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Letting central banks run monetary policy seemed a great idea in the 1990s. But it manifestly failed to end boom and bust. Now everyone shouts at central banks to solve the economy’s problems. Who should decide what they do? Only elected governments can, and it should be their responsibility.
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The Libor scandal has taught the banking industry that mainstream perceptions of behavioural risk are utterly flawed. A new approach to supervision is needed, and fast.
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The nationalisation of SNS Reaal has reignited the bail-in debate. Some European politicians have called for a Europe-wide bail-in framework to be implemented sooner than originally planned. The danger is that doing so could knock investors’ confidence at a crucial time.
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The UK will be Europe’s investment banking battleground in 2013 as heavyweights slug it out for market share, writes David Rothnie.
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US investors are threatening to leave money market funds if regulators impose a floating net asset value on the industry, which would damage an important source of dollar funding for eurozone banks. US regulators should be wary of the potential consequences of their actions.
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Figures are expected today (Friday) to show how much three year cash from the ECB’s longer term refinancing operation European banks are paying back at the first opportunity. The market will be gunning for a large number, and with good reason.
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HSBC bankers are mourning the retirement of man so famous he needs no name — he is simply “that Irish guy who tells you when the fire alarm is about to be tested”.
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A covered bond that offers identical credit quality to any other but which is immune from rating volatility should prove a boon to both investors and issuers. A pass-through structure would achieve just that, and NIBC’s decision to explore it should be applauded.
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HSBC’s Souhail Mahjour, one of the CEEMEA syndicate gang’s last remaining bachelors, has finally taken himself off the market. Drawing on his emerging market expertise, Souhail whisked his beloved off to Bagan (it’s in the Mandalay region of Burma, as if you didn’t already know) and with a glorious sunrise as his backdrop, he dropped to one knee and sealed the deal.
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The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s inclusion of certain RMBS in the second tier of bank liquidity buckets is a welcome reprieve for the ABS market. But the same committee’s updated capital risk weightings, published at the end of last year, are likely to curb a flood of new demand for RMBS as banks also face lower returns on capital held against securitisations.