Falling bond yields are aggravating the underfunding of defined benefit pensions, and further quantitative easing will make the problem worse still. This from Jacob Funk Kirkegaard at the Peterson Institute, with a piece entitled: Central banks should also be wary what they buy.
Accounting rules are leading to stricter funding requirements in the US, argues Mr Kirkegaard. This in turn forces pension plan sponsors to increase their contributions to underfunded schemes. Read more
Restructuring the FSA will improve regulatory supervision without harming the competitive position of the UK, according to a majority of UK finance professionals surveyed by international law firm Norton Rose.
Of the 156 UK respondents, 69 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed that restructuring Britain’s regulator would harm the competitive position of the UK as a financial sector, while 54 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that the proposals would improve regulatory supervision. Read more
China has temporarily increased the reserve ratio required from six large commercial banks banks. For two months, the banks will need to keep 17.5 per cent of depositors’ balances on hand, instead of 17 per cent. With banks hoarding more cash, money supply and credit availability will fall in China. In two months’ time, the reserve ratio is expected to return to 17 per cent.
The surprise move, reported by Reuters from four unnamed sources, may be a response to rising capital flows, rather than a prelude to monetary tightening. It could also be intended as a warning to banks rumoured to have stepped up their lending in September, above government targets. Read more
Stanley Fischer’s mantelpiece must be full. He’s just won another central banker award, this time Central Bank Governor of the Year from euromoney magazine, which has been running the award for 30 years.
Just yesterday, Sunday, he was awarded best Middle East central bank governor from magazine Emerging Markets. Last month, he was one of only seven central bankers to be awarded an ‘A’ grade by Global Finance magazine. Read more
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Chris Giles has been the economics editor of the Financial Times since 2004. Based in London, he writes about international economic trends and the British economy. Before reporting economics for the Financial Times, he wrote editorials for the paper, reported for the BBC, worked as a regulator of the broadcasting industry and undertook research for the Institute for Fiscal Studies. RSS
Michael Steen, Frankfurt bureau chief, covers the ECB and the eurozone's economies. He joined the Financial Times in 2007 as Amsterdam correspondent and later worked as a front page news editor in London. Before joining the FT, he spent nine years as a correspondent at Reuters, mostly in foreign postings that included a previous stint in Frankfurt, as well as Moscow, Kiev and central Asia. He read German and Russian at Cambridge.RSS
Robin Harding is the FT's US economics editor, based in Washington. Prior to this, he was based in Tokyo, covering the Bank of Japan and Japan's technology sector, and in London as an economics leader writer. Robin studied economics at Cambridge and has a masters in economics from Hitotsubashi University, where he was a Monbusho scholar. Before joining the FT, Robin worked in asset management and banking. RSS
Ralph Atkins, capital markets editor, has been writing for the Financial Times for more than 20 years following an economics degree from Cambridge. From 2004 to 2012, Ralph was Frankfurt bureau chief, watching the European Central Bank and eurozone economies. He has also worked in Bonn, Berlin, Jerusalem and Brussels. RSS
Claire Jones is Money Supply economics team writer, based in London. Before joining the Financial Times, she was the editor of the Central Banking journal and CentralBanking.com. Claire studied philosophy and economics at the London School of Economics. RSS
