Central Banks
‘Surplus' countries must act to help limit external imbalances, says BIS paper
BIS economist Philip Turner says external imbalances can threaten financial stability in creditor countries as well as in debtor countries; calls it ‘an important but unresolved issue of international monetary reform'
Counterfeit banknotes up in Eurosystem
ECB reveals 317,000 counterfeits discovered in first half of 2013; says this remains a ‘very low’ proportion of overall notes in circulation
NY Fed study says shadow banks are here to stay
Study says shadow banks will play a significant part in the future of the United States’ financial system; higher capital standards on banks will lead to increase in shadow activity
IMF user guide takes stock of current toolkit for systemic risk monitoring
Paper provides guidance on selecting and interpreting monitoring tools; a continuously updated inventory of key categories of tools; and suggestions on how to carry out systemic risk monitoring
ECB collateral move aims to cut ‘wrong-way risk' while boosting SME lending
Observers think incentivising of SME loan ABS could be precursor for an SME-targeted long-term refinancing operation
Robert Pringle's Viewpoint: Let the Fed lead
Implicit coordination of monetary policies under Fed leadership is better than none at all
EM central banks should take cue from ‘the best in the world', says RBI governor
Duvvuri Subbarao also highlights the historical differences in mandates between EM and advanced economy central banks
Bernanke dismisses talk of tightening
The Federal Reserve will continue to support the economy ‘for the foreseeable future’ regardless of when it slows the pace of asset purchases
IMF ‘cookbook' paper outlines basic recipe for macro-pru policy
The paper provide new evidence on the effectiveness of different policy instruments using survey data
ECB relaxes collateral rules to include more ABS
ECB changes rules on acceptable collateral to include asset-backed securities with two single A ratings; haircuts on ABS are also cut
People: NY Fed communications head resigns; Riksbank names acting financial stability chief
NY Fed's Krishna Guha leaves his position with immediate effect but will stay on as senior adviser until September; Martin Johansson will lead the Riksbank's financial stability department; and more
FSB issues guidance on resolution of ‘too big to fail' lenders
Recommendations include the availability of sufficient loss-absorbing capacity and enforcement of ‘bail-in' rules
US construction slides, despite good accounts in Fed’s Beige Book
The number of new housing projects started fell unexpectedly by almost 10% in June; Federal Reserve districts reported an increase in construction and real estate activity during period
Bank of Canada ‘sharpens’ forward guidance
Governing council commits to holding interest rate at 1% for as long as there is ‘significant slack’ in the economy, inflation is ‘muted’ and household debt remains under control
Bundesbank paper contrasts techniques for identifying monetary policy shocks
Discussion paper compares different methods for identifying monetary policy shocks; looks at use of VAR models and narrative time series
IMF paper highlights importance of macro-pru and monetary policy co-ordination
Researchers find that policymakers tend to use macro-prudential instruments more quickly ‘if the ability to conduct monetary policy is somehow constrained'
BoE's unanimous vote to keep QE unchanged raises eyebrows
The MPC said an investigation of additional policy options would make it unwise to expand QE at the moment; At the same time IMF calls for more stimulus
BoJ policy board divided over bond markets
Minutes from the Bank of Japan’s June meeting reveal members debated whether to introduce additional measures to stabilise long-term interest rates
IMF says China needs new tools to get a grip on credit growth
Staff report on China highlights need for a new growth model centred on private consumption; calls for the PBoC to adopt interest rates as its key policy instrument
Card fraudsters abandoning ‘safer' Europe for more vulnerable markets, says ECB
Payment fraud is declining steadily in Europe thanks to technology advances; numbers are 'small compared to other kinds of fraudulent activities', expert says