘manageable’
Shirai says Bank of Japan’s communication has ‘room for improvement’
Board member explains reasons for dissent in recent monetary policy meeting; says Outlook Report is unclear in some places and misleading in others
Israel's Fischer says he used casting vote to avoid ‘signs of a crisis'
Outgoing Bank of Israel governor regrets his MPC never outvoted him, but feels recent moves to stem the shekel's rise have met with success
FDIC chief economist highlights factors behind community bank failure
Richard Brown says community banks play a ‘crucial role’ in the US financial system; presents research identifying common factors behind those that failed during various financial crises
Riksbank paper looks at scrapping inflation target in favour of nominal GDP
Working paper concludes the inflation target should not be dropped, but only outperforms nominal GDP targeting when forward guidance is given
Bank of England paper says above-target inflation threatens expectations anchor
Article in latest quarterly bulletin says UK inflation expectations remain anchored for time being but could be dislodged if high inflation persists
Asia-Pacific: Financial stability concerns reflected in rate decisions and forex intervention
Indonesia leans against higher inflation expectations with rate rise, RBNZ's Wheeler concerned over ‘rapid' house price inflation, and Bank of Thailand attempts to slow baht's downward slide
ECB’s LTROs had ‘favourable effect’ on sovereign yields
Dutch working paper evaluates the impact of the ECB’s unconventional monetary policy; says LTRO had beneficial short-term effect on government borrowing in most distressed eurozone countries
UK banks on cyber threat alert, says BoE’s Haldane
Chief risk officers at UK banks worried about cyber-attacks on financial institutions; Bank of England official says government must take ultimate responsibility to guard against cyber threats
Canadian paper proposes new DSGE model for analysing credit shocks
Working paper proposes new model that accounts for the effects of defaults on both households and banks; finds the probability of a company defaulting rises with its leverage ratio
UK mulls US-style bank stress tests
Bank of England seeks to improve bank stress tests by including publicly disclosed remedial actions as debate intensifies over independence and the use of a leverage ratio in the UK
Ingves wants Riksbank monopoly over macro-prudential policy
Stefan Ingves dismisses proposals for central bank and financial services authority to share responsibility for macro-prudential responsibility
Turkish central bank steps in to calm forex markets
Capital outflows have prompted Turkey's central bank to purchase local currency in a bid to smooth ‘market volatility'; move seen as signalling a failure of the bank's 'Reserve Option Mechanism'
Belgian supervisor warns against Basel III over-simplification
National Bank of Belgium’s Rudi Bonte calls for the Basel Committee to take a ‘moderate’ stance on the trade-off between simplicity and complexity in its risk and capital rules
National Bank of Denmark tells smaller banks to strengthen their positions
Financial Stability Report for 2013 reveals that while the five nationally systemic banks have plenty of capital, some smaller banks are found wanting
Austria’s Nowotny cautious on single supervisor
National Bank of Austria governor says there are valid reasons for central banks to play a greater role in banking supervision, but voices concerns regarding the single supervisory mechanism
Ibos warns of payments disruption as Sepa deadline set to be missed
Banking association says 2014 Sepa migration target will be missed at current pace, which could see systems shut down and payments fail; harmonisation may be limited even when target met
Asmussen defends ECB bond purchases at German constitutional court hearing
German representative on the European Central Bank’s executive board Jörg Asmussen rejects charges the central bank exceeded its legal basis by agreeing to purchase the sovereign debt of eurozone nations
Bank of England faces legal challenge over all-male banknote roster
Central bank stands accused of failing in its duties under the Equality Act, after choosing to replace the only woman on a British banknote with Winston Churchill