Central bank

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A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is a public institution that usually issues
the currency, regulates the money supply, and controls the interest rates in a country. Central
banks often also oversee the commercial banking system within its country's borders. A central
bank is distinguished from a normal commercial bank because it has a monopoly on creating the
currency of that nation, which is usually that nation's legal tender.[1][2]

The primary function of a central bank is to provide the nation's money supply, but more active
duties include controlling interest rates, and acting as a lender of last resort to the banking sector
during times of financial crisis. It may also have supervisory powers, to ensure that banks and
other financial institutions do not behave recklessly or fraudulently.

Most developed nations today have an "independent" central bank, that is one which operates
under rules designed to prevent political interference. Examples include the European Central
Bank (ECB) and the Federal Reserve System in the United States.[3]

Contents
[hide]

 1 History
 2 Activities and responsibilities
o 2.1 Monetary policy
 3 Goals of monetary policy
o 3.1 Currency issuance
o 3.2 Naming of central banks
o 3.3 Interest rate interventions
o 3.4 Limits of enforcement power
 4 Policy instruments
o 4.1 Interest rates
o 4.2 Open market operations
o 4.3 Capital requirements
o 4.4 Reserve requirements
o 4.5 Exchange requirements
o 4.6 Margin requirements and other tools
  4.6.1 Examples of use
 5 Banking supervision and other activities
 6 Independence
 7 Criticism
o 7.1 Alternatives
 8 See also
 9 References
 10 External links

[edit] History
In Europe prior to the 17th century most money was commodity money, typically gold or silver.
However, promises to pay were widely circulated and accepted as value at least five hundred
years earlier in both Europe and Asia. The Song Dynasty was the first to issue generally
circulating paper currency, while the Yuan Dynasty was the first to use notes as the predominant
circulating medium. In 1455, in an effort to control inflation, the succeeding Ming Dynasty
ended the use of paper money and closed much of Chinese trade. The medieval European
Knights Templar ran an early prototype of a central banking system, as their promises to pay
were widely respected, and many regard their activities as having laid the basis for the modern
banking system.

As the first public bank to "offer accounts not directly convertible to coin", the Bank of
Amsterdam established in 1609 is considered to be a precursor to a central bank.[4] In 1664, the
central bank of Sweden—"Sveriges Riksbank" or simply "Riksbanken"—was founded in
Stockholm and is by that the world's oldest central bank (still operating today).[5] This was
followed in 1694 by the Bank of England, created by Scottish businessman William Paterson in
the City of London at the request of the English government to help pay for a war.

Although central banks today are generally associated with fiat money, the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries central banks in most of Europe and Japan developed under the international
gold standard, elsewhere free banking or currency boards were more usual at this time. Problems
with collapses of banks during downturns, however, was leading to wider support for central
banks in those nations which did not as yet possess them, most notably in Australia.

With the collapse of the gold standard after World War I, central banks became much more
widespread. The US Federal Reserve was created by the U.S. Congress through the passing of
the Glass-Owen Bill, signed by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913, whilst
Australia established its first central bank in 1920, Colombia in 1923, Mexico and Chile in 1925
and Canada and New Zealand in the aftermath of the Great Depression in 1934. By 1935, the
only significant independent nation that did not possess a central bank was Brazil, which
developed a precursor thereto in 1945 and created its present central bank twenty years later.
When African and Asian countries gained independence, all of them rapidly established central
banks or monetary unions.
The People's Bank of China evolved its role as a central bank starting in about 1979 with the
introduction of market reforms in that country, and this accelerated in 1989 when the country
took a generally capitalist approach to developing at least its export economy. By 2000 the
People's Bank of China was in all senses a modern central bank, and emerged as such partly in
response to the European Central Bank. This is the most modern bank model and was introduced
with the euro to coordinate the European national banks, which continue to separately manage
their respective economies other than currency exchange and base interest rates.

