Bank of England Taps Capital Buffer to Spur Loans

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Big step: The Bank of England said Tuesday that it was relaxing capital requirements on the country's biggest banks in an effort to spur £150 billion ($199 billion) in lending. The decision, which came as part of the central bank's financial stability report, follows Britain's shocking vote last month to leave the European Union. "It's important to ensure that there is no question about the availability of credit. It is the one thing we want to take off the table," said BOE Governor Mark Carney. The central bank is reducing banks' countercyclical buffer to zero. The effort represents one of the first by a central bank to ease standards in an effort to mitigate a potential economic slowdown. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times

All #Brexit, all the time: Grim news continues to reverberate throughout the rest of the financial system in the wake of the Brexit vote. Three real-estate funds – run by Standard Life, Aviva Investors and M&G Investments – have halted withdrawals in recent days as the British pound is taking a beating. Italy's looking shaky. Bank profits will likely take a hit as the yield curve flattens. The Federal Reserve is expected to hold rates steady until global conditions stabilize. Small U.K. banks may face higher losses. For silver lining lovers, there's good news for U.S. homeowners and investors who stand to benefit from possible bank mergers.

Wall Street Journal

Getting tough: The European Commission has proposed extending rules on anti-money laundering to prepaid cards and virtual currencies.

New York Times

Eyes wide open: Experts debate the safety of banks' use of biometric screenings, like retina scans, instead of passwords.

Can't hide: French tax authorities have ordered UBS to share certain account information for current and former clients in an ongoing probe to identify customers who avoid taxes.

More to come: The Securities and Exchange Commission has successfully defended its use of in-house judges in several recent cases. Still, "the victories are a bit like winning the coin toss at the start of a football game" as the courts have not resolved some underlying constitutional issues at the heart of the practice.