Switzerland
Stronger 2016 profit helps SNB rebuild reserves
Profitable year helps central bank repair its distribution reserve after losses in 2015, though profits appear to have slipped slightly in the fourth quarter
BIS paper identifies spillovers from targeted macro-prudential policies
Applying tools narrowly to a sector may nevertheless affect other sections of the financial system, authors find
QE may be partly to blame for global market correlations – SNB’s Maechler
Andréa Maechler says quantitative easing may cause some bond and equity prices to move simultaneously, but there are likely other factors at play as well
SNB paper models ‘sticky consumption’ in Switzerland
Assuming consumption habits are slow to change helps produce more robust results than other methods, author finds
People: Finland appoints two central bank board members; Atlanta Fed promotes senior managers
Former European Commissioner Rehn joins Finnish board; Atlanta Fed makes four promotions; Switzerland changes regional delegate
Singaporean and Swiss regulators move against merchant bank in 1MDB scandal
Senior management pressured staff to ignore anti-money-laundering regulations, reports say
ECB bulletin says institutional reform important for increasing resilience
Governing institutions in eurozone countries need reform, the ECB says; Finland’s institutions are among very best in OECD but those of Greece and Italy are close to worst
MAS announces ‘firm regulatory actions’ against multiple banks
Monetary Authority of Singapore finds “control failings” at DBS, Standard Chartered and UBS as part of probe into 1MDB funds; US Department of Justice seeking to recover $1bn in assets
SNB paper challenges idea that capital flows drive Swiss franc value
Empirical study finds no strong relationship between capital flows and the level of the franc, meshing with earlier literature showing asset prices can move sharply without major portfolio shifts
Swiss regulator forms resolution division
Regulator hopes to focus its efforts by uniting disparate teams in a new division, with current enforcement chief David Wyss becoming head of resolution
Regulators sanction Swiss bank over links to Malaysian government fund
Swiss regulators impose range of measures on bank for breaching anti-money-laundering regulations; MAS will withdraw bank’s licence to act as merchant bank in Singapore
Swiss franc still ‘significantly overvalued' – Jordan
Chairman of Swiss National Bank governing board says dual policy of negative rates and willingness to intervene in forex market are helping support the economy
SNB officials fend off latest ideas for reform
Thomas Jordan and Jean Studer warn of the damage that could be done by proposals including sovereign money, broader mandate and using reserves to create sovereign wealth fund
Swiss RTGS update goes live
SNB hails successful launch of completely overhauled real-time gross settlement system; design has been made more flexible, incorporating ISO 20022 messaging standard
Maechler says SNB plans to wield hefty balance sheet to encourage good governance
Swiss National Bank’s balance sheet has ballooned following currency interventions, leading to the question of what to do with the newly acquired assets
SNB made investment ‘innovations’ in 2015, report says
Central bank made first investments in new assets and began to wield voting rights to influence corporate governance in 2015, annual report shows
SNB’s Zurbrügg lays out considerations around interventions
Vice-chairman of governing board says there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ method for deciding when or how to intervene in the foreign exchange market
People: Ukraine names new first deputy governor; EBA announces host of appointments
Ukrainian deputy governor promoted to first deputy governor role; EBA makes appointments and reappointments to supervisory and management boards; and more
Sovereign money a ‘risky experiment’ says SNB’s Jordan
Thomas Jordan says sovereign money initiative looking to strip banks of ability to create money would ‘entail a radical overhaul of Switzerland’s financial system’; SNB holds rates
SNB’s Zurbrügg says negative rates painful but necessary
Vice-chair concerned by financial stability impact of negative interest rates, but says they make sense from a monetary policy perspective; talks with industry have been ‘very heated’
Economists expected lower inflation under Yellen than Bernanke, SNB paper finds
Sample of economists from ‘reputable academic and policy institutions’ on aggregate expected slightly lower inflation under Yellen compared to if Bernanke had stayed on
BIS paper studies impact of Swiss CCB on quality of credit
Working paper finds activation of countercyclical capital buffer affected the composition of mortgage lenders in two key ways
Case for higher inflation targets takes a knock at Jackson Hole
Thomas Jordan warns higher inflation ‘likely to be associated with considerable costs’ in longer run; academics see little benefit in the Federal Reserve targeting 4%
SNB launches interactive ‘data portal’
Central bank plans to release larger volumes and more detailed data in future, after launching an online database to help users find and manipulate the information