[edit] Activities and responsibilities

Functions of a central bank include (not all functions are carried out by all banks):

 implementing monetary policy

 determining Interest rates
 controlling the nation's entire money supply
 the Government's banker and the bankers' bank ("lender of last resort")
 managing the country's foreign exchange and gold reserves and the Government's stock
register
 regulating and supervising the banking industry
 setting the official interest rate – used to manage both inflation and the country's
exchange rate – and ensuring that this rate takes effect via a variety of policy mechanisms

[edit] Monetary policy

The Bank of England, central bank of the United Kingdom

The ECB building in Frankfurt

The Bank of Canada

Central banks implement a country's chosen monetary policy. At the most basic level, this
involves establishing what form of currency the country may have, whether a fiat currency, gold-
backed currency (disallowed for countries with membership of the IMF), currency board or a
currency union. When a country has its own national currency, this involves the issue of some
form of standardized currency, which is essentially a form of promissory note: a promise to
exchange the note for "money" under certain circumstances. Historically, this was often a
promise to exchange the money for precious metals in some fixed amount. Now, when many
currencies are fiat money, the "promise to pay" consists of nothing more than a promise to pay
the same sum in the same currency.

In many countries, the central bank may use another country's currency either directly (in a
currency union), or indirectly, by using a currency board. In the latter case, local currency is
directly backed by the central bank's holdings of a foreign currency in a fixed-ratio; this
mechanism is used, notably, in Bulgaria, Hong Kong and Estonia.

In countries with fiat money, monetary policy may be used as a shorthand form for the interest
rate targets and other active measures undertaken by the monetary authority.
[edit] Goals of monetary policy
Price Stability
Unanticipated inflation leads to lender losses. Nominal contracts attempt to account for
inflation. Effort successful if monetary policy able to maintain steady rate of inflation.
High Employment
The movement of workers between jobs is referred to as frictional unemployment. All
unemployment beyond frictional unemployment is classified as unintended
unemployment. Reduction in this area is the target of macroeconomic policy.
Economic Growth
Economic growth is enhanced by investment in technological advances in production.
Encouragement of savings supplies funds that can be drawn upon for investment.
Interest Rate Stability
Volatile interest and exchange rates generate costs to lenders and borrowers. Unexpected
changes that cause damage, making policy formulation difficult.
Financial Market Stability
Foreign Exchange Market Stability
Conflicts Among Goals
Goals frequently cannot be separated from each other and often conflict. Costs must
therefore be carefully weighed before policy implementation.

[edit] Currency issuance

United States Federal Reserve

Many central banks are "banks" in the sense that they hold assets (foreign exchange, gold, and
other financial assets) and liabilities. A central bank's primary liabilities are the currency
outstanding, and these liabilities are backed by the assets the bank owns.

Central banks generally earn money by issuing currency notes and "selling" them to the public
for interest-bearing assets, such as government bonds. Since currency usually pays no interest,
the difference in interest generates income, called seigniorage. In most central banking systems,
this income is remitted to the government. The European Central Bank remits its interest income
to its owners, the central banks of the member countries of the European Union.

Although central banks generally hold government debt, in some countries the outstanding
amount of government debt is smaller than the amount the central bank may wish to hold. In
many countries, central banks may hold significant amounts of foreign currency assets, rather
than assets in their own national currency, particularly when the national currency is fixed to
other currencies.

[edit] Naming of central banks

The People's Bank of China, central bank of People's Republic of China

There is no standard terminology for the name of a central bank, but many countries use the
"Bank of Country" form (e.g., Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Bank of Russia). Some are
styled "national" banks, such as the National Bank of Ukraine; but the term "national bank" is
more often used by privately-owned commercial banks, especially in the United States. In other
cases, central banks may incorporate the word "Central" (e.g. European Central Bank, Central
Bank of Ireland). The word "Reserve" is also often included, such as the Reserve Bank of India,
Reserve Bank of Australia, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the South African Reserve Bank, and
U.S. Federal Reserve System. Many countries have state-owned banks or other quasi-
government entities that have entirely separate functions, such as financing imports and exports.

In some countries, particularly in some Communist countries, the term national bank may be
used to indicate both the monetary authority and the leading banking entity, such as the USSR's
Gosbank (state bank). In other countries, the term national bank may be used to indicate that the
central bank's goals are broader than monetary stability, such as full employment, industrial
development, or other goals.

[edit] Interest rate interventions

Reserve Bank of India Headquarter in Mumbai

Typically a central bank controls certain types of short-term interest rates. These influence the
stock- and bond markets as well as mortgage and other interest rates. The European Central Bank
for example announces its interest rate at the meeting of its Governing Council; in the case of the
Federal Reserve, the Board of Governors.

