Regulation
NBP's Balcerowicz warns of political risks
Leszek Balcerowicz, president of the National Bank of Poland, has warned that the creation of an investigative committee for banking supervision will result in an increase in political risk.
Bundesbank's Meister defends Polish regulator
Germany's central bank has criticised Poland's plans to reform its financial regulator, saying the move would isolate the country.
Comment: The benefits of supervisory integration
A new IMF working paper investigates the trend toward integrating the regulation and supervision of banks, non-bank financial institutions and securities markets. The authors attempt to fill a gap in the literature by empirically assessing the impact…
ECB's Bini Smaghi on financial market supervision
In the speech 'Independence and accountability of supervision in the european financial market' given on 9 March Lorenzo Bini Smaghi of the ECB said the increasing European financial integration poses difficult challenges for the institutional…
Comment: Balcerowicz battles on
The president of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), Leszek Balcerowicz, and the ministry of finance are at loggerhead over a hotly debated bank merger. The government wants the deal blocked, Balcerowicz refuses to do so. Even as his first term draws to…
Bernanke on community banking & bank supervision
In the speech 'Community banking and community bank supervision in the twenty-first century' given on 8 March Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve said the rapid growth in commercial real-estate loans made by community banks bears watching.
NBP chief defends decision over meeting
Leszek Balcerowicz, governor of the national bank of Poland, rejected accusations on Friday 10 march that he broke the law by excluding a government official from a regulatory meeting on Italian lender UniCredit's deal to buy Polish Bank BPH.
Fed's Kohn on regulatory relief
In testimony 'Regulatory relief' given on 1 March Donald Kohn of the Federal Reserve said the Federal Reserve will continue to be "a strong and active supporter" of legislative efforts to provide regulatory relief in the banking sector.
Significant progress on global financial stability
Senior regulators, who met on Wednesday 1 March, said that progress had been made in improving the stability of the global financial system, but noted that much more needed to be done.
ECB's Gonzalez-Paramo on EU cross-border banking
In the speech 'Cross-border banking in the EU: developments and emerging policy issues' given on 24 February Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo of the ECB said financial integration is a highly dynamic process, in which market developments and policy action are…
Wellink on regulators and the pension industry
In the speech 'How regulators contribute to a sustainable pension industry' given on 15 February Nout Wellink of the Netherlands Bank said the Dutch central bank has set up a working group looking at ways of making the country an attractive domicile for…
BI to introduce Sharia Banking Committee
Bank Indonesia intends to develop Sharia Banking Committee (KPS) as the regulatory body for sharia banks.
Ferguson on globalization, insurers, & regulators
In the speech 'Globalization, Insurers, and Regulators: Shared Challenges Call for Collaborative Solutions' given on 23 February Roger Ferguson of the Federal Reserve said he did not expect long-term interest rates to rise suddenly, although it was hard…
The role of central banks in banking crises
According to this article published on 2 February, central banks should not supervise the banking system. When asked to do so, central banks are really asked to draw criticism on their past performance, their policies and their vigilance in the past, it…
Former Polish minister against super regulator
In an interview for the Parkiet daily, the former head of the Polish Securities and Exchange Commission (KPWiG) and treasury minister in Marek Belka's government, Jacek Socha, assessed the Polish financial market as not mature enough to introduce…
IMF paper on bank regulation
This new IMF working paper argues that "banks will want to influence the bank regulator to favor their interests, and they typically have the means to do so".
Italy welcomes bank merger
Le Figaro reported yesterday that the Italian government has welcomed the takeover bid for BNL, the country's sixth-largest bank, by French banking group BNP Paribas. The paper quoted Italian finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, as saying he regards it as…
FATF to look at Russian banks
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental anti money laundering body, plans to carry out a large-scale check on the Russian banking system in April 2007, Russian Central Bank deputy chairman Viktor Melnikov said earlier this week.
Comment: EU banking supervision
Bundesbank board member Edgar Meister's assertion earlier this week that "the current supervisory framework is no real hindrance to cross-border consolidation" in the European banking sector, underlines the differences in opinion amongst policymakers on…
CBK warns illegal lenders
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has issued a statement giving sham microfinance institutions until May to clean up their act or face legal action.
Bies on continuous challenges of risk management
In the speech 'The continuous challenges of risk management' given on 2 February Susan Schmidt Bies of the Federal Reserve said regulators are concerned about heavy commercial real estate exposures and risky mortgage lending practices at U.S. banks.
G30 calls for more regulation of reinsurers
Coordinated international regulation of the reinsurance industry is needed despite the fact that the industry poses few risks to the financial system. This was the message of a report by the Group of 30 (G30) launched on Monday 23 January at the Bank of…
RBNZ releases outsourcing policy for banks
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand on Wednesday published its finalised policy on the requirements which will apply to large New Zealand banks that have entered into outsourcing arrangements.
ECB's Trichet on European financial integration
In the speech 'The process of European financial integration: where do we stand?' given on 13 January Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said as regards the further integration of securities (i.e. bonds and equity) markets, a prominent role should be…