Central Banks
Rates have hit lower bound, say ECB minutes
Second ‘account’ of ECB policy meeting suggests -0.2% is the effective lower bound for interest rates, but governing council mulls various options for extending QE should it be necessary
Expectations have variable impact, finds ECB paper
Working paper suggests there have been ‘significant changes’ in the degree to which expectations have driven unemployment, with a particularly large effect during 2008 financial crisis
Fed paper measures damage from capital flow surges
Researchers find surging capital flows push labour away from manufacturing, create sudden booms and recessions, and do more damage if there is a sudden reversal
The MPC process in light of the Warsh Review
The Bank of England’s revised MPC meeting schedule has some merits but will not add to transparency and raises the risk of news shocks, writes former member Charles Goodhart
Israel’s Flug calls for new financial stability committee
Bank of Israel governor wants to ‘institutionalise’ collaboration between financial supervisory authorities; offers advice to new government on budget
Global FX reserves down, dollar allocations up
Valuation effects push US dollar portion of allocated reserves higher while euro slips
MAS to launch 'unique' government-guaranteed retail bond
Interest on the non-tradable, 10-year bond will increase annually and savers can bow out at any time; product is unique in Asia, analyst says
People: NY Fed names first vice president; HKMA promotes research head
Michael Strine succeeds Christine Cumming as first vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Lillian Cheung becomes executive director for research in Hong Kong; and more
Icelandic MP posits radical monetary reform
Report proposes scrapping fractional reserve banking and handing Central Bank of Iceland authority over money creation; central bank says it is not considering the plans further
Draghi defends ECB’s voting opacity
While extolling the virtues of central bank transparency, the ECB governor says not publishing a voting record allows members to support the overall decision despite privately disagreeing
US Treasury's cyber chief lays out cyber security blueprint
Julia Philipp recommends targeted defences, data sharing and response planning, at OpRisk North America conference
Hellwig warns against expanding financial stability mandate too far
Martin Hellwig presents his thoughts on how to strike a balance between the macroeconomic and financial stability objectives of monetary policy
Romer and Romer find financial crisis impact ‘not large’
NBER working paper constructs new series on financial distress in advanced economies to better capture degrees of financial crisis; finds output declines are ‘moderate and largely temporary’
Central Bank of Bahrain launches Islamic liquidity facility
Wakalah instrument chosen on basis of its effectiveness as a short-term liquidity management tool, executive director says, allowing banks to deposit excess reserves with the central bank
Riksbank sees payments challenges ahead
Annual report notes growing interest in digital forms of payment is leading to declining income from seigniorage; new banknote series to enter circulation in 2015
Jacques de Larosière on the international monetary system and the eurozone
Central Banking’s Chris Jeffery speaks to former IMF chief Jacques de Larosière about efforts to restore the global financial system and challenges for the eurozone at the Central Banking Awards 2015
Wilkins sheds light on research into Bank of Canada regime
Senior deputy governor Carolyn Wilkins tells Central Banking how the Bank of Canada is preparing for the inflation-targeting renewal in 2016; sets out three research themes
Fischer looks to strengthen non-bank solvency and liquidity
Fed vice-chair says key issues for promoting non-bank sector stability are solvency and liquidity, and suggests policies that could be used to strengthen these areas