SF Fed Blog
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What’s Behind the Slowdown in Asian Cross-Border Lending?
The growth of cross-border lending in Asia has slowed abruptly. Faced with a growing debt burden, Asian borrowers are reducing their exposure to foreign debt. This trend is driven by the appreciation of the dollar versus many Asian currencies.
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Economic Opportunity + a National Culture of Health: Did You Miss a Game-changer?
If you missed the speeches by Williams and Lavizzo-Mourey that closed out the National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference (NICRC) in Los Angeles, you missed a game changer.
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A Regional Comparison of China’s New Deposit Insurance System
With the introduction of deposit insurance in China last year, all the large Asian economies have adopted deposit insurance programs. While China’s deposit insurance shares many similar objectives and design features of other deposit insurance programs in Asia, the specifics of China’s plan differ in many aspects.
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The Bank of Japan Goes Negative: What Does That Mean?
The Bank of Japan surprised markets last month by implementing a negative interest rate policy as part of its continued fight against deflation. Negative rates turn the traditional rules of finance on their head and may confuse some market participants. Though ordinary borrowers and savers are unlikely to see negative interest rates at this stage, the new regime will impact the Japanese banking system and possibly the country’s international financial linkages.
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China’s Shifting Policy Anchors
Market participants are anxious to find new policy anchors as China moves towards a “New Normal.” But China’s growth and policy direction are likely to be less predictable in the future, a fact that market participants will have to learn to accept.
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What is Asia’s Most Systemically Important Bank?
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently updated its list of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs), adding China Construction Bank as the seventh Asian G-SIB. Including Standard Chartered, a U.K. incorporated bank with a majority of assets in Asia, more than a quarter of G-SIBs now operate primarily in Asia.
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CIPS and the International Role of the Renminbi
The creation of CIPS is an important milestone on the renminbi’s road to becoming a major global currency. It has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of cross-border payment transactions and increase liquidity in the offshore market.
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Stemming the Tide of Displacement: The Highlight Reel
An unsolved challenge–particularly in fast growing places like the Bay Area–is ensuring that economic growth, investment in new transit and infrastructure, and changing residential preferences do not lead to displacement of low-income households. Can data and research help shed light on pathways to more equitable and sustainable metropolitan areas? Bay Area researchers and practitioners believe so.
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Asia is the New Engine of Growth in the Shadow Banking System
Monitoring and controlling risks in the shadow banking system is one of the most important tasks facing financial regulators around the world. Asia has recently emerged as the largest source of growth for the global shadow banking system.
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Not All NPLs Are Created Equal
Credit quality is a key aspect of an institution’s overall soundness. Arguably the most widely used measure for gauging the quality of an institution’s loan portfolio is the reported nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio. However, not all countries use the same definition and therefore NPL ratios are not necessarily comparable across borders.