Central Banks
Estonia upgraded on euro accession; Ireland knocked down on banks’ weakness
Fitch lifts Estonian credit rating two notches, citing benefits of eurozone membership and strong fiscal performance; Moody’s downgrades Ireland on poor growth projections, worries over bad bank
Volcker philosophical on weakened rule, reform bill
Former Fed chairman Paul Volcker says failure to include dollar limit on banks’ positions in hedge funds “disappointing”, but accepts need for political compromise
Nigeria’s bad bank comes to life
Nigerian President signs bill approving creation of bad bank to take $10 billion in toxic loans off beleaguered banks’ balance sheets; agency to be up and running by end-September
IMF on Peru’s de-dollarisation experiment
IMF uses Peruvian experience in last decade to show benefits of de-dollarisation policies
Bank of England – Trends in Lending (July 2010)
Bank of England’s July lending report shows further declines in bank loans as demand continues to weaken
Bank of Japan – Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments (July 2010)
Bank of Japan report shows boost in export growth was undermined by chronic deflation problems
HKMA unveils design of two new banknotes
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority says improved security features on new banknotes will reduce counterfeits in circulation
RBA rate hold linked to European stability concerns
Minutes of Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate meeting show developments in Europe led board to keep rates flat
Bank’s Sentance explains vote to raise rates
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew Sentance says evidence of a marked recovery motivated decision to begin process of normalising rates
ECB identifies dark side of wholesale funding
European Central Bank study finds that despite benefits of wholesale funding, liquidity scares can cause instability to banks that are uninformed of potential risks
Fed better prepared than us for financial crisis: ECB paper
European Central Bank study shows stronger emphasis towards output allowed the Fed to react faster than Frankfurt to financial crisis
Central Bank of Ireland – Payment and Securities Settlements System Infrastructure Report (July 2010)
Irish central bank’s report on payments and settlements shows country is behind Europe in transition to electronic payments systems
Volcker should chair FSoc
Aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act are welcome but crises will continue to be mismanaged, Robert Pringle writes.
Euro counterfeits fall by 13%
ECB statistics show 387,000 forged euro banknotes recovered in first half of 2010; €50 note overtakes €20 as most popular bill to fake
HKMA, PBoC agree to expand renminbi business
New agreement will enable banks in the territory to establish renminbi accounts for financial institutions
East Asian, Pacific governors set for 15th annual meeting
Executives’ Meeting of East Asia and Pacific Central Banks gears up for 15th outing in Sydney; regional currency and financial stability issues to dominate agenda
Fed names new regional chairs
Washington-based board announces heads of 12 Federal Reserve banks for 2010; none from banks
EU’s Barnier: paradigm shift in regulating OTC derivatives
European Commission commissioner for internal market and services Michel Barnier says concept of light touch regulation is history
Fed is the main winner from Dodd-Frank bill: Meyer
Former Federal Reserve governor Laurence Meyer says the central bank has gained powers it wanted and shed responsibilities it did not, despite initial anti-Fed sentiment among lawmakers