France
EU sees huge appetite for new triple-A asset
‘Sure’ bonds offer the ECB a less controversial option for asset purchases
Banks are crucial investment source for French firms – BdF paper
Researchers use BdF database to examine how French companies finance their investments
Facebook’s libra could disrupt collateral markets – IMF paper
Collateral used to back ‘stablecoins’ such as libra will be unavailable for reuse
Banque de France names CBDC partners
HSBC and Euroclear among firms chosen to take part in CBDC experiments that include improving cross-border payment infrastructure
Q&A: New York Fed’s Stiroh on climate change and Covid
Co-chair of Basel task force discusses possible supervisory approaches to climate risk
Coronavirus panic fuels a surge in cash demand
Covid-19 has led to banknote hoarding in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the eurozone, Russia and the US, fuelled by concerns about financial system stress, write Jonathan Ashworth and Charles Goodhart
French governor says ECB could directly fund loans
Villeroy de Galhau also calls for flexible emergency purchases but rules out yield curve control
Banque de France CBDC project uses blockchain to settle transactions
Central bank and French lender use blockchain platform to pay for €40m securities tokens
Lagarde welcomes Franco-German fund plan
Covid-19 response fund would be drawn from common EU budget
Debts, deficits, central banks and inflation
Forrest Capie and Geoffrey Wood ask what insights history can provide for central banks and governments managing abrupt, large increases in debt
People: Sandra Boss quits BoE roles to join BlackRock
Prudential committee member to join asset manager; Coeuré to head committee on Covid-19; State Bank of Vietnam appoints new director-general
Transfer season
Trade frictions with the US have caused a mass industrial transfer to China’s neighbours. Zhou Chengjun, IFF Academic Committee member and inspector of the Macro‑prudential Policy Bureau of the People’s Bank of China, says that shouldn’t stop China…
Crises enliven ‘totalitarian temptations’
The coronavirus pandemic will embolden governments and bodies such as the International Monetary Fund to grasp for more power, writes Steve Hanke
Banque de France predicts 6% economic contraction
Confinement laws have had a significant impact on activity
Banque de France seeks partner for wholesale CBDC project
Project will explore CBDC use cases in interbank payment space
ECB strongly criticised by French and Italian leaders
Lagarde’s words spark Italian anger while Macron says first ECB measures are not sufficient
Lagarde misstep overshadows ‘bold’ measures, analysts say
ECB president seemed to have hampered governments’ debt financing at a critical juncture
Ghana’s Addison on banking reform, innovation and the future of the eco
The Bank of Ghana governor speaks about the next steps in banking reform and why West Africa may need more time to start using a common currency
Lifetime achievement award: Otmar Issing
The architect of the euro’s monetary operating framework is still playing an important role in shaping the debate on monetary policy
Specialised lending initiative: BNP Paribas
A new ‘global’ setup helped secure US dollar-denominated assets from a Eurosystem central bank
Asset manager of the year: Amundi Asset Management
The French asset manager helped reserve managers meet ESG criteria while also boosting central bank assets under management
Treasury systems initiative: Calypso Technology
The tech company secured important breakthroughs including with its Maps treasury operations system
Andorra seeks to join International Monetary Fund
Tiny principality would bring IMF members to a total of 190
‘Green finance’ standards ineffective with smaller firms – BdF paper
Banks lend to smaller firms irrespective of their industries’ polluting records, researcher says