Central Banks
Yellen bats away calls for simple rules-based policy
Fed chair tells Committee on Financial Services a monetary policy rule based on two economic variables is inappropriate as ‘the world is more complicated than that’
Bank Negara Malaysia personnel under police investigation over alleged leak
Alleged leakage of documents from high-level probe involving PM a potential violation of official secrets act; central bank personnel among staff from four institutions under investigation
ECB’s Mersch calls for stricter convergence in eurozone
Executive board member says convergence should be more strongly enforced, as this could help pave way for common decisions in some areas of fiscal policy
IMF calls for Greek debt relief ‘far beyond’ EU plans
Memo warns public debt is ‘highly unsustainable’ and European leaders will need to provide much greater debt relief than they have discussed up to this point
UK’s Treasury Committee raises concerns over FPC accountability
MPs question whether Financial Policy Committee discussions are adequately represented by meeting records; wide-ranging discussion takes in liquidity issues, 'too big to fail' and stress testing
Bulgaria names Dimitar Radev central bank governor
Parliament appoints former IMF economist Dimitar Radev as governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, bringing to an end Ivan Iskrov’s 12-year reign
Greek bank holiday sparks swaps contract chaos
Extended bank closure leaves derivatives payments by end-users in limbo
US report finds ‘no single cause’ of October 15 volatility in Treasury market
Staff from five bodies, including the Fed board of governors and New York Fed, analyse data from unusual bout of volatility in the US Treasury market last year
Kuwaiti banks perform well under stress, report shows
Banks in Kuwait showed resilience during stress tests and strengthened their balance sheets in 2014, financial stability report shows; conventional banks more cost-efficient than Islamic
Dutch bulletin: T2S can only succeed if ‘many’ CSDs sign up
The Netherlands Bank's latest bulletin highlights the importance of more CSDs in Europe signing up to the Target2-Securities platform since the initial migration in June
ECB survey shows further recovery in bank credit in Q2
European Central Bank publishes latest bank lending survey, which reveals an increase in the share of banks reporting greater demand for loans to enterprises in the eurozone
BoE officials say UK may be starting to throw off productivity woes
There are signs the UK may be emerging from the ‘long, dark tunnel’ of weak productivity, officials tell the Treasury Committee; government’s minimum wage plans may be a positive factor
Former Afghan governor returns for second term
Khalilullah Sediq takes over for a second time as governor of the Bank of Afghanistan, following a spell in the private sector
Thai Government Pension Fund eyes deeper bond futures market
Thailand's $23 billion Government Pension Fund is one of the institutions that wants to see the country's bond futures market build on the progress already made in equity and forex derivatives
Reform of Sterling Monetary Framework is ‘ongoing’, says BoE’s Salmon
Executive director for markets highlights potential for sharia-compliant facilities to be included in framework, among host of possible future developments
Zimbabwean governor says banks more stable
John Mangudya says the banking sector ‘remains safe and sound’ after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe moved to address credit risk and liquidity constraints
Armenian annual report highlights growing European ties
Central Bank of Armenia strikes loan agreement worth €50 million with European Investment Bank and will use the money to fund SME projects
European leaders strike Greek deal but hurdles remain
All-night session ends in Greece agreeing to a tough reform package, but finance ministers continue to debate possible bridge financing and national parliaments must still give green light
ECB rolls out new website
Central bank revamps website with new design that puts greater emphasis on images, graphs and statistics; builds on bank supervision site launched in November
Yellen expects 'lift-off' later this year
Janet Yellen expects the Fed to raise the federal funds rate "at some point" in 2015 with full employment "coming closer into view" and inflation on track to return to 2% in the next few years
Provincial bond issuance could revive Chinese CDS market
China's CDS market has been languishing in the shadow of state protection – will the rising provincial bond market change this?