Legal
RBNZ served ‘compliance notice’ after cyber attack
Privacy commissioner concerned by possible “systemic weakness” in central bank’s cyber defences
Criteria for systemically important payment infrastructure differs
Thirty-one out of 37 central banks said they designate systemically important payment infrastructure
The IMF’s $650bn SDR allocation and a future ‘digital SDR’
Focus is needed on widening SDR use in payments and the creation of a ‘digital SDR’, to support a large allocation of ‘official’ IMF SDRs, writes Warren Coats
Sanctioned disobedience: the challenge of protecting whistleblowers
Most central banks have policies on whistleblowing, but practice and usage vary widely
US court finds Iranian central bank liable in terrorism suit
Plaintiffs sued Iran and Syria in US court for damages in 2015 Hamas attack
Somalia’s governor on rebuilding its central bank
Governor Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi discusses reviving Somalia’s war-damaged economy, re-creating a payments system, and dealing with remittances
Three ways to bolster flawed AML/CFT in the EU
The EU needs to significantly improve the structure and resourcing of its AML/CFT oversight if it really wants to combat illicit money flows, write Panicos Demetriades and Radosveta Vassileva
China abandons cryptocurrencies under the PBoC (this time it’s for real)
New data centres set to be established to compensate provinces for lost crypto mining revenues
El Salvador’s bitcoin currency experiment
Move by first nation to approve bitcoin as legal tender raises important issues
French prosecutors investigating Lebanese governor – reports
Riad Salameh has repeatedly denied allegations of money laundering and corruption
El Salvador extends executive control over central bank
Changes exclude employers’ association from nominations and expand grounds for dismissal
Central banks face legal risk over climate – ECB’s Elderson
NGOs could sue central banks for failure to take suitable action over climate change, says NGFS chair
German court dismisses challenge to ECB bond-buying
Constitutional court ends long-running challenge to asset purchase programme
Cash infrastructure as public good – implications for the cash cycle
Efforts are under way in the Eurosystem to safeguard cash infrastructure as a ‘public good’ even as transaction volumes have fallen significantly. How can policy-makers strike the right balance?
Brazilian opposition and prosecutor challenge central bank law
Former president’s party argues law giving central bank more autonomy is unconstitutional
Central bank ‘activism’ risks long-run costs, paper argues
Central banks acting outside their mandate is “never without cost”, law professor says
The evolving ‘strategy function’ in central banks
Some institutions participating in a survey of 27 central banks still struggle to fully harness an effective ‘strategy function’, according to the ECB’s Jean-Charles Sevet and Alejandro de la Cuesta
Zhang Tao on the IMF’s fintech agenda, CBDCs and big tech oversight
IMF deputy managing director speaks about the fund’s perspectives on CBDC operating frameworks, regulating big tech and macrofinancial oversight in a digital world
Regulating big tech and non-bank financial services in the digital era
Big tech incursions into financial services in China and elsewhere demonstrate the potential benefits of adopting a digital-bank or holding-company approach to financial regulation
ECB concerned by Hungary consumer credit plan
Draft law would give Central Bank of Hungary powers to directly issue loans for energy efficiency
Initiative of the year: Saudi Central Bank’s business continuity programme
Advanced planning has allowed Sama employees and systems to continue operating critical functions despite the Covid-19 lockdowns
Riksbank report explains basis for green asset purchases
Report sets out legal and operational basis for “norm-based negative screening”
Governor of the year: Alejandro Díaz de León
Díaz de León has upheld the authority, integrity and independence of the Bank of Mexico against significant external and internal pressures
Corporate Services Benchmarks 2021 report – trends in financial reporting and administration
Insights on staffing and salaries, technological automation, data security, rule compliance, gender equality and green office spaces in accounting, audit, HR and administration