National Bank of Austria
Austrian far-right party nominates economist for governor
Robert Holzmann has distinguished career as pensions specialist, but political links may cause controversy
People: Former Malawian governor dies
Mathews Chikaonda served as governor in the 1990s; new senior appointments made at the BIS; and more
Agent-based models: a new frontier for macroeconomics?
Agent-based modelling is opening up new possibilities for economics, but the discipline is still struggling to move from the sidelines to the mainstream
Financial literacy differs greatly between countries – OeNB paper
Some differences are due to survey methods but others may reflect institutional factors, find researchers
Politician given National Bank of Austria presidency
Harald Mahrer named bank president as Freedom Party prepares for governor appointment
Consultancy and advisory provider of the year (data and regulatory management): BearingPoint
BearingPoint’s expertise in data and reporting has informed a number of high-level bodies over the past year, including the Basel Committee and the IMF, following groundbreaking work in Austria
Austrian paper takes detailed look at regulatory integration within EU
Researcher uses “bilateral nature” of EU reforms to help gauge effects
Austrian banks should invest for the future – OeNB
Commercial banks are boosting profits by cutting risk provisioning, says central bank
ECB gives mixed reception to new macro-pru measures
Austrian proposals welcomed, but ECB raises concerns over Belgian draft law
Paper examines how sovereign debt losses hit real economy
Researcher presents unique database on eurozone sovereign debt crisis
ECB announcements in QE era shifted inflation expectations, Austrian paper finds
Researchers use daily data on bond yields and inflation-linked swaps
Global securities lending services provider of the year: BNP Paribas Securities Services
The French bank has helped a range of official institutions to glean additional revenue from their bond holdings in tight markets
Austrian central bank gives award to two young economists
Papers study responses to shocks in structural funds and effects of trade on business cycle
German economist wins central bank prize
Klaus Adam wins award jointly sponsored by SNB, Bundesbank and National Bank of Austria for “innovative work” on asset prices and monetary policy
Credit contractions are significant cause of unemployment, researcher says
Data from 20 OECD countries shows that contractions in credit affect total, youth and long-term unemployment measures, a working paper from the Bank of Austria argues
US unconventional monetary policy most effective in financial crisis, paper argues
Conventional and unconventional monetary policies in the United States work through distinct channels, with different levels of effectiveness in crisis conditions, researchers argue
Competition in treasury auctions reduces bidder surplus, working paper finds
Data from before and after Austria’s entry into the European Union shows increased competition in bond auctions substantially reduces bidder surplus, researchers say
US monetary policy contraction means drop in global output – paper
Raising interest rates in the US leads to lower global output and inflation in the short term; most 'pronounced' responses evident in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s
Austria should ‘stand ready’ to tighten capital requirements, IMF staff say
The country has made ‘significant progress’ in restructuring the regulatory and supervisory framework, the report says, but the banking sector's resilience could be strengthened
Technology provider of the year: BearingPoint
BearingPoint's Abacus/Regulator system is helping central banks cope with the vast volumes of data that come with new regulatory reporting requirements
National Bank of Austria tells banks not to slow reform pace
Financial stability report notes trend of improving capitalisation has slowed; urges banks to continue the reform process and avoid short-term growth at the expense of stability
Paper explores whether governments prefer under-capitalised banks in crises
Governments may prefer banks to be weakly capitalised as this increases the likelihood they will act as buyers of last resort for domestic debt; paper considers impact on regulation
EU must ‘contain divergence’ between member states, says Polish central bank head
Marek Belka says reforms will not be supported unless European Union prevents economic divergence; speakers say quality of structural reform debate must improve
Polish governor criticises five presidents’ report
Marek Belka says proposals contain ‘some good ideas’ but are ’timid and vague’ about what should be done in the longer-term; speaks alongside Ewald Nowotny at Warsaw conference