Central Banks
Central Bank of Kuwait puts own building on new banknote
Banknote series unveiled yesterday will come into circulation on June 29; new features include raised print to help blind people tell which note they are holding
SNB's Jordan says Fed fines raise ‘fundamental' questions for Swiss banking
Credit Suisse pleads guilty to helping US clients evade taxes by setting up offshore accounts; SNB chairman cites ‘major reputational damage' to industry
Coeuré calls for further progress to single capital market
ECB board member Benoît Cœuré tells International Capital Market Association that price convergence alone will not signal the end of eurozone capital market fragmentation
Banxico deputy says free trade deals will boost medium-term growth
Javier Guzman says Mexico has 'tariff-free access to a potential market of more than a billion consumers and 60% of world GDP'
Governors launch East African Payments System
East African Community presents new market infrastructure and plans to boost currency convertibility; Kenyan governor sets out monetary policy priorities for the region
Serbia lifts donation fees in ‘solidarity' with flood victims
National Bank of Serbia set to publish list of banks showing ‘solidarity' by not charging to process donations directed at helping those affected by severe flooding
UK banks to fund ‘independent' body tasked with improving industry culture
Recommendations on conduct from former Bank of England MPC member ‘accepted' by seven major banks; new body to be launched later this year
European central banks strike new gold agreement
Central banks in the eurozone, Sweden and Switzerland agree to coordinate their gold transactions, but scrap the 400-tonne limit on annual sales
Mersch: regional currencies are flawed
ECB executive board member warns that regional money can hamper trade between different parts of the country, while costing commercial partners the opportunity to grow
Thailand governor insists economy is nearing turnaround
Bank of Thailand’s Prasarn Trairatvorakul admits he can do nothing to resolve political uncertainty in the country, and focuses on how to support eventual economic rebound
Mexican deputy says financial system must be broadened and deepened
Bank of Mexico deputy governor Manuel Sánchez says the country's financial system must extend its reach geographically and across income strata
Bank of Tanzania praised for ‘skilfully’ lowering inflation
The IMF praises Tanzania authorities for generating ‘rapid’ growth while clamping down on inflation and encouraging development of sovereign wealth fund
Vatican central bank set up to fight financial irregularities
The ‘outlier' bank's most important task will be to manage foreign reserves, but will need radical changes if it is to clean up the Vatican's finances as the Pope wants
Canada deputy urges pension funds to join clearing service
For repo and derivatives transactions, central counterparties reduce common counterparty exposures and systemic risk, Lawrence Schembri argues
QE for infrastructure investment could be ECB's alternative to ‘pushing on a string'
As the ECB continues to struggle to boost lending in the eurozone periphery, a leading Greek academic is proposing it channels QE through the European Investment Bank
Lithuania may squeeze past eurozone’s asymmetric convergence criteria
The asymmetric nature of the EU’s convergence criteria means that Lithuania, with 0.6% average annual inflation, may only scrape into the eurozone next year
Central Bank of Hungary adopts new constitution
The ‘internal constitution' reinforces central bank's ‘extremely broad range of competencies' and stresses cooperation with government to promote growth
Monetary policy shock hits Norway house prices hard
Meanwhile, impact on household credit is muted, according to Norges Bank working paper; adds findings are consistent with small quarterly refinancing rate of mortgage stock
Senior Estonian central bankers to sit on fiscal watchdog
Bank of Estonia deputy governor and chief economist will sit on an independent body tasked with assessing the government’s fiscal policy
Kuroda: rising inflation expectations feeding into wages
Tightening labour market conditions and higher inflation expectations are both serving to increase wages, Kuroda tells Tokyo audience
Ingves says responsibility for liquidity risk management lies with banks, not regulators
Basel Committee chairman says banks must develop controls to help them manage the liquidity risk that is inherent in their activities of maturity transformation