NEWSMAKERS
- Big Job For Dudley
- New Posts For Veale And Bullock
- A Brace Of Deputies For Bank Indonesia
- Leave The Sporting Metaphors To Mervyn
- Bean To The Rescue
- Hanna Hits Warsaw
- Ingves' "pleasant Reading"
- For Central Bankers' Christmas Stockings
- Santander Bags Mcdonough
- Trevor Manuel Has Plans For The G20
- Madam Wu To Leave Safe?
- Thai Payments Fillip
- Morel Dies
- Cashing In On Sepa?
- New Head Of Mongolia's Bank
- Hildebrand And Jordan Step Up At Snb
Big
Job For Dudley
William Dudley, currently an advisory director at Goldman Sachs, is to
be an executive vice-president and the new head of the markets group at
the New York Fed, taking over from Dino Kos. As well as being responsible
for market operations, which the New York Fed does on behalf of the whole
Federal Reserve System, Bill's role entails briefing the policymaking
Federal Open Market Committee about market developments at their rate-setting
meetings.
At Goldman Sachs he edits the global economics paper series and is a consultant
to the Economic Research Group. He is co-chair of the retirement committee,
which oversees the firm's 401(K) and pension fund assets. He was the chief
US economist for a decade and has been a managing director since 1996.
Before joining Goldman Sachs in 1986, he was a vice-president at the Morgan
Guaranty Trust Company.
New
Posts For Veale And Bullock
Michele Bullock has become head of payments policy at the Reserve Bank
of Australia following the appointment of John Veale as head of the central
bank's European Representative Office. London will miss Geoffrey Board
who has done a splendid job communicating RBA's policies in the City and
Europe .
A
Brace Of Deputies For Bank Indonesia
Congratulations to Mulaiman Hadad and Budi Rochadi, old friends of Newsmakers
and of Central Banking! Both have been promoted as new deputy governors
of their country's central bank. Hadad is head of Bank Indonesia's organisation
and banking study directorate and Rochadi is a senior director of bank
supervision.
The government's Commission XI for finance, national development planning,
banking and non-bank financial institutions made the recommendation
after an hour-and-a-half internal meeting in Jakarta on 28 November.
The commission plans to bring up the recommendation to a House of Representatives
plenary session next month for approval.
Leave The Sporting Metaphors To Mervyn
The Bank of England's
deputy governor for monetary policy, Rachel Lomax, has shown herself to
be no match for her boss, Mervyn King, in at least one key area of modern
central banking: crafting far-fetched sporting metaphors.
A little side-line coaching seems to be indicated. Speaking at an awards
ceremony at the London School of Economics in November, Lomax explained
that the IMF's multilateral surveillance function would be to global financial
markets what Hawk-Eye is to cricket. For those unfamiliar with the sport,
Hawk-Eye is a computer-controlled camera system that, once called upon
by on-field umpires, determines whether a batsman has made his ground
in close line calls.
So far, so good. Not content with what would have been a perfectly illustrative
metaphor, Lomax then unfortunately ventured deeper into Mervyn territory.
The Fund's future surveillance role should inform decisions not make them,
she explained. The dangers of such a situation, she suggested was perfectly
displayed during a recent debacle involving Australian cricketing umpire,
Darrel Hair, in a test match between England and Pakistan.
Just as she was about to reach the point of her story, she froze, apparently
unable to recall what the Hair incident was all about. Like a deer caught
in the headlights (or like Steve Harmison walking back to the sightscreen!),
she searched the room for somebody to help her out.
Bean
To The Rescue
Luckily, help was at hand in the form of the Bank's chief economist, Charlie
Bean. Bean came to her rescue, explaining that Hair's dubious decision
to accuse the Pakistani team of ball tampering (one of cricket's cardinal
sins!), had triggered a heated debate over the degree of discretion umpires
have in the game.
Will the incident inhibit Lomax from conjuring up fetching sporting metaphors?
We will see. But Aston Villa's unusually high position of fifth mid-way
through the Premiership season does not augur well for similar restraint
from King!
Hanna Hits Warsaw
Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, who quickly established a big international name
as a charming and forceful spokesman for the bank and for Poland when
she was head of Poland's central bank from 1992 to 2000, is the new mayor
of Warsaw . Hanna always stood out from other central bankers of her generation
and she has long harboured political ambitions. Now she has a plumb role
from which she can advance to further heights in the turbulent world of
Polish politics.
