Central Banks
Canada cuts rate for ‘insurance’ against oil price drop
Stephen Poloz says the fall in oil prices in ‘unambiguously negative’ for the Canadian economy as central bank unveils first rate change in over four years
UK’s FCA declares success in nudging savers towards new products
Occasional paper presents results of trial involving over 20,000 consumers to see if they could be encouraged to seek higher returns; produced ‘notable difference’ in behaviour
NY Fed's Baxter targets stronger ethical culture in banks
Thomas Baxter says progress is more important than ‘perfection' in promoting better behaviour among financial industry workers
Offshore renminbi clearing banks could face competition from 'superhighway'
As host countries play up significance of new clearing banks, questions emerge over whether they will become obsolete once Chinese ‘payments superhighway' comes into being
Great expectations: ECB set for QE showdown
Markets expect the ECB to announce a programme for buying €500 billion of sovereign bonds tomorrow, but the central bank retains the capacity to surprise
PBoC governor questions western central banks' ability to boost inflation
Speaking in Davos, Zhou Xiaochuan says 'monetary policy is not a panacea to reach targets', while Kenneth Rogoff says ECB QE will not be 'big enough'
Fed’s Powell offers support for ‘ambitious’ BoE review
Jerome Powell points to the importance of reflecting on structural changes in the fixed-income, currency and commodities markets
Summers takes Germany to task over attitude towards debt
Speaking in London, former US treasury secretary says there is need to move beyond 'Calvinist idea' that debt is bad; questions impact of QE, macro-prudential policies
Eurozone banks report further easing in credit standards
The net percentage of banks reporting easier credit standards continues to grow; ECB survey finds banks’ participation in TLTROs is mostly driven by profitability
Dutch paper examines bank responses to wholesale funding shocks
Working paper published by The Netherlands Bank finds banks with large exposure to government bonds show ‘relatively stronger response’ to wholesale funding shocks
BoE’s Cunliffe wants better allocation of capital in Europe
Better functioning capital markets would encourage savings to be put to better use, allow greater risk sharing and provide alternative sources of finance, deputy governor says
King says further easing unlikely to work
Former Bank of England governor warns monetary policy is reaching the limit of its ability to stimulate, with the global economy trapped in ‘quite serious disequilibria’
Central Bank of Argentina uses PBoC swap agreement for external financing
With Argentina suffering a default in July and without access to markets, its central bank is drawing on a swap agreement with the PBoC to bolster its reserves
IMF: Central banks ‘must' ease if inflation expectations drop
Easing should be conducted through ‘other means' than interest rates if they are at ZLB, Fund argues in WEO update, which downgrades global growth forecast for 2015 to 3.5%
Honohan: EU-IMF programme a qualified success
Following conclusion of programme Central Bank of Ireland governor says it did 'what it said on the tin' by restoring market confidence and stabilising the economy
RBI director cautions against foreign ‘investment tourists’
Financial stability implications of investors leaving India 'at a whiff of trouble' must be kept in mind as the country progresses down path of liberalisation, Padmanabhan says
Basel III helps Russian banks handle economic turmoil, says Yudaeva
Russia’s adoption of international banking rules has given its banks partial protection from a plunging currency and soaring interest rates
National Bank of Denmark heads deeper into negative territory
Unscheduled cut pushes deposit rate further below zero and leaves lending rate barely in the positive as krone comes under pressure ahead of expected ECB action
Fed sets up permanent community advisory council
First advisory council since the 1980s set up as Federal Reserve fights claims that its policies are benefiting wealthy investors at the expense of middle-income households
Capital controls may do more harm than good: NBER paper
Working paper attempts to gauge the adverse effects of imposing capital controls, including segmented financial markets, more expensive capital, and reduced investment
Leaning against the wind may boost shadow banking: BoE researchers
Contractionary monetary policy may encourage growth of shadow banking even as it restricts commercial banks, casting doubt on the ability of central banks to ‘lean against the wind’
Cambodia’s central bank defends depiction of Buddha on banknotes
National Bank of Cambodia released a new 100 riel banknote last week, depicting Buddha, which local media reports suggest has come in for criticism from some stakeholders
BoJ opinion survey highlights shift in expectations
Survey of public opinion sees Japanese people increasingly pessimistic about the economy as a whole, but there are signs the Bank of Japan’s policy efforts may be paying dividends