Central Banks
Sarb hires head of new international relations department
Legal professor Daniel Bradlow will lead a new department at South African Reserve Bank designed to co-ordinate and direct its participation in international forums
OCC denies swaps push-out protection to non-US banks
Foreign banks have until July to push out derivatives activities after OCC guidance repeats Dodd-Frank drafting mistake
Fed’s Yellen sizes up challenges in derivatives reforms
Federal Reserve vice-chair says initial margin requirements for bilateral derivatives trades are necessary but could place a heavy burden on the industry
Belgian bank survey reports gloomier outlook
National Bank of Belgium survey finds improved financial market conditions are not feeding into the real economy, as respondents again revise down 2013 growth forecasts
Swiss paper considers how GDP is best forecast
Study says forecasting the individual components of GDP does not produce results worthy of the additional effort
Nishimura wants change in macro-prudential focus
BoJ deputy governor says financial regulation should work counter-cyclically against demographic expansion to avoid fuelling property bubbles
RBI’s Padmanabhan sets out plans to disincentivise cheque use
Reserve Bank of India executive director explains efforts to encourage electronic payments, but says improved cheque systems are also being implemented due to high usage
Bundesbank paper analyses drivers of default risk
Study published by the Deutsche Bundesbank finds systematic factors are responsible for up to a quarter of the differences in the default risk of individual banks' credit portfolios
Central Bank of Iceland suspends its foreign currency purchases
Iceland's central bank seeks to mitigate an ‘undesirably large’ depreciation of the Icelandic króna
Fed could stop asset purchases ‘well before end of 2013’
FOMC members express concerns over costs of quantitative easing as the Fed’s balance sheet expands; most members see purchases ending within a year
Bank of Lithuania axes quarter of staff
Lithuanian central bank completes process of streamlining main operations under four branches; cuts 195 employees during the course of a year
IMF tightens rules on money laundering surveillance
New IMF policy document introduces mandatory reporting on money laundering where it represents a risk to financial stability; Vatican sanctioned over failures in money laundering safeguards
Currency mismatches hit corporates hard during crisis, says Hungarian paper
Prior to the crisis of 2007, companies with large foreign exchange liabilities and no hedge comprised 7% of the corporate sector but held 66% of the loans; had lower survival rates and profits as a result
BoE paper tackles issue of cross-dependence in panel data models
Research published by the Bank of England uses a Bayesian approach to short dynamic panel data estimation; attempts to capture ‘cross-sectional dependence’
Stiglitz slams ‘unconscionable’ central bank independence
Economist Joseph Stiglitz attacks central bank independence, saying conflicts of interest and recent interventions amounting to fiscal policy are unjustifiable for a non-elected body
RBI report condemns ‘excessive’ gold demand
Reserve Bank of India working group recommends gold imports are reduced to protect the country’s balance of payments and currency reserves
US thrashes out partial solution to fiscal cliff
US government reaches agreement that postpones and reduces fiscal cliff; measures unlikely to have significant impact on Fed policy, some observers say
Central Bank of Egypt grapples with falling currency
Egyptian pound continues fall after currency auctions by central bank; follows rating downgrade as concerns raised over impact of political turmoil and weakening economy
BoJ research warns of unintended policy consequences from Libor
Working paper says reference rates such as Libor can provide valuable information to markets but may also skew central bank policy-making by adding noise to credit spreads
NY Fed paper studies Treasury liquidity crunches
Staff report finds negative feedback relationship between price volatility and liquidity in US Treasury markets – a trend that worsens during financial crises
Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina names new vice-governor
Ernadina Bajrović will serve a four-year term and will be responsible for administrative and financial operations