 |
Posted on January 13th, 2013
American consumers are using debit cards more than ever before, triggering key changes in the payment card industry and affecting how banks and merchants do business. Controversy has arisen as the industry raised the fees it charges on merchants for debit transaction processing—fees that merchants may pass on to consumers, affecting the [...] Posted on January 13th, 2013
While the economic forecast for the Eurozone in 2013 shows painful progress towards stability, Eurozone banks and insurers will face another difficult year. The north-south divide will become more entrenched this year; while the outlook for lending in northern markets is slowly improving, the outlook for southern markets is bleak as banks contend [...] Posted on January 10th, 2013
A new regulatory regime is almost upon us. From April 2013, three new financial services regulatory bodies will be established. With the Financial Services Bill having received Royal Assent in December, and the FSA and Bank of England already operating to a shadow structure mirroring the new regime, the future regulatory landscape is [...] Posted on January 10th, 2013
The Swiss private banking sector has been in the focus for some time now, both in discussions and in editorials. A topic which has given rise to numerous discussions over and over again is the regulatory and economical environment of Swiss private banks. In addition to the financial and debt crisis, Swiss [...] |
|
|
|
||
The appreciating renminbi
Topics: currencies, monetary policy, regional / country study
China is perennially accused of currency manipulation. Yet, this column argues that a weak currency value doesn’t necessarily reflect currency manipulation. China is a fast growing economy with strong financial frictions and a high saving rate, and such countries naturally have weak currencies. Instead of focussing on accusations of currency manipulation, it might be more [...]