Gronkiewicz-Waltz, from the liberal opposition Civic Platform party, triumphed
in a run-off election held on 26 November. She won 53.18% of the vote
and her victory was confirmed a day later.
Her opponent was Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, the incumbent from the ruling
Law and Justice party. Marcinkiewicz resigned as prime minister of Poland
in July. The support Gronkiewicz-Waltz received from the centre-left party,
after their own candidate was eliminated, is thought to have been crucial
to her victory.
Riksbank governor Stefan Ingves is feeling the sting of a recent review which found that the Swedish central bank has beenœ"less effective in clearly communicating its strategy for the conduct of monetary policy" and that there "is thus room for improvement in the Riksbank's performance." Ouch!
Ingves and his colleagues were probably preparing to pop the champagne corks - inflation has finally registered within the perennially undershooting central bank's 1% to 3% target range - when the has had to deal with a review by two top academics of monetary policy from 1995 to 2005.
Frederic Mishkin, a member of the Federal Reserve Board and professor at Columbia University and Francesco Giavazzi, a professor at Bocconi University in Milan , make no less than nine recommendations as to how the Riksbank can raise its game.
Playing a straight bat (here we go again!), Ingves told a parliamentary committee on finance that the report made "very pleasant reading" and that although "the report is critical on a few points [these should] not overshadow the overall message" namely that Swedish monetary policy has worked well."
To be fair to Ingves, the period under review in the report was before he became governor of the Riksbank. In conclusion the defensive governor noted: "I have put some time into arguing against a couple of the proposals, but I once again would like to emphasise that I agree with the authors on most of what they have written."
Professors Mishkin and Giavazzi would no doubt have given the governor top marks for his ability to put a positive spin on things.
For
Central Bankers' Christmas Stockings
The Central Bank Directory 2007 will be published this week Newsmakers
can EXCLUSIVELY reveal. Now in its 17th edition, the indispensable guide
to the world's monetary mandarins, which is sponsored by Morgan Stanley,
has been meticulously updated to give you an unrivalled source of information
on who does what in the world's central banks. There is even a new central
bank. David Dodge of the Bank of Canada says he finds the Directory very
useful. What more can we say?
In the December issue of The Financial Regulator, out soon, David
Lascelles asks whether London could go it alone and reject Europe's regulatory
embrace, Charles Calomiris explains why China is heading for a banking
crisis and Andrew Fight reports on how emerging markets cannot manage
with Basel II. FR has its own webpage: http://www.centralbanking.co.uk/publications/journals/frj.htm
why not take a look?
With all the talk of stock market takeovers, banks buyouts and Solvency
II (alright maybe not Solvency II --“ but if you thought Basel II
was complicatedâ€|) Finding your way through the regulatory
jungle in 2007 will be nigh-on impossible without How Countries Supervise
their Banks, Insurers and Securities Markets 2007. HCS enables you to
find out fast how financial institutions in more than 190 jurisdictions
are supervised and who is responsible for regulating what in the 500+
agencies profiled. Brought to you in association with Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer, it makes an ideal stocking filler for your hard-pressed compliance
officer.
Santander
Bags Mcdonough
Banco Santander Central Hispano has named William J. McDonough, a former
president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York , as a member of its
non-executive board.
The eurozone's largest lender by market value has built a global banking
network over the last decade by expanding aggressively by acquiring smaller
banks in Latin America, the UK and recently also in the US.
McDonough is also vice-chairman of US investment bank Merrill Lynch and
a special adviser to its chairman, Stan O'Neal. Bill was chairman of the
New York Fed from 1993 to 2003, and was vice-chairman and a permanent
member of the Federal Open Market Committee.
Trevor
Manuel Has Plans For The G20
South Africa's veteran finance minister, Trevor Manuel, has called on
the group of 20 (G20) finance ministers and central bank governors to
"œbuild windmills in the calm of current global financial stability."
Manuel has taken over the chairmanship of the G20 from Australia's equally
long-standing Treasurer Peter Costello both have held their respective
jobs for a decade. This is the first time that South Africa has held the
chair, which rotates annually.
At a time when the world is dealing with huge global imbalances, Manuel
said last week in a press briefing that the group should "build windmills
in the calm of current global financial stability." Other potential
issues for global financial stability were raised by the growth of private
equity and the role of hedge funds. Reform of the IMF and the World Bank
will also be on the agenda. The IMF made the first step towards reform
in allocating quotas, but the issue has some way to run and needs to cover
what Manuel calls the conduct of the IMF and the Bank.
Madam
Wu To Leave Safe?