Both the Federal Reserve and the ECB are composed of one or more central bodies that are
responsible for the main decisions about interest rates and the size and type of open market
operations, and several branches to execute its policies. In the case of the Fed, they are the local
Federal Reserve Banks; for the ECB they are the national central banks.

[edit] Limits of enforcement power

Central Bank of Brazil in Brasília

Contrary to popular perception, central banks are not all-powerful and have limited powers to put
their policies into effect. Most importantly, although the perception by the public may be that the
"central bank" controls some or all interest rates and currency rates, economic theory (and
substantial empirical evidence) shows that it is impossible to do both at once in an open
economy. Robert Mundell's "impossible trinity" is the most famous formulation of these limited
powers, and postulates that it is impossible to target monetary policy (broadly, interest rates), the
exchange rate (through a fixed rate) and maintain free capital movement. Since most Western
economies are now considered "open" with free capital movement, this essentially means that
central banks may target interest rates or exchange rates with credibility, but not both at once.

Even when targeting interest rates, most central banks have limited ability to influence the rates
actually paid by private individuals and companies. In the most famous case of policy failure,
George Soros arbitraged the pound sterling's relationship to the ECU and (after making $2
billion himself and forcing the UK to spend over $8bn defending the pound) forced it to abandon
its policy. Since then he has been a harsh critic of clumsy bank policies and argued that no one
should be able to do what he did.

The most complex relationships are those between the yuan and the US dollar, and between the
euro and its neighbours. The situation in Cuba is so exceptional as to require the Cuban peso to
be dealt with simply as an exception, since the United States forbids direct trade with Cuba. US
dollars were ubiquitous in Cuba's economy after its legalization in 1991, but were officially
removed from circulation in 2004 and replaced by the convertible peso.

[edit] Policy instruments

Bank of Israel

The main monetary policy instruments available to central banks are open market operation,
bank reserve requirement, interest rate policy, re-lending and re-discount (including using the
term repurchase market), and credit policy (often coordinated with trade policy). While capital
adequacy is important, it is defined and regulated by the Bank for International Settlements, and
central banks in practice generally do not apply stricter rules.

To enable open market operations, a central bank must hold foreign exchange reserves (usually
in the form of government bonds) and official gold reserves. It will often have some influence
over any official or mandated exchange rates: Some exchange rates are managed, some are
market based (free float) and many are somewhere in between ("managed float" or "dirty float").

[edit] Interest rates

By far the most visible and obvious power of many modern central banks is to influence market
interest rates; contrary to popular belief, they rarely "set" rates to a fixed number. Although the
mechanism differs from country to country, most use a similar mechanism based on a central
bank's ability to create as much fiat money as required.

The mechanism to move the market towards a 'target rate' (whichever specific rate is used) is
generally to lend money or borrow money in theoretically unlimited quantities, until the targeted
market rate is sufficiently close to the target. Central banks may do so by lending money to and
borrowing money from (taking deposits from) a limited number of qualified banks, or by
purchasing and selling bonds. As an example of how this functions, the Bank of Canada sets a
target overnight rate, and a band of plus or minus 0.25%. Qualified banks borrow from each
other within this band, but never above or below, because the central bank will always lend to
them at the top of the band, and take deposits at the bottom of the band; in principle, the capacity
to borrow and lend at the extremes of the band are unlimited.[6] Other central banks use similar
mechanisms.

It is also notable that the target rates are generally short-term rates. The actual rate that borrowers
and lenders receive on the market will depend on (perceived) credit risk, maturity and other
factors. For example, a central bank might set a target rate for overnight lending of 4.5%, but
rates for (equivalent risk) five-year bonds might be 5%, 4.75%, or, in cases of inverted yield
curves, even below the short-term rate. Many central banks have one primary "headline" rate that
is quoted as the "central bank rate." In practice, they will have other tools and rates that are used,
but only one that is rigorously targeted and enforced.
"The rate at which the central bank lends money can indeed be chosen at will by the central
bank; this is the rate that makes the financial headlines." - Henry C.K. Liu.[7] Liu explains further
that "the U.S. central-bank lending rate is known as the Fed funds rate. The Fed sets a target for
the Fed funds rate, which its Open Market Committee tries to match by lending or borrowing in
the money market ... a fiat money system set by command of the central bank. The Fed is the
head of the central-bank because the U.S. dollar is the key reserve currency for international
trade. The global money market is a USA dollar market. All other currencies markets revolve
around the U.S. dollar market." Accordingly the U.S. situation is not typical of central banks in
general.

