European Central Bank (ECB)
Public to vote on design of €2 commemorative coin
Eurozone residents invited by European Commission to pick one of five designs for a coin marking the 30th anniversary of the EU flag; partly a tool for raising awareness of economic governance
Greece raids local authorities for cash as repayments loom
Local authorities instructed to transfer cash balances to treasury accounts at the Bank of Greece; Constâncio says default would not ‘automatically’ push country out of the eurozone
Praet says onus on governments to ensure permanent recovery
Accommodative monetary policy is ’playing a key role’ in helping return inflation to target, argues Peter Praet, member of the ECB executive board
Constâncio fleshes out wider macro-prudential vision
Vice-president at the European Central Bank wants toolkit to extend to a wider range of financial entities, including asset managers, as risks emerge elsewhere in the system
Spanish paper finds LTROs had ‘moderate’ effect
Working paper examines the impact of two ‘very long-term refinancing operations’ conducted in 2011 and 2012, finding evidence of a bank lending channel
ECB adviser admits more clarity needed over stress tests
Banks should be given a clearer picture of why their stress test numbers don’t pass muster with the ECB, says Christoph Siebenbrunner of the Austrian National Bank
Protester shocks Draghi at ECB press conference
President’s opening remarks disrupted by protester rushing the stage; Draghi regains composure to deliver upbeat message on impact of QE in eurozone
SMEs benefit from easier European credit standards
Latest ECB bank-lending survey shows credit standards continuing to ease for enterprises in Europe during the first few months of this year; demand for loans widely expected to increase further
Cœuré cautious over loss-absorbing capacities of CCPs
ECB executive board member say loss-absorbing capacities may prove sufficient if they are applied consistently, and stresses the need for careful approach if they are to be expanded
‘Abolish currency to eliminate lower bound’ argues Buiter
Former BoE MPC member and Citigroup chief economist says scrapping currency is one way to push interest rates deep into negative territory – although there may be more practical solutions
ECB research assesses fiscal impact of bailouts
ECB paper analyses the impact on a government’s fiscal position of assistance measures; finds majority of the financial needs (4.9% of 5.1% of GDP) were recorded is first three crisis years
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
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
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
Former ECB banknotes director describes 'arduous path' to Europa launch
Antti Heinonen details the challenges and occasional mishaps in delivering a ‘quantum leap’ in eurozone banknote designs, with the latest new note to be issued later this year
Nouy sets out SSM priorities for 2015
Supervisory board chair Danièle Nouy reveals focus on profitability drivers of largest banks in eurozone, as well as their risk appetite and governance; first annual report published
BoE and ECB strike deal on CCP cooperation
Central banks agree to information exchange and provision of cross-border liquidity in a crisis as the UK government drops two outstanding cases against the ECB
Greek governor paints bleak picture of life without the euro
Yannis Stournaras insists leaving the eurozone is ‘not an option’ for Greece, as it would impose ‘huge costs’ on the financial system and real economy alike
Visual interfaces ‘hold promise’ for policy-makers
Working paper published by ECB finds ‘analytical visualisations and interactive interfaces’ can help with the communication of risks; presents macro-prudential data cube
Noyer says ECB can cope with solvency risks
Banque de France governor flags risks from balance sheet expansion, but says the ECB is ‘fully protected’ against solvency risks
ECB closely watching impact of QE on financial stability
Mario Draghi tells Econ committee the central bank is aware of the potential for QE to inflate asset prices and invite excessive risk taking, but risks are ‘contained’ at present
ECB forecasts ‘gradual’ increase in US inflation
Economic bulletin published by ECB agrees with FOMC that inflation will increase gradually as labour market conditions improve and impact of low oil prices and high dollar fades
ECB paper emphasises importance of time horizons for early-warning models
Working paper finds the selection of a particular time horizon can have ‘considerable implications’ for the performance of economic variables in predicting bank crises