Daily Archives: July 3, 2012

Claire Jones Crisis takes toll on ECB staff

July 3, 2012 10:45 pm by Claire Jones

The staff at the European Central Bank are not a happy bunch. This from the FT’s Frankfurt correspondent James Wilson: 

While it grapples with the eurozone economic crisis from Greece to Ireland, the European Central Bank is also confronting a problem within its Frankfurt headquarters: staff anger at the extra workload because of the crisis.

IPSO, the union among ECB staff, has written to bank president Mario Draghi to warn of risks to the bank from a growing number of long-term absences and stress-related illness. It wants the bank to take on more staff.

According to the trade union, Read more

Posted in European Central Bank |
From FT Alphaville July 3, 2012

From Barclays’ written submission to the Treasury Select Committee. Click for better legibility.

 Read more

Posted in Bank of England |

Claire Jones Libor, central banks and financial stability

July 3, 2012 4:29 pm by Claire Jones

Even if that call between Paul Tucker and Bob Diamond had never taken place, the Bank of England was bound to be dragged into the Libor scandal at some point. The Bank’s official documents are littered with references to the rate.

As mentioned here, the Bank – like other monetary authorities around the world – uses Libor to help work out how much money it needs to pump into the financial system. The Bank sees Libor as one of the most important, if not the most important, gauges of financial stability.

Such faith in Libor is misplaced, even if the rate were not manipulated. Read more

Posted in Bank of England |