A typical central bank has several interest rates or monetary policy tools it can set to influence
markets.

 Marginal lending rate (currently 1.75% in the Eurozone) – a fixed rate for institutions to
borrow money from the central bank. (In the USA this is called the discount rate).
 Main refinancing rate (1.00% in the Eurozone) – the publicly visible interest rate the
central bank announces. It is also known as minimum bid rate and serves as a bidding
floor for refinancing loans. (In the USA this is called the federal funds rate).
 Deposit rate (0.25% in the Eurozone) – the rate parties receive for deposits at the central
bank.

These rates directly affect the rates in the money market, the market for short term loans.

[edit] Open market operations

Through open market operations, a central bank influences the money supply in an economy
directly. Each time it buys securities, exchanging money for the security, it raises the money
supply. Conversely, selling of securities lowers the money supply. Buying of securities thus
amounts to printing new money while lowering supply of the specific security.

The main open market operations are:

 Temporary lending of money for collateral securities ("Reverse Operations" or

"repurchase operations", otherwise known as the "repo" market). These operations are
carried out on a regular basis, where fixed maturity loans (of 1 week and 1 month for the
ECB) are auctioned off.
 Buying or selling securities ("direct operations") on ad-hoc basis.
 Foreign exchange operations such as forex swaps.

All of these interventions can also influence the foreign exchange market and thus the exchange
rate. For example the People's Bank of China and the Bank of Japan have on occasion bought
several hundred billions of U.S. Treasuries, presumably in order to stop the decline of the U.S.
dollar versus the renminbi and the yen.

[edit] Capital requirements

All banks are required to hold a certain percentage of their assets as capital, a rate which may be
established by the central bank or the banking supervisor. For international banks, including the
55 member central banks of the Bank for International Settlements, the threshold is 8% (see the
Basel Capital Accords) of risk-adjusted assets, whereby certain assets (such as government
bonds) are considered to have lower risk and are either partially or fully excluded from total
assets for the purposes of calculating capital adequacy. Partly due to concerns about asset
inflation and repurchase agreements, capital requirements may be considered more effective than
deposit/reserve requirements in preventing indefinite lending: when at the threshold, a bank
cannot extend another loan without acquiring further capital on its balance sheet.

[edit] Reserve requirements

In practice, many banks are required to hold a percentage of their deposits as reserves. Such legal
reserve requirements were introduced in the nineteenth century to reduce the risk of banks
overextending themselves and suffering from bank runs, as this could lead to knock-on effects on
other banks. See also money multiplier. As the early 20th century gold standard and late 20th
century dollar hegemony evolved, and as banks proliferated and engaged in more complex
transactions and were able to profit from dealings globally on a moment's notice, these practices
became mandatory, if only to ensure that there was some limit on the ballooning of money
supply. Such limits have become harder to enforce. The People's Bank of China retains (and
uses) more powers over reserves because the yuan that it manages is a non-convertible currency.

Even if reserves were not a legal requirement, prudence would ensure that banks would hold a
certain percentage of their assets in the form of cash reserves. It is common to think of
commercial banks as passive receivers of deposits from their customers and, for many purposes,
this is still an accurate view.

This passive view of bank activity is misleading when it comes to considering what determines
the nation's money supply and credit. Loan activity by banks plays a fundamental role in
determining the money supply. The central-bank money after aggregate settlement - final money
- can take only one of two forms:

 physical cash, which is rarely used in wholesale financial markets,

 central-bank money.

The currency component of the money supply is far smaller than the deposit component.
Currency and bank reserves together make up the monetary base, called M1 and M2.

[edit] Exchange requirements

To influence the money supply, some central banks may require that some or all foreign
exchange receipts (generally from exports) be exchanged for the local currency. The rate that is
used to purchase local currency may be market-based or arbitrarily set by the bank. This tool is
generally used in countries with non-convertible currencies or partially-convertible currencies.
The recipient of the local currency may be allowed to freely dispose of the funds, required to
hold the funds with the central bank for some period of time, or allowed to use the funds subject
to certain restrictions. In other cases, the ability to hold or use the foreign exchange may be
otherwise limited.

