Opinion
The heavy hand of the SEC-Ed Waitzer
The SEC has concluded its campaign to stop auditors undertaking consultingwork for clients. Despite the cease-fire, the "rancorous, wasteful and damaging"fight has alienated the profession and undermined self-regulation, for littlediscernible benefit,…
Interview: Walter Shipley
Walter Shipley, recently retired chairman of Chase Manhattan/J.P Morgan, has justchaired a working group on public disclosure aimed at investigating howdisclosure by large US banks and securities firms could be improved. He spoketo Central Banking's…
Gemany's Hans Eichel's shock to the system-article
The decision of Hans Eichel, the German finance minister, to establish a unifiedfinancial services regulator came as a surprise to many, and a bitter shock to theBundesbank, which had lobbied to take over bank supervision itself. KlausEngelen reports.
Emoney and central banking- International Finance
The academic journal International Finance edited by Benn Steil has a special feature about whether information technology and electronic money will mean the end of central banking. Authors include Charles Goodhart and Michael Woodford. Also in the issue…
Financial Markets on the Mainland-HKMA Joseph Yam
Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, in his weekly viewpoint column published on the HKMA website, says that financial markets in emerging markets need careful sequencing in reforms. Recent developments suggest that the…
Reforming the International Fin System-IMF Kohler
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund Horst Hoehler has written an article titled "Reforming the International Financial System" published in The Berne Union 2001 Yearbook, February 2001.
Grey Areas in Central Banking- HKMA's Joseph Yam
How far should the HKMA involve itself in two grey areas that are receiving an increasing amount of public attention: consumer protection in the banking industry, and the development of retail payment systems? Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong…
Interview: Charles Goodhart
In a wide-ranging interview, Professor Charles Goodhart gives his views on the main challenges facing central banks today: output gap forecasting and productivity shifts, and the role of asset prices and the exchange rate in monetary policy. He also…
'Suing the BIS'- by William Hall
William Hall of the Financial Times reports on the difficulties the Bank for International Settlements has got into as it struggles to counter the accusation that the price it has offered to buy back its shares from the private sector is "absurdly low".
Interview: Women in central banks
Is central banking still a male preserve? Or do women have more opportunities to get to the top in central banking than in other professions? We look at the growing role of women in central banking - and the problems they face - through the experiences…
Interview: BoE's MPC member Sushil Wadhwani
Sushil Wadhwani, an "external" member of the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England, explains why he is a "productivity optimist". Over the last decade, forecasters have systematically underestimated GDP growth in the UK and simultaneously…
Interview: ECB's Otmar Issing
The chief economist and executive board member of the EuropeanCentral Bank gives an inside view on the ECB's thinking: Why hasthe ECB recently started publishing macroeconomic projectionsrather than forecasts, and what do these projections mean…
Graham Bishop on Lamfalussy Wise Men Final Report
The Federal Trust set up a Working Party of senior financial practitionersto look at the "Initial Report" of the Committee of Wise Men (colloquiallyknown as the Lamfalussy Report) on the Regulation of European SecuritiesMarkets. Graham Bishop, owner of…
Interview: Jordan's cbank governor Umayy Toukan
The new governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, Umayy Toukan, has given his first exclusive interview since taking up the post earlier in 2001. He was interview by Reuters journalist, Suleiman al-Khalidi, in Amman on Feb 13. In the interview the governor…
Mains points of CBBH strategic plan for 2001
The Central Bank of Bosnia & Herzegovina publish a monthly newsletter about activities and news at the central bank. Below is one of the articles which summarises the mains points of CBBH strategic plan for 2001.
Slowdown in the US Economy- HKMA's Joseph Yam
The suddenness of the recent slowdown in the US economy has taken many by surprise. But policymakers have plenty of scope for turning this inevitable adjustment into a more sustainable growth path. By Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary…
'Greenspan stirs a tempest' - John Berry
"Mr Greenspan sauntered up to the Hill and wasn't bashful about putting the Fed smack in the middle of the most controversial issue of the day", complained Senator Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota. Whatever the wisdom of Greenspan's support for big…
Interview with Viktor Gerashchenko
We report in full an interview with Russian central bank chairman Viktor Gerashchenko that appeared in the Russia paper, 'AIF weekly', following the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Differing views -Swedish participation in the euro
Although Sweden, unlike the United Kingdom and Denmark, does not have an opt-out authorising it to remain outside the Euro zone even if it were to meet all the convergence criteria, the country's Minister for External Trade, Leif Pagrotsky, has insisted…
No radical policy changes at Bank of Canada
The Financial Post's Madelaine Drohan says in this article that anyone who thinks Canada's monetary policy is going to change dramatically with David Dodge at the Bank of Canada is dreaming in technicolour. It just isn't going to happen. Printed in the…
Jarai named next MNB head - Varga to replace him
Finance minister Zsigmond Jarai was nominated to succeed Gyorgy Suranyi as president of the National Bank of Hungary last week, ending months of speculation. The Budapest Business Journal reports.
Dariusz Rosati defends Poland's monetary policy
Dariusz Rosati, former finance minister and member of the central bank's monetary policy council (RPP), responded in a recent issue of the current affairs weekly Polityka to a critical article by Professor Andrzej Sopocko. Edited excerpts follow.