Bank of England to stress test lenders on their reactions to global meltdowns and widespread deflation March 30, 2015 The Bank of England has unveiled a set of scenarios which will form the basis for this year's bank stress tests, warning British banks with global exposure such as HSBC and Standard Chartered will be the hardest hit. Seven of Britain's biggest banks will be test on their ability to withstand a dramatic slowdown in China, [...]
ECB, Bank of England reach agreement over clearing houses March 29, 2015 The European Central Bank and the Bank of England have hammered out a deal over the City's clearing houses, ending a lengthy dispute over whether euro denominated transactions should be cleared outside the Eurozone. It comes after Britain clinched a rare victory against the ECB in the European Union's second highest court. Because most clearing [...]
Banks stress as the Bank of England prepares to unveil tougher tests March 29, 2015 Britain's banks are bracing themselves for a batch of tougher stress tests to be unveiled by the Bank of England tomorrow, with the emphasis expected to shift away from domestic concerns and onto global risks. The tests take place annually, and focus on the potential impact of a different type of hypothetical crash each time. Last [...]
Bank of England says world risks could hurt City March 26, 2015 GLOBAL risks, from the slowdown in China to the chance of Greece leaving the Eurozone could trigger panic in financial markets, leading to severe pain in London, the Bank of England warned yesterday. The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) told firms like asset managers that they should be prepared to withstand rapid outflows of funds. “Any of these [...]
These are the four biggest threats to financial stability, according to the Bank of England March 26, 2015 The financial policy committee (FPC) which looks after financial stability over at the Bank of England, has outlined the areas it intends to keep a closer eye on in its quarterly assessment released today. 1. Geopolitical turmoil Eurozone turmoil could pose a threat to future financial stability. There have been some encouraging signs recently but [...]
Bank of England sorry for house sale hold ups March 25, 2015 MORE than 700 house sales were delayed by a day or more when the Bank of England’s Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payments system ground to a halt in October 2014, it said yesterday. It apologised for the problems, and has promised to improve the contingency plans in case it happens again. The RTGS system broke when [...]
Bank of England shouldn’t cut rates over deflation – Monetary Policy Committee member David Miles March 25, 2015 Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member David Miles has sought to quash fears over deflation, saying any foray into negative territory would be short-lived and shouldn’t lead to rate cuts. Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, Miles, one of the more dovish members of the MPC, said that he expected the rate of [...]
Bank of England’s Minouche Shafik: Interest rate rise likely despite low inflation March 25, 2015 The Bank of England's deputy governor Minouche Shafik has said that interest rates will rise, rather than fall, despite official data released yesterday showing prices had failed to grow at all in February. Shafik said the bank should not cut interest rates further in response to the current bout of low inflation, which is being driven [...]
Andrew Haldane: Bank of England must “stand ready” to cut interest rates if outlook for deflation markedly worsens March 19, 2015 The Bank of England's chief economist has said it must "stands ready" to cut record-low interest rates further, if the risk of the economy falling into a prolonged period of deflation intensifies. "In my view, that means policy needs to stand ready to move off either foot in the period ahead to meet the symmetric [...]
Bank of England minutes: Strong pound risks exacerbating deflation March 18, 2015 Bank of England policymakers think the strong pound could exacerbate the current period of low inflation. Minutes released today showed the monetary policy committee believes divergent monetary policy trends, and a strengthening economy, could cause the pound to appreciate further. "This has the potential to prolong the period for which consumer price inflation would remain [...]