Regulation
Most G7 favour IMF gold sales idea - report
A majority of Group of Seven members favour selling some of the International Monetary Fund's gold reserves to finance debt relief, a German newspaper on Friday 25 February reported G7 sources as saying.
Qatar set to host 2nd Islamic financial summit
The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is to hold its second summit in Doha, Qatar on 24-25 May 2005, with the Central Bank of Qatar as the host, the summit secretariat said.
HKMA's Yam on Basel II: Back to the future
In the speech 'Basel II: Back to the future' given on 4 February, Joseph Yam of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said the new framework of capital adequacy standards for banks, issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, is an important step…
Le Pan on the implementation of Basel II
In a speech on 'Implementation of Basel II' given on 1 February (published 11 February) Nicholas Le Pan of the Basel Committee said that as we approach each issue of implementing Basel II - when, how and so on - it is important to keep in mind not only…
UAE central bank, Isle of Man sign cooperation MOU
The UAE central bank signed a memorandum of understanding with the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission (IOMFSC) on Monday 21 February.
PBOC's Wu: China needs to ease lending controls
China needs to move towards easing strict controls over private lending, legalizing the business in order to mitigate lending risk for banks, the China Business News reported, citing a senior official from the People's Bank of China.
Italy's Fazio says bank sector not protectionist
Bank of Italy governor Antonio Fazio has told the European Commission that the Italian banking sector is not protectionist, the Financial Times reported.
Launch of Malaysia's Financial Mediation Bureau
In a speech given on 20 January Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz of the Central Bank of Malaysia said the scope of the Financial Mediation Bureau has been expanded to cover Islamic banks and development financial institutions, as well as selected payment system…
Zhou on corporate governance & capital markets
In a speech 'Improve corporate governance and develop capital market' given on In the speech 'Improve corporate governance and develop capital market' given 1 December (published 28 Jan), Zhou Xiaochuan of the People's Bank of China said the development…
Iran, Tajikistan discuss banking cooperation
Representatives from the central banks of Iran and Tajikistan on Friday 11 February discussed possible areas where they could increase banking cooperation.
Letters reveal 'low point' for Sir Eddie
Letters released this week by the UK Treasury showed that Gordon Brown's decision to remove responsibility for banking supervision from the Bank of England almost prompted Sir Edward George, the Bank's governor to resign.
FATF welcomes China as an observer
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), meeting in Paris from 9 to 11 February 2005, has welcomed for the first time the People's Republic of China to attend its Plenary meeting as an observer.
Philippines removed from money laundering list
The Philippines has been removed from a list of money laundering havens held by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF,) central bank governor Rafael Buenaventura said on Friday 11 February.
Spain's Caruana on the implementation of Basel II
In a speech given on 18 January to the European Parliament Jaime Caruana of the Bank of Spain outlines the reasons why Basel II matters so much and how it will support the continued safety and soundness of the banking system.
Capitalising central banks: A net worth approach
This IMF Working Paper provides a simple, quantitative, net worth-based, approach to assessing the need for central bank capital. It derives a concept of "core capital" as the minimum capital needed by a central bank to ensure the credibility of its…
PBOC's Xiaochuan on legal & financial system
In the speech 'Improve legal system and financial ecology' given on 2 December (published 28 Jan) Zhou Xiaochuan of the People's Bank of China told the "Forum of 50 Chinese Economists" that from the perspective of the central bank, he wishes them to work…
Yemen holds course on money laundering
The Central Bank of Yemen held a training course on 30 January, on combating money laundering, using electronic banking processes, and investment funds.
Basel Committee publish implementation update
The Basel Committee published its newsletter No. 4 on Tuesday 1 February. The purpose of this update is to inform the banking industry, the supervisory community and other interested parties about the work that is under way within the Basel Committee's…
Update on initiatives to combat money laundering
The Joint Forum published an update to "Initiatives by the BCBS, IAIS and IOSCO to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism" on Tuesday 1 February. Compiled from contributions by each of the three Secretariats, it focuses on recent guidance…
Banking structures in the new EU Member States
The European Central Bank published a report on Banking structures in the new EU Member States on Tuesday 1 January. The publication has been prepared by the Banking Supervision Committee of the European System of Central Banks.
POBC sees gradual move to market interest rates
The People's Bank of China said on Tuesday 1 February thatit will proceed with establishing a market-oriented interest rate regime in a series of gradual moves timed to ensure the viability of the commercial banks.
Statement on implementation of Basel II framework
The federal banking and thrift agencies released an interagency statement on implementation of the Basel II framework and the qualification process for the framework's "advanced approaches" on Thursday 27 January.
UK Discussion paper:supervising financial services
This joint paper by HM Treasury, the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England says that there is no single or simple way to achieve supervisory convergence and sketches out five related challenges that need to be addressed to make progress on…
Indonesia's cb issues new banking regulations
Bank Indonesia is to issue eight new banking regulations on Tuesday 25 January, including relaxation of the legal lending limit and a guideline on the granting of credits to disaster-affected customers, central bank's governor Burhanuddin Abdullah said.