Europe
Flexible exchange rate better for welfare
Bundesbank investigates the welfare ranking of exchange rate regimes
S&P downgrades Latvia, Estonia
Latvia’s and Estonia’s long-term sovereign ratings downgraded, Lithuanian rating’s outlook put on negative watch
Bankers warn against financial protectionism
IIF sees risk as a result of national governments’ efforts to restore confidence
EU needs harmonised definition for regulatory capital
Kern Alexander from Cambridge University’s Judge Business School calls for increased supervisory consolidation across the European Union
Czechs unconvinced by EC regulatory revamp
Czech National Bank strongly criticises the European Commission’s proposal for financial supervision
Central counterparties for CDS compared
Ad hoc industry group comprising both buy-side and sell-side publishes report on credit-default-swap central counterparties
Counterparty risk drives foreign-exchange swap market
Bank for International Settlements investigates dislocations in the foreign-exchange swap market between the dollar and three major European currencies
Brussels bids to stabilise derivatives market
European Commission outlines proposals for derivatives-market revamp
EU central bankers to pick stability board head
The head of the European Central Bank (ECB) will no longer automatically become the head of the proposed European Systemic Risk Board following objections from the United Kingdom, and several central and eastern European countries.
Iceland shows need for pan-EU supervisory approach
The Icelandic experience in the current crisis shows that the European Union's (EU) arrangements for cross-border banking supervision and deposit insurance need urgent strengthening, a new paper from Robert Wade, a professor of political economy at the…
Europe's banking fragility needs urgent attention
Europe's banks are so fragile that measures must be implemented within the next 12 months, a paper by Adam Posen and Nicolas Veron, two economists at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, posits.
Trade spillovers hit Baltics most
Trade channels dominate the transmission of cross-border spillovers to the Baltic States, a new paper from the International Monetary Fund reveals.
Efficient payment systems boost intermediation
Efficient payment systems increase financial intermediation and the availability of credit, new research from the Bank of England posits.
Europe's ACHs bemoan Sepa's slow start
Europe's leading automated clearing houses (ACHs), which process and route payments, hit out at the lack of progress on the Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) on Wednesday and called for an end date for national standards to hasten its implementation.
Labour models with best fit
Labour models with wage stickiness and right-to-manage bargaining or with firm-specific labour deliver the best fit, a new paper from the European Central Bank posits.
EU to implement De Larosiere group's proposal
The European Commission has proposed a raft of ambitious reforms to the region's supervisory framework, building on guidelines set out in the recent De Larosiere report.
Basel Committee's Wellink wants burden shared
Nout Wellink, the president of the Netherlands Bank and the chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, has said that he is in favour of proposals for supranational supervision in Europe but warned that the issue of burden-sharing was crucial.
BIS stats highlight extent of capital flight
Data posted from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on Wednesday provided fresh evidence for the doom-mongers on central and eastern Europe, and went some way to explaining recent movements in exchange rates.
De Grauwe labels Maastricht rules political tools
The Maastricht criteria for euro adoption are political instruments, not economically-vital measures, a respected economist has said.
Data on home-host banking activity inadequate
Data on international banking activity remain largely inadequate for surveillance and policymaking purposes, new research from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) posits.
ECB's Papademos calls for macroprudential schema
The establishment of a framework for macroprudential supervision is urgently needed, said Lucas Papademos, the vice president of the European Central Bank.
European banks to drop interchange fees by 2012
The European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) have told European banks to get rid of interchange fees on direct debit transactions by 31 October 2012 under EU antitrust rules.
Inflation in new EU10 driven by common factors
A major part of inflation in the ten new European Union (EU) member countries is driven by common factors, a new paper from the International Monetary Funds reveals.