International
European central banks remain leaders for gold
Average gold holdings on the continent stand at 10.6 million ounces
BIS paper delves into new fintech database
Authors investigate rise of “big tech credit” in many economies
Spread gap between green and grey bonds closing – BIS specialist
Measuring and incorporating sustainability still a challenge, says Omar Zulaica
Advanced economy central banks use more custodians
Reserve managers in advanced economies work on average with 5.6 custodians
One third of reserves staff work in front-office roles
Average reserve management team size is less than 30 employees
Moral mandates better suited to ESG adoption than financial goals – panel
Lack of liquid green bond markets limits a wider adoption of ESG investment strategies
IMF staffers warn of looming sovereign debt crises
Governments and markets should agree to extend bond maturities, IMF says
Covid-19 will not result in CBDC issuance, say central bankers
Policy-makers think changes in payment behaviour will be temporary and CBDC research will take time
Diversification makes gold shine brighter – panellists
Negative sovereign yields boost gold’s attractiveness among reserve managers
Innovation hubs should help central banks update regulation – panellists
Regulation should be transparent enough for fintechs to understand what requirements must be met
Advanced economies take the lead in securities lending
Nearly 60% of reserve managers lend out assets that are in high demand
Boards are the main authority for benchmark approvals
Risk management teams tend to lead effort to propose new benchmarks
BIS research maps out links between banks and non-banks
First attempt at global mapping reveals significant scale of interconnections
Reserve managers weigh options to escape low yields
Longer-duration and emerging-market bonds may offer the way forward to portfolio managers
Mauritius governor defends central bank’s funding of government
“Unprecedented times” require “unprecedented set of measures” including $1.5bn funding of government, says Harvesh Seegolam
Lower-income countries generate highest reserves growth
Most reserves portfolios appear to have weathered the Covid-19 crisis well
BIS warns of gap between market valuations and reality
Corporate credit spreads have tightened, despite what the BIS sees as a looming solvency crisis
MasterCard launches new CBDC testing environment
New platform will allow central banks to test CBDC issuance and distribution
Central banks are using biased estimates of pass-through – BIS paper
Standard measures exchange rate pass-through fail to account for market power, researcher argues
Euro failing to challenge US dollar in global reserves – CBI Benchmarks data
Among non-European central banks euro sovereign debt accounts for just 4.1% of reserves; negative rates act as a major barrier, say reserve managers
Central Banking’s strategic changes for a new era
New institute, benchmarks, virtual training and online event weeks launched
Asia tops rankings for reserves coverage ratios
Asia leads across three main metrics, but the region may be moderating its holdings
Emerging markets act as standard bearers for tranching
Nearly two-thirds of reserve managers tranche; largest allocations made to investment tranche
BIS paper explores changing inflation risk factors
Authors highlight “significant non-linearities” among a range of risk factors