Bank of England keeps rates at historic lows March 6, 2014 The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has elected to hold rates at their historic lows of 0.5 per cent. As expected the Bank also held asset purchases at £375bn. The Bank's decision to maintain rates at such low levels as unemployment falls and growth accelerates, has led many to question the credibility of the [...]
Bank of England suspends staff over FX inquiry March 5, 2014 THE FOREIGN exchange manipulation probe hit the Bank of England yesterday as it suspended an official following an internal probe. The Bank ramped up its own investigations, with the Oversight Committee of its Court of Directors launching an inquiry. And MPs said they will grill top Bank staff on the inquiry next week. The Bank said it has [...]
Why you’ll never see the Bank of England’s meeting transcripts March 3, 2014 The excellent Tony Yates recently asked why the Bank didn't produce transcripts, suggesting that minutes were taken, but verbatim word-for-word accounts were not kept. The US Federal Reserve recently released the transcripts from their 2008 meetings, providing some valuable insights into the crucial decisions made during the financial crisis. Yates makes some worrying [...]
Bank of England gets tough on foreign bank branches in UK February 25, 2014 FOREIGN banks will have to meet tough new criteria if they want to serve British high-street customers, under plans announced by the Bank of England this morning. The Bank’s prudential regulatory authority (PRA) wants to make sure banks can continue to serve customers even if the entity suffers a severe crisis. If the rules are implemented [...]
London Report: Barclays, Bank of England and Lloyds in focus February 9, 2014 BRITISH banks will be under the spotlight this week as Barclays and Lloyds deliver their full-year results and Bank of England governor Mark Carney updates the markets on its forward guidance policy for setting rates. Lloyds has already provided an update on its progress, predicting an underlying profit of £6.2bn for 2013 compared to £2.6bn [...]
Draghi attacks Bank of England style plans for narrow policies December 10, 2013 MARIO Draghi revealed he disagrees with Mark Carney’s plan to tackle bubbles yesterday, laying out an alternative set of guidelines for central banking. Bank of England governor Carney has praised the range of tools he has been given to intervene in specific markets if he sees risks to financial stability and the wider economy. Carney [...]