European Central Bank (ECB)
ECB looks for ‘quick wins’ to put momentum behind CMU
Eurosystem report on capital markets union emphasises need for the project to deliver early victories if it is to gather enough momentum to be a success
ECB research finds Greenspan's Fed responded aggressively to uncertainty
Working paper finds the Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan took stronger action as economic uncertainty rose. In fact, risk seems to have been more significant than ‘conventional’ variables
Noyer says ECB ‘ready to go further’
Banque de France governor says monetary policy is doing its job and requires time to take effect, but more easing is available if necessary
Euro tumbles as ECB accelerates asset purchases
Euro slides against the dollar as market reacts to ECB’s plan to ‘moderately front-load’ its asset purchases; Cœuré concerned by ‘rapidity’ of price reversal in sovereign bonds
ECB’s Cœuré says higher inflation target not solution to zero lower bound
Benoît Cœuré says raising the inflation target or abolishing the currency is not the right way to make monetary policy more effective; structural reforms a better use of political capital
ECB’s Mersch warns against blindly pinning hopes on macro-prudential policy
Yves Mersch says there is much to learn about how tools work; sees potential for ‘conflicts of competence’ between micro- and macro-prudential authorities
BoE outlines capital markets union proposals
Central bank sets out policy recommendations designed to deliver better functioning capital markets in Europe; argues institutional change, such as greater centralisation, is not necessary
Mario Draghi sees large toolkit as ‘standard’ in 2020
ECB president tells Olivier Blanchard the central bank will retain a broad set of monetary instruments in five years’ time; insists QE will not be tapered early
Czech vice-governor questions case for joining banking union
Mojmír Hampl considers the pros and cons of the Czech Republic joining the SSM; government adopts a ‘wait-and-see approach’ and will review the issue every 12 months
Cœuré and Dudley question case for policy co-ordination
ECB board member says central banks can ‘free themselves’ from influence of global financial cycle; NY Fed president says Fed should focus on promoting growth and stability in US
Alexandre Lamfalussy: 1929–2015
Those who knew him pay tribute to the former president of the European Monetary Institute and general manager of the Bank for International Settlements
Constâncio suggests new shadow bank powers for Esma
ECB vice-president again underlines need for supervisors to take on new tools and responsibilities for tackling shadow banks, but suggests at least some may be wielded by other bodies
Bundesbank’s Dombret wants more ‘proportional’ supervisory teams
Executive board member says the joint supervisory teams in Europe should be proportionate to the size and significance of the banks they supervise
Longer-term inflation expectations pick up in eurozone
In its latest economic bulletin the European Central Bank shows how some measures of expectations, including the five-year inflation-linked swap rate five years ahead, are recovering
Centralising supervision may trigger more integration, ECB paper finds
Working paper suggests centralising supervision could create the need for even more centralisation; calls for ‘perimeter of banks’ supervised by central authority to be flexible
Nouy sees banking union driving deeper integration
ECB report finds financial integration back to levels achieved before sovereign debt crisis; Danièle Nouy expects banking union to help create ‘deeper integration of a higher quality’
Constâncio tells national supervisors to ‘recognise and reciprocate’ regulatory measures
ECB vice-president suggests ‘automatic and mandatory reciprocity’ would benefit a range of macro-prudential measures in the eurozone; only one case of voluntary action to date
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