Central Banks
Israeli annual report for bank customers could be first step to reduce transparency 'knowledge gap'
Bank of Israel supervisor pushes for banks to provide customers with tailored yearly reports; UK consultancy says future lies in 'single online portal' for all financial products
OECD’s White says ECB supervision is back to front
William White says ECB should be managing the current crisis rather than trying to prevent the next one; warns that the global economy remains vulnerable, partly because of central bank actions
Yellen wins over key sceptic in bid for Fed confirmation
Republican senator and noted opponent of doveish monetary policy says he will vote for Janet Yellen to lead the Fed based on her commitment to transparency and ‘rules-based' monetary policy
ECB gives Nouy the nod for SSM chair, but Mersch is no 'shoo-in' for deputy
ECB nominates top French regulator to head up SSM; responds to concerns that key decisions will be taken before chair is in place, but Sharon Bowles says questions remain for Draghi
Currency peg speculation can 'damage' balance sheets
Researchers find that questions over the credibility of a currency peg can have ‘damaging effects’ on bank balance sheets – consistent with monetary mismatch theory
ECB launches public consultation on mobile payments security recommendations
The governing council of the ECB asks market participants to comment on draft recommendations intended to make mobile payments more secure; interested parties have until January 31 to weigh in
BoE paper proposes new sovereign debt instruments
Economists from the UK and Canadian central banks says that sovereign cocos and GDP-linked bonds could help reduce the likelihood of liquidity and solvency crises
Departing Bernanke takes stock of Fed's unprecedented actions
Federal Reserve chairman discusses the ups and downs of the bank's asset purchases and attempt to guide market expectations; admits shortcomings but maintains policies are warranted
Robert Pringle's Viewpoint: Carney makes his mark at the Bank of England
Mark Carney has achieved much more than meets the eye in his first five months as governor of the Bank of England
OECD joins calls for eurozone QE
Organisation says ECB should consider ‘institutional changes' to allow it to buy corporate and sovereign bonds; suggests a timetable for US taper
IMF plucks chief economist from Central Bank of Ireland
Lars Frisell is leaving the Central Bank of Ireland after less than two years as its chief economist to take an unspecified post at the IMF; search begins for his successor
Polish economists say rate cuts damaged trust in ECB
Working paper says central bank interest rate cuts can damage public trust if they come at a time when households have ‘pessimistic expectations'
New Argentine governor unlikely to press for independence
Latest central bank chief expected to be subordinate to new economy minister, who believes the central bank has a major role to play in boosting economic growth and investment
Fed presidents push for macro-prudential rethink
Eric Rosengren joins chorus for simpler Basel III capital requirements, while Narayana Kocherlakota says regulators ought to be paying more attention to the measurement of too-big-to-fail effects
Caruana flags evidence of ‘manifold’ QE spillovers
BIS general manager presents evidence of varied spillovers from advanced economies' monetary policy; says policy-makers should do more to take them into account
Belgian paper posits method for robust optimal monetary policy
Working paper suggests way of supplementing optimal monetary policy with elements of a rules-based policy, punishing policy-makers for deviation but not preventing them from exercising discretion
Brazil’s Tombini says ‘we still do not fully understand’ macro-prudential tools
Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil warns that limited understanding of new policies presents ‘significant communication challenges’ for central banks
ECB cut prompts record FX intervention in Serbia
Central bank expresses ‘firm and prudent’ resolve to lean against capital flows resulting from ECB rate cut, but eschews a fixed exchange rate
Bank of Spain puts 'revolving door' under review
Javier Priego, the Bank of Spain’s general secretariat, is reassessing the rules governing central bank employees after they leave the institution