Europe
Euroclear and Clearstream granted time to agree joint road map
Both ICSDs intend to start a feasibility assessment for real-time settlement after the completion of Target2-Securities migration in June 2017
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
Esma official slams CFTC margin rules
US rules driven by competitive rather than prudential concerns, Fabrizio Planta charges
IMF urges Irish authorities to ‘enhance’ central bank independence
Report warns legal framework could ‘potentially introduce political considerations’ into governance arrangements; finds uncompetitive pay may be hurting ability to hire and retain supervisors
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
European supervisors want better data to support securitisation stress tests
‘Joint Committee’ proposes numerous disclosure requirements for securitisations, including giving investors enough information to stress test purchased products
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
European Commission looks to unshackle big data
In its quest to create a digital single market the commission plans to tackle restrictions on the free movement of data; champions transition to ‘open science’
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
Czech director: US dollar helps compensate for impact of oil prices on CEE countries
Luboš Komárek discusses the outlook for Central and Eastern European countries, including the favourable outlook for Germany, which is a "crucial trade partner" for many in the region
Romanian governor calls for adjustments before joining ERM II
Mugur Isărescu says aim of adopting euro in January 2019 is ‘highly ambitious’ on account of the reforms necessary to ensure sustainable convergence
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’
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
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
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
Hellwig and Wolf question efficacy of financial reforms
Martin Hellwig and Martin Wolf discuss flaws in financial reforms aimed at breaking the sovereign-bank linkage in book on country and political risk
Third TLTRO sees extra €98 billion borrowed from ECB
Latest allocation of cheap loans pushes total amount borrowed to €310 billion; measures aimed at repairing transmission mechanism and encouraging loans to real economy
Protestors clash with police as ECB opens new premises
Demonstrations organised to coincide with inauguration of new ECB building lead to outbreaks of violence; Draghi calls for economics and politics of integration to be ‘reconciled’
Riksbank: Economic activity in Sweden ‘at a standstill'
Central bank survey shows companies still being hampered by the slow recovery in Europe, leading them to try cutting costs to increase margins
ECB publishes new economic bulletin
The first in the new series, introduced to ‘mirror’ new governing council meeting cycle, features an assessment of the Chinese economic outlook
Researchers find evidence of ‘European unemployment cycle’
Working paper published by The Netherlands Bank separates the different origins of unemployment in Europe, finding the continent- and country-level factors most influential
IMF report says ‘time has never been more right' to reform securitisation markets
Staff report emphasises need to make securitisation practices more robust while spurring demand; calls for standardised classifications of underlying risk characteristics