Monetary Law

Market Maker of Last Resort

Speech by Mr Paul Fisher, Executive Director for Markets and Member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, for the Association of Corporate Treasurers Winter Paper 2010, London, 18 February 2010.

In this speech, Mr Paul Fisher addresses, i.a., central banks' market maker of last resort (MMLR) function that may be necessary with a view to "maintaining conditions for the stable provision of financial services to the wider economy."

This MMLR function--similar to central bank's lender of last resort function (LLR)--was eleborated upon by Mr Paul Tucker, Deputy Governor Financial Stability BoE, in his 2009 speech ‘The Repertoire of Official Sector Interventions in the Financial System: Last Resort Lending, Market-Making, and Capital.’

The term “macroprudential”: origins and evolution

"In the wake of the recent financial crisis, the term "macroprudential" has become a true buzzword. A core element of international efforts to strengthen the financial system is  to enhance the macroprudential orientation of regulatory and supervisory frameworks. Yet the term was little used before the crisis, and its meaning remains obscure. This special feature traces the term's origins to the late 1970s, in the context of work on international bank lending carried out under the aegis of the Euro-currency Standing Committee at the BIS. It then describes its changing fortunes until its recent rise to prominence."

BIS Quarterly Review, March 2010

The future of European and international financial market regulation and supervision

Speech by Mr Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, at the Institute of International and European Affairs, Dublin, 19 February 2010: 'Globalisation, international financial integration and the financial crisis – the future of European and international financial market regulation and supervision'

The speech addresses, i.a., a mandate for financial stability for central banks.

Financial stability: 10 questions and about seven answers

Speech delivered by Mr Jaime Caruana, General Manager of the BIS, at the 50th Anniversary Symposium of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Sydney, 9 February 2010.

Q #7: Does Financial stability need help from monetary policy?

Q #8: Are central banks equipped for their financial stability role?

The Greek crisis and the future of the euro zone

Reuters.com has ran an article analyzing five scenarios of the Greek crisis:

1. Greece rescues itself
2. Greece muddles along in 'slow burn' crisis
3. Greece heads toward default
4. EU bails out Greece
5. EU launches wider bailout

In every scenario Reuters describes the scenario, gives an estimate of the probability of the scenario, and analyzes market implications.

Olli Rehn New EU Commissioner for Economic And Monetary Affairs

The European Union's parliament has approved the new EU Commission for 2010-2014. The Fin Olli Rehn is the new commissioner responsible for economic and monetary affairs. In the previous Commission, Mr. Rehn was responsible for enlargement. Follow this link for Mr. Rehn's profile.

The Road to Monetary Union in East Africa

Keynote address by Prof Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, Governor of the Bank of Uganda, at the Validation Workshop of the Draft Final Report of the Monetary Union Study: 18-20 January 2010, Kampala

Standards for payment, clearing and settlement systems: review by CPSS-IOSCO

The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have launched a comprehensive review of their existing standards for financial market infrastructures such as payment systems, securities settlement systems and central counterparties.

There are three sets of standards involved, namely:
• the 2001 Core principles for systemically important payment systems
• the 2001/2 Recommendations for securities settlement systems
• the 2004 Recommendations for central counterparties

Read more on the BIS website.

Monetary Unions; lessons from Europe

Article in Euredia 2009/3 (p. 419-440):

Other Monetary Unions: are there lessons to be learned from the European experience?, by Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña

International Representation of the Euro Area

Article in Euredia 2009/2 (p. 297-333):

International representation of Europe in the area of economic and monetary union: legal issues and practice in the first ten years of the Euro, by René Smits