| News on the global financial markets |  |
| Morning Bell |  |  |
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| Industry News | | |
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- Lloyds CEO: Banks must focus on customers again
The time has come for commercial banks to get back to their core values and give attention to customers' needs, Antonio Horta-Osorio, chief executive at Lloyds Banking Group, wrote in The Telegraph newspaper. "That may sound obvious but is something that banks over recent years have forgotten," he noted. "The result of that has been that the real economy -- businesses, households, individuals -- have lost trust in banks." The Telegraph (London) (tiered subscription model)
(17 Dec.)      
| Regulatory Roundup | | |
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- Carney may change BoE's tack
The Bank of England's next governor, Mark Carney of Canada, is pushing a different approach to shepherding the economy. Rather than targeting inflation, the primary focus for the last 20 years, Carney would like to see greater emphasis placed on growth and employment. It's an idea that has drawn a good deal of criticism. The Guardian (London)/The Observer
(15 Dec.)
- Commentary: Former UK monetary policy official urges flexibility
In this commentary, Kate Barker, a former member of the UK's Monetary Policy Committee, writes that the Bank of England needs to be flexible. "It is not easy to determine the right balance between rules and discretion when delegating to an independent central bank," she writes. "A more radical approach now might be to say that, apart from an overarching commitment not to allow inflation to spiral out of control, the central bank should be able to change its approach to monetary policy, as appropriate to the economic circumstances at the time." The Telegraph (London) (tiered subscription model)
(15 Dec.)
- UAE responds to bank worries, postpones new rules
Responding to banks' complaints of insufficient time to meet the deadline, the central bank of the United Arab Emirates is delaying liquid-asset requirements and implementation of limits on banks' exposure to state-linked debt. Given the fact that companies with state ties lead a large part of UAE's development, the measures also could have crimped overall national growth. Reuters
(16 Dec.)
| Tech Trends | | |
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- Technology may bring UK banking revolution, BoE's Haldane says
Andy Haldane, the Bank of England's executive director for financial stability, said technology could bring a revolution to banking and diminish banks' role in business lending. "We are seeing a much more diverse eco-system emerging with the growth of new non-bank groups offering peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding, which are operating directly with a wider public," he said. Reuters
(17 Dec.)
| Spotlight on China | | |
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- China lifts $1B cap on investment by foreign SWFs, central banks
China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange dropped the $1 billion limit on investments by foreign central banks and sovereign wealth funds. The revised regulations said nothing about any new investment cap for these investors. The $1 billion limit remains in place for other types of institutional investors, the agency said. Bloomberg
(16 Dec.)
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