Euro
Book notes: A diary of the euro crisis in Cyprus
Panicos Demetriades’ book tells the inside story of the Cypriot crisis and how battles over central bank independence led ultimately to his resignation
SNB achieved record profits in 2017
Acquisitions of euros and dollars via foreign exchange interventions yielded 91% of the gains; SNB reshapes portfolio with greater share of equities and riskier bonds
New South African president supports pan-African currency
Cyril Ramaphosa says it is time Africa abandons “colonial mentality” and adopts common currency to foster investment and intra-African trade
Lithuania to launch ‘digital’ commemorative coin
Central bank will host a “hackathon” to decide on technology to underpin the digital asset
Book notes: How global currencies work, by Barry Eichengreen, Arnaud Mehl and Livia Chiţu
A comprehensive introduction to the history of global reserve currencies, with analysis of how advances in technology and the structure of trade have reshaped the landscape
Ireland withdraws Lane’s nomination for ECB vice president
Spain’s de Guindos likely to take up role, but Irish may suggest Lane for the chief economist post
Latvian police detain central bank governor on corruption charges
Rimšēvičs says charges are totally unfounded
Algo trading harmed market during Swiss franc crash – paper
Algorithmic traders tended to “consume liquidity and reinforce the price disruption”
Eurozone needs structural reforms to realign real exchange rates – Italian paper
Real exchange rate misalignments persist for longer in eurozone, researchers say
BIS and IMF offer joint course for financial supervisors
Lagarde and Carstens say the two organisations will increase joint efforts at capacity-building
Banks running out of time to make post-Brexit eurozone applications
Banks looking to relocate should apply “by the end of the second quarter” – ECB supervisor Lautenschläger
CNB raises Czech rates to return inflation to target
A stronger currency is supporting the central bank in its efforts to control price pressures
Central bankers assess markets’ reactions to policy changes
Benoît Cœuré warns of complacency among investors as central banks move to normalise
ESM hails Greece’s progress in third bailout
The country should exit the programme in August as growth accelerates and bond yields fall
German coalition talks open possibility of reformed ESM
European Commission proposed creating a new institution to lead crisis programmes in December
Angola drops dollar for euro in new exchange rate regime
Kwanza depreciates 11.5% against the dollar following regime change
ECB approves major financial infrastructure programmes
ECB plans for Target2 and T2S to merge, plus new collateral management system for Eurosystem
Portuguese finance minister named new head of Eurogroup
ESM manager praises Mário Centeno as a “passionate economist”
Income convergence in eurozone faltered before euro, research finds
Strong financial cycle concealed lack of productivity growth since 1990s in Spain and Italy, implying euro may not be to blame
EBA announces move to Paris
The decision will guarantee the “seamless continuation” of its activities, says EBA
IMF’s Lipton urges eurozone to speed up banking union
First deputy managing director says Europe should capitalise on support for euro and ensure uniform capital market regulation is in place
SNB profits hit record high
Swiss franc’s depreciation and high stock prices fuel the rise in revenues in the first three quarters
BoE’s Woods: 75,000 Brexit job losses ‘plausible’
Deputy governor estimates 10,000 finance job losses on first day of Brexit, with wider long-term repercussions
FCA’s Bailey: firms need Brexit clarity fast
Financial firms will have to make decisions over the coming months that will be very hard to unwind, so certainty on the Brexit transition is pressing