Wu Xiaoling, who runs the world's largest currency reserves as head of
China's all important SAFE and doubles up as deputy governor of the PBOC,
may be off to run the country's financial futures exchange in Shanghai
starting next year, according to local news sources.
A newspaper said Wu will be the futures exchange's chairperson from the
beginning of 2007, adding that the central bank will, at that time, also
inject, via an unspecified affiliate under the central bank, about Rmb100m
into the futures exchange. Wu has been working with the central bank since
1985, and has been the central bank's vice governor since 2000.
If confirmed, Wu's departure will leave one of the most influential roles
in international finance open and whoever gets chosen by the top party
officials will have big implications for the future of China's reserves
management policies.
Thai
Payments Fillip
Political controversy is not
a topic most would associate with SIBOS, the annual get together for the
payments world. Especially not when a central banker is at the podium.
While the Bank of Thailand's efforts to lower the fees charged for electronic
payments and raise those for cheques to better reflect processing costs
is a story many central banks would do well to take note of, this was
not the subject at the front of the audience's mind when Chim Tantiyaswadikul,
an assistant governor at the Bank of Thailand, took the stand in Sydney
three weeks after his country's coup.
But he rose to the occasion with a fruity analogy. "Perhaps you have
heard of durian: the king of fruits?" he asked. There are signs in
subways telling people not to carry it as some people find the smell offensive,
he explained for those who had not travelled to Sydney via Singapore .
"Well, our former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, is like the
durian." Some people adore him and he makes others feel sick.
The change in leadership has its advantage however. Up to now, reform
of payments has faced obstacles in Thailand , mainly on the legal side.
"The new cabinet," Chim said, "œwith the former central
bank governor as finance minister and deputy prime minister was a golden
opportunity for technocrats to push through laws that had always got bogged
down in democratically elected government."
Morel
Dies
Guy Joseph Morel, the first governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles
, passed away Thursday 9 November at the age of 73, the Seychelles Nation
reported.
"Mr Morel will be most remembered for his work in finance after independence,
the promotion of our tourism industry, the creation of SIM, the setting
up of Air Seychelles , the mobilisation of funds for the construction
of the impressive National Library building at Esplanade, the education
of our youth, and his love of classical music and literature," President
Michel said.
Cashing
In On Sepa?
Amid all the hype about
the possibility of making payments contactlessly in real time with your
mobile and so on, the importance of the old-fashioned banknote is often
forgotten. As ABN Amro's World Payments Report shows, Europeans show no
signs of reducing their use of cash. Though the growth in use of cards
is outpacing cash withdrawals they ave not substantially reduced the reliance
on cash. There is now just over €600 billion in banknotes in circulation.
Central banks have committed to encouraging the use of other cheaper means
of payment, though as Gerard Hartsink, chairman of the European Payments
Council, noted at City & Financial's SEPA event in November, central
banks make money out of cash. "In some countries the governor of
the central bank is also the main printer in town," he added. "The
incentives are not always aligned."
The ECB's governing council have made it clear, he said, that they are
keen to make the next step to clean out their processing arrangements.
The EPC plans to discuss the subject at its December plenary.
New
Head Of Mongolia's Bank
The new governor of the Bank of Mongolia, Alag Batsukh, who has taken
the reins from former long-standing governor Chuluunbat (who now serves
as chairman) was not unanimously approved by parliament.
Batsukh had held the post of first deputy governor at the bank since
2000. On 2 November, 68.2% of the members of parliament voted for him,
but Democratic Party members called for Batsukh to be held accountable
for the bankruptcy of savings and credit institutions, UB Post reported.
" œWe need to find correct and effective ways to recover the
losses in as short a time as possible," Batsukh said.
Hildebrand
And Jordan Step Up At Snb
The Swiss government on Wednesday 8 November named former hedge fund star
Philipp Hildebrand as the new vice-president of the Swiss National Bank
(SNB) as of May next year, replacing Niklaus Blattner, who will retire.
Thomas Jordan has been named as a new board member of the national bank.
Jordan is currently alternate member of the governing board and head of
financial markets. Hildebrand joined the Swiss National Bank in July 2003
as member of the Governing Board, following an international university
education and a professional career in the financial sector. In January
2006, he was appointed chairman of the G10 deputies.
At the same time, Sandro Streit will succeed Thomas Stucki as head of
asset management. After ten years, Stucki leaves the SNB to take a high-level
position in the private sector. Sandro Streit has also worked in the asset
management unit.
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