In this method, money supply is increased by the central bank when it purchases the foreign
currency by issuing (selling) the local currency. The central bank may subsequently reduce the
money supply by various means, including selling bonds or foreign exchange interventions.

[edit] Margin requirements and other tools

In some countries, central banks may have other tools that work indirectly to limit lending
practices and otherwise restrict or regulate capital markets. For example, a central bank may
regulate margin lending, whereby individuals or companies may borrow against pledged
securities. The margin requirement establishes a minimum ratio of the value of the securities to
the amount borrowed.

Central banks often have requirements for the quality of assets that may be held by financial
institutions; these requirements may act as a limit on the amount of risk and leverage created by
the financial system. These requirements may be direct, such as requiring certain assets to bear
certain minimum credit ratings, or indirect, by the central bank lending to counterparties only
when security of a certain quality is pledged as collateral.

[edit] Examples of use

The People's Bank of China has been forced into particularly aggressive and differentiating
tactics by the extreme complexity and rapid expansion of the economy it manages. It imposed
some absolute restrictions on lending to specific industries in 2003, and continues to require 1%
more (7%) reserves from urban banks (typically focusing on export) than rural ones. This is not
by any means an unusual situation. The USA historically had very wide ranges of reserve
requirements between its dozen branches. Domestic development is thought to be optimized
mostly by reserve requirements rather than by capital adequacy methods, since they can be more
finely tuned and regionally varied.

[edit] Banking supervision and other activities

Finance

Financial markets[show]

Financial instruments[show]

Corporate finance[show]

Personal finance[show]
 Public finance[show]

Banks and banking[show]

Financial regulation[show]

Standards[show]

Economic history[show]

v • d • e

In some countries a central bank through its subsidiaries controls and monitors the banking
sector. In other countries banking supervision is carried out by a government department such as
the UK Treasury, or an independent government agency (e.g. UK's Financial Services
Authority). It examines the banks' balance sheets and behaviour and policies toward consumers.
Apart from refinancing, it also provides banks with services such as transfer of funds, bank notes
and coins or foreign currency. Thus it is often described as the "bank of banks".

Many countries such as the United States will monitor and control the banking sector through
different agencies and for different purposes, although there is usually significant cooperation
between the agencies. For example, money center banks, deposit-taking institutions, and other
types of financial institutions may be subject to different (and occasionally overlapping)
regulation. Some types of banking regulation may be delegated to other levels of government,
such as state or provincial governments.

Any cartel of banks is particularly closely watched and controlled. Most countries control bank
mergers and are wary of concentration in this industry due to the danger of groupthink and
runaway lending bubbles based on a single point of failure, the credit culture of the few large
banks.

[edit] Independence
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Over the past decade, there has been a trend towards increasing the independence of central
banks as a way of improving long-term economic performance. However, while a large volume
of economic research has been done to define the relationship between central bank
independence and economic performance, the results are ambiguous.

Advocates of central bank independence argue that a central bank which is too susceptible to
political direction or pressure may encourage economic cycles ("boom and bust"), as politicians
may be tempted to boost economic activity in advance of an election, to the detriment of the
long-term health of the economy and the country. In this context, independence is usually
defined as the central bank's operational and management independence from the government.

The literature on central bank independence has defined a number of types of independence.

