Banking
Fed is the main winner from Dodd-Frank bill: Meyer
Former Federal Reserve governor Laurence Meyer says the central bank has gained powers it wanted and shed responsibilities it did not, despite initial anti-Fed sentiment among lawmakers
Malaysia's Zeti launches new Islamic finance task force
Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz announces plans for new financial stability task force
Brussels will drain London banking sector: top bankers
HSBC chair Stephen Green warns that European legislation will eradicate London’s competitive edge as a financial centre; says Basel III will curb trade finance
Europe hikes capital rules, slashes banker bonuses
Legislation adopted by European Parliament requires banks hold up to four times more capital to protect against trading risk; half of bankers’ bonuses to be paid in contingent capital
Microfinance not a silver bullet for Africa: Nigeria, Ghana governors
Nigerian governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Ghanaian chief Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur say credit issuance is constrained by factors other than just access; requires deeper change
Protests at Icelandic central bank on car loan rules
Several hundred demonstrators congregate around central bank in peaceful protest against delinking of car loans from foreign currency exchange rates; rule change could see up to 10% of Icelanders hit with higher repayments
EXCLUSIVE: Nigeria to cut out universal banking
Nigerian governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi says new guidelines similar to Volcker rule will prohibit lenders’ engagement in non-banking activities; takeover deals for bailed out banks near completion
EXCLUSIVE: Ghana’s Amissah-Arthur defends inflation targeting
Bank of Ghana governor Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur says framework is broader than its critics argue; points to problems in Ghanaian banking sector
Volcker unhappy with watered down rule: reports
Head of presidential economic advisory board Paul Volcker said to be dissatisfied with cap, rather than ban, on banks’ hedge fund investments; lawmakers forced to scrap $19 billion bank levy
Volcker rule faces dilution as lawmakers haggle: reports
Lawmakers in US Congress thought to be weakening Volcker rule, turning outright bans on prop trading and hedge fund investment into caps; legislation being pushed through to make 4 July deadline
FSA’s Sants calls on regulators to judge banks' culture
UK Financial Services Authority chief Hector Sants says supervisors can no longer back away from judging whether culture in banks complies with accepted standards
Top economists call for central banks to oversee financial stability
Leading thinkers including former Federal Reserve Board governor Frederic Mishkin say central banks should watch financial stability; set of crisis prevention proposals include limits on bankers’ pay
Basel III will cost 9m G3 jobs by 2015, say banks
Institute for International Finance report estimates will lead to euro area growth being 4.3% lower in five years’ time
Ireland’s Honohan to criticise central bank’s role in crisis: reports
Irish media say report authored by central bank chief Patrick Honohan will charge his own institution and the financial regulator with having failed in the lead up to the country’s banking crisis
G20 ditches controversial global bank tax
Finance ministers splinter on international banking levy, complicating individual countries’ promises to adopt a tax; group unites in call for Basel III to be completed by year-end
Banks starting to think local after crisis, BIS finds
Banks around the world are slowly shifting to rely on local retail funding, says the Bank for International Settlements
Brussels backs bank tax to fund new resolution network
European Commission calls for a network of resolution funds to bear cost of winding down firms; cost covered through levy on lenders
US, Chinese regulators sign cross-border resolution deal
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and China Banking Regulatory Commission to cooperate and write shared contingency plans for cross-border failures; move follows United Commercial Bank failure
Volcker rule fails to make approved Dodd bill
Key amendment omitted; Fed gains powers but will face audit in sweeping regulatory reform
Bank of Italy defends change on capital accounting
Allowing banks to ignore falling bond prices for capital purposes is a legitimate move, says regulator
Berlin hastily bans naked CDS, short-selling
Supervisor places temporary ban on naked credit default swaps, eurozone bond short sales, citing market volatility; analysts say uncoordinated move is further sign of fragmentation within eurozone
Volcker dismisses prop trading criticism
Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker sweeps aside concerns that banks might not be able to differentiate between trading on their own books and on clients' behalf
UK coalition gives Bank lead regulatory role
Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties agree to put Bank of England at the centre of financial regulation on Wednesday, stop short of abolishing FSA
Agency didn't follow its models on CDO ratings
A leading rating agency gave triple A ratings to CDO tranches when their own models implied downgrades