Regulation
African bank supervisors agree to up co-ordination
In efforts to harmonise supervisory practices, the Accra Mail reports, delegates from member countries at the Ninth Annual Meeting of Banking Supervisors from West and Central Africa agreed to forward their prudential regulations, current banking laws…
G10 ministers and CB governors meet in Dubai
Ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Ten met in Dubai and despite an improvement in the overall economic outlook, drew attention to the "significant internal and external imbalances that persist, which could weigh on the sustainability of…
CNB's Zdenik Tma on AML and int'l standards
Governor of the Czech National Bank, Zdenik Tma, gave a speech on "Challenges of free capital movement and the role of international standards" in which he focuses on the prevention of money laundering.
Jordan unblocks Hamas funds
Jordan's Central Bank has retracted a decision to freeze accounts belonging to leaders of Hamas, the radical Palestinian organisation.
CB Jordan under fire over Hamas freeze
Deputies in the Jordanian Parliment have called for the sacking of CBJ Governor Umayyah Tuqan after the central bank's decision to freeze funds belonging to Hamas, according to the Jordan Times.
Afghanistan Central Bank licenses foreign banks
The central bank of Afghanistan, 'DaAfghanistan bank, on Thursday 18 September issued three commercial banking licences to three foreign banks and allowed them to operate in the war-ravaged country, according to Chinaview.
IMF set to criticise RBNZ
The IMF is expected to criticise the Reserve Bank of New Zealand when it visits New Zealand in November, according to Reuters The IMF is expected to be critical because the RBNZ has little control of banks. Most are foreign-owned by big Australian banks.
German regulator in pledge over new Basel code
Germany's main financial regulator has pledged to implement changes for the new international capital adequacy requirements by 2006, the Financial Times reported. The initiative comes as attempts to reach agreement over the Basel II code suffered a…
Basel's best bet is to keep it simple
Much progress has been made in constructing a regulatory capital framework that can benefit both the industry and its regulators. At this late stage, this article in the Financial Times says, careful revision is necessary to guarantee that the five-year…
New global banks' rules could be delayed
Wim Duisenberg, ECB president, said on Wednesday 10 September "It could be that it [Basel II] would come in the course of or maybe toward the end of 2007", according to the Financial Times. His remarks were the first by a central banker admitting that…
BMA Governor attends launch of Islamic bank unit
Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Governor of the Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA) said Monday "The global Islamic banking industry is witnessing tremendous growth, both in terms of volumes of business and in terms of number of institutions, many of…
UAE to implement Basel II accord
The UAE central bank announced Monday it would adopt the risk assessment mechanism known as Basel II, which will go into force in 2007. The governor of the central bank said final touches were being added to the system in order to enable banks to…
RBI to kick off Basel transition with 8 banks
As part of a move towards the new New Basel Capital Accord the Reserve Bank of India has chosen eight banks - public, private and foreign - as part of the RBI's pilot run on implementing the risk-based supervision for banks, according to Business…
Bank of Israel sets up financial stability unit
The Bank of Israel has set up a new unit for financial stability, Globes online reports. The duties of the new department include developing tools for the early detection of threats to stability, preventing threats from becoming exacerbated, and…
HKMA signs memorandum of understanding
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the China Banking Regulatory Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 25 August. The Agreement will allow the sharing of supervisory information.
Boston Fed launch Operational Risk & Capital site
The Boston Fed has launched a web site dedicated to Operational Risk and Capital. The site contains information related to the proposed new international capital accord, Basel II.
114 officials take early retirement from SARB
An offer of an early retirement package from the South African Reserve Bank has met with 114 acceptances from officials over the age 50. The governor, Tito Mboweni, made the announcement of the measure, aimed at saving money, at the bank's AGM in…
Indonesia behind on FATF AML deadline
Indonesia looks set to miss an FATF deadline to strengthen its anti-moneylaundering measures and could face penalties on its international financial transactions as a result, a senior central bank official told Dow Jones.
Comments on Basel II
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has published on the BIS website the comments received on the latest version of the long-awaited new capital rules.
Basel updates know-your-customer rules
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has proposed an undated set of know-your-customer rules desinged to stop large international banks being used by criminals or terrorists.
Nigerian cb branded reckless and inefficient
The central bank in Nigeria has been denounced for its "recklessness and managerial inefficiency" by a member of the House of Representatives, which he says explains the sorry state of the banking sector, according to a report in the Daily Champion,…
BIS on cross-border cooperation for Basel II
The Bank for International Settlements today issued a report outlining principles for closer cross-border cooperation between supervisors on the new Basel Accord.
The ECB's mission statement
Five years after its creation the ECB has decided it needs a mission statement. Its main objective is, of course, price stability, with "integrity, competence, efficiency and transparency" as its watchwords. But there is no place in the two paragraphs,…
Boards should not escape the Basel shake-up
In parallel with Basel II's emphasis on risk measurement and supervisory review, a crucial aspect of regulation should be to ensure that banks have effective governance structures, says this article in the Financial Times. Regulation that is forever…