Europe
Finland governor donates month’s pay to help refugees
Erkki Liikanen will donate €10,000 to the Red Cross to help refugees; Mario Draghi says any European should be ‘horrified by the tragic loss of life happening on our doorstep’
ECB spruces up premises with tree sculpture
Italian artist creates 17.5 metre sculpture of a tree using bronze and granite to be displayed at the main entrance of the European Central Bank’s headquarters
Finnish deputy: international competition will change mortgage lending
Bank of Finland deputy argues conditions for international competition in mortgage lending are ‘improving’ and there is the potential for a ‘substantial impact’ in the eurozone
Weidmann wary of monetary policy ‘being further co-opted’
Bundesbank president makes case for changes to institutional framework underpinning the monetary union, calling for discussion of ‘Maastricht plus’ and political union
Eurozone inflation ‘may well have’ reached turning point
ECB governing council members suspect underlying inflation reached a turning point earlier this year, but feel it is too soon to say for certain, accounts from July meeting show
Central Banking poll respondents back 'Grexit'
In a narrow majority 87 out of 155 readers say Greece should adopt a new national currency; asked about a variety of monetary systems, most backed a free-floating regime
Fresh delay will push EU-US CCP row into September
Decision had been expected in July; dealers sceptical new timeline will hold
ECB article examines lack of real convergence in eurozone
Article in latest bulletin points to three factors behind the lack of sustainable real convergence among the countries in eurozone since the creation of the monetary union
Cypriot governor warns of challenge posed by NPLs
Chrystalla Georghadji says the high level of non-performing loans is ‘perhaps the greatest challenge’ facing the banking sector, adding the central bank is ready to focus on dealing with them
IMF flags potential scarcity of sovereign bonds in Europe
‘Selected issues paper’ warns a shrinking pool of securities could ‘pose challenges’ to the implementation of the ECB’s quantitative easing programme
Varoufakis reveals covert plan for parallel Greek currency
Secret plan to create payment system using accounts attached to Greek tax numbers was designed to be activated if the country came close to exiting the euro
Bundesbank paper identifies two ‘clusters’ of credit cycles
Researchers find there is no common credit cycle among European and US economies, rather two distinct groups emerge with cycles converging within
Greek paper shows ‘vicious circle’ between political corruption and tax evasion
Working paper finds ‘strategic complementarities’ between citizens and politicians in model, noting ‘strong moral values’ can help boost policies aimed at deterring tax evasion
IMF calls for Greek debt relief ‘far beyond’ EU plans
Memo warns public debt is ‘highly unsustainable’ and European leaders will need to provide much greater debt relief than they have discussed up to this point
Greek bank holiday sparks swaps contract chaos
Extended bank closure leaves derivatives payments by end-users in limbo
Dutch bulletin: T2S can only succeed if ‘many’ CSDs sign up
The Netherlands Bank's latest bulletin highlights the importance of more CSDs in Europe signing up to the Target2-Securities platform since the initial migration in June
ECB survey shows further recovery in bank credit in Q2
European Central Bank publishes latest bank lending survey, which reveals an increase in the share of banks reporting greater demand for loans to enterprises in the eurozone
Armenian annual report highlights growing European ties
Central Bank of Armenia strikes loan agreement worth €50 million with European Investment Bank and will use the money to fund SME projects
ECB rolls out new website
Central bank revamps website with new design that puts greater emphasis on images, graphs and statistics; builds on bank supervision site launched in November
Irish SME report shows growth in new lending
Report published by Central Bank of Ireland shows annualised gross new lending at highest level since 2011, with the largest share channelled to the agricultural sector
EBA calls for more risk-sensitive securitisation regulation
Opinion submitted to European Commission recommends end to ‘one-size-fits-all’ capital treatment of securitisations, with two-stage process to determine which should be subject to lighter touch
Minneapolis Fed research separates Greece and Puerto Rico debt crises
Staff report notes the debt crisis has spilled over to the private sector in Greece but not in Puerto Rico, given the latter’s inability to interfere with private external debt contracts
European leaders to meet as Greeks scramble to produce new proposals
Heads of state and finance ministers to meet on July 7, with Greek government expected to present new proposals; chief negotiator takes over as finance minister