The European Council's decisions to implement the De Larosiere recommendations for a reformed approach to micro-level financial supervision and a new European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) are to be welcomed. The ECB's central role in the ESRB is also to be welcomed. However, the limited role...

A narrative history by a Fed insider of how monetary policy is shaped in the US, with special emphasis on the performances of former Chairman Ben Bernanke and current Chairwoman Janet Yellen in facing the prelude, outbreak, and aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis

We study determinants of sovereign portfolios of Spanish banks over a long time-span, starting in 2008. Our findings challenge the view that banks engaged in moral hazard strategies to exploit the regulatory treatment of sovereign exposures. In particular, we show that being a weakly capitalized...

1. Introduction -- 2. Theoretical Framework: Identifying Central Banks' Two-Tier Relationship -- 3. The Global Financial Crisis: The Challenge for Central Banks -- 4. US Federal Reserve System and the Global Financial Crisis -- 5. Bank of England and the Global Financial Crisis -- 6. Bank of...