Europe
Bundesbank to begin investing in renminbi
Executive board member says the bank is considering investing in other foreign currencies
Home truths on Europe’s NPLs
Europe needs to overcome fears of a hypothetical crisis, and impose more intrusive supervision and greater provisioning on its banks
Policymakers should increase credit to ‘single-bank firms’ – paper
Researchers examine “unique natural experiment” of 2012 change to ECB’s QE policies
NBIM eyes private equity investment in potential shake-up
Letter to finance ministry says the fund’s structure and goals make unlisted equities a wise investment, but acknowledges a 4% cap would be sensible
ECB policymakers see a robust economic recovery – minutes
Rate setters satisfied with the impact of the QE extension decided in October
Fall in hours worked can flatten Phillips curve, Italian paper says
Changes to “intensive margin of labour utilisation” may make inflation less responsive to employment
Bank of Lithuania set to board the blockchain
Central bank in the process of creating blockchain-specific sandbox that will grant firms access to its own platform, LBChain; hoping to launch in 2019
Cyclical price analysis needs major improvements – ECB paper
Researchers say DSGE models’ handling of housing prices is subject to errors
People: Peru’s Velarde bags BIS job; Belsham gets second term on BoE committee
People: Peruvian governor succeeds Poloz as Council for the America’s chair; David Belsham gets second term at Prudential Regulation Committee; and more
ECB dumps Steinhoff stock
Losses on holding in scandal-hit retailer may have been approximately €50 million
Eurozone countries’ manufacturing sectors are diverging, Italian paper finds
Manufacturing profits rise relative to non-tradables in Germany and Spain, but fall in France and Italy
ECB corporate bond purchases fall to lowest level in December
CSPP is expected to rebound in January, while the ECB reduces QE to €30 billion a month
Platforms win small on Mifid day one
Some dealers stopped quoting bilaterally on smaller bond trades
Public debt in EU countries harms growth, ECB paper argues
Researchers find public debt crowds out investment but private debt is used efficiently
Complex instruments still pose systemic risks – paper
Discretion granted by financial reporting standards increases opacity and complexity, say authors
People: Cleviston Haynes handed full governorship
Central Bank of Barbados acting governor gets full term; delayed appointments made to Israel’s Supervisory Council; ESM confirms Mário Centeno as chair
BIS issues new ‘streamlined’ stress test principles
Banks have made significant advances in stress testing since financial crisis, Basel Committee says; issues new ‘guidelines’ that focus on stress test evolution
Danish central bank dismisses central bank digital currency
Digital instrument would not make current payment system more efficient, says report, adding introducing such a currency would pit the central bank against commercial institutions
SNB buys banknote company ‘to ensure its survival’
Company that provides substrate for Swiss banknotes came into liquidity difficulties following the cancellation of a tender from an international client
BoE sets out post-Brexit supervision plans
Central bank says UK will aim to stay open as banks, insurers and CCPs are brought under the PRA’s oversight; changes imply heavy workload for the supervisor
Riksbank moves towards normalisation; interest rate on hold
Executive board votes to keep the interest rate at –0.5%; says it will end QE programme in December 2017
One big bank falls short of ECB’s capital requirements
One bank falls short and a second comes close, although five banks failed the test in 2016
Paper looks at EU attempt to increase capital supply to SMEs
Measure introduced in CRR has benefited medium but not small businesses, researchers say
EBA publishes NPL standards in bid to foster market
Reporting templates ask for granular data in bid to establish EU dataset