Legal independence
The independence of the central bank is enshrined in law. This type of independence is
limited in a democratic state; in almost all cases the central bank is accountable at some
level to government officials, either through a government minister or directly to a
legislature. Even defining degrees of legal independence has proven to be a challenge
since legislation typically provides only a framework within which the government and
the central bank work out their relationship.
Goal independence
The central bank has the right to set its own policy goals, whether inflation targeting,
control of the money supply, or maintaining a fixed exchange rate. While this type of
independence is more common, many central banks prefer to announce their policy goals
in partnership with the appropriate government departments. This increases the
transparency of the policy setting process and thereby increases the credibility of the
goals chosen by providing assurance that they will not be changed without notice. In
addition, the setting of common goals by the central bank and the government helps to
avoid situations where monetary and fiscal policy are in conflict; a policy combination
that is clearly sub-optimal.
Operational independence
The central bank has the independence to determine the best way of achieving its policy
goals, including the types of instruments used and the timing of their use. This is the most
common form of central bank independence. The granting of independence to the Bank
of England in 1997 was, in fact, the granting of operational independence; the inflation
target continued to be announced in the Chancellor's annual budget speech to Parliament.
Management independence
The central bank has the authority to run its own operations (appointing staff, setting
budgets, etc.) without excessive involvement of the government. The other forms of
independence are not possible unless the central bank has a significant degree of
management independence. One of the most common statistical indicators used in the
literature as a proxy for central bank independence is the "turn-over-rate" of central bank
governors. If a government is in the habit of appointing and replacing the governor
frequently, it clearly has the capacity to micro-manage the central bank through its choice
of governors.
It is argued that an independent central bank can run a more credible monetary policy, making
market expectations more responsive to signals from the central bank. Recently, both the Bank of
England (1997) and the European Central Bank have been made independent and follow a set of
published inflation targets so that markets know what to expect. Even the People's Bank of China
has been accorded great latitude due to the difficulty of problems it faces, though in the People's
Republic of China the official role of the bank remains that of a national bank rather than a
central bank, underlined by the official refusal to "unpeg" the yuan or to revalue it "under
pressure". The People's Bank of China's independence can thus be read more as independence
from the USA which rules the financial markets, than from the Communist Party of China which
rules the country. The fact that the Communist Party is not elected also relieves the pressure to
please people, increasing its independence.

Governments generally have some degree of influence over even "independent" central banks;
the aim of independence is primarily to prevent short-term interference. For example, the
chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank is appointed by the President of the U.S. (all
nominees for this post are recommended by the owners of the Federal Reserve, as are all the
board members), and his choice must be confirmed by the Congress.

International organizations such as the World Bank, the BIS and the IMF are strong supporters of
central bank independence. This results, in part, from a belief in the intrinsic merits of increased
independence. The support for independence from the international organizations also derives
partly from the connection between increased independence for the central bank and increased
transparency in the policy-making process. The IMF's FSAP review self-assessment, for
example, includes a number of questions about central bank independence in the transparency
section. An independent central bank will score higher in the review than one that is not
independent.

[edit] Criticism
According to the Austrian School of Economics, central banking plays an important role in
business cycles, according to the Austrian Business Cycle Theory. Hayek and Mises both were
able to predict The Great Depression.[8] The main proponents of the Austrian business cycle
theory are Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek and Murray Rothbard.[9] F. A. Hayek shared a
Nobel Prize in economics (with Stockholm school economist, Gunnar Myrdal) in 1974 based on
"their pioneering work in the theory of money" among other contributions. Hayek discusses
central banking in his book, The Use of Knowledge in Society.

[edit] Alternatives

Demurrage currencies provide an alternative and perhaps complementary means towards central
banking's goal of sustaining economic growth with different specific characteristics and a
mechanism that follows naturally from the use of commodity currencies, is more uniform in
operation, does not devalue the currency unit, and is more predictable and potentially more
decentralized in its operation. Historically, the idea of demurrage influenced Keynes' prescription
for net-inflationary central bank policy.
The Eight Major Central Banks

U.S. Federal Reserve System (The Fed)

Structure - The Federal Reserve is probably the most influential central bank in the world. With the U.S.
dollar being on the other side of approximately 90% of all currency transactions, the Fed's sway has a
sweeping effect on the valuation of many currencies. The group within the Fed that decides on interest
rates is the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which consists of seven governors of the Federal
Reserve Board plus five presidents of the 12 district reserve banks. 

Mandate - Long-term price stability and sustainable growth

Frequency of Meeting - Eight times a year

Key Policy Official - Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Following former chairman Alan
Greenspan's retirement in January 2006, U.S. President George W. Bush tapped Bernanke to head the
Federal Reserve, given his four years of experience on the Fed board of governors. His views differ from
Greenspan's in that he believes in inflation targeting and printing money to avoid deflation. The historic
change of power at the U.S. central bank marks the first time in two decades that an academic, who may
focus more on mathematical and econometric models, is chairing the Fed.

European Central Bank (ECB)

Structure - The European Central Bank was established in 1999. The governing council of the ECB is the
group that decides on changes to monetary policy. The council consists of the six members of the
executive board of the ECB, plus the governors of all the national central banks from the 12 euro area
countries. As a central bank, the ECB does not like surprises. Therefore, whenever it plans on making a
change to interest rates, it will generally give the market ample notice by warning of an impending move
through comments to the press.   

Mandate - Price stability and sustainable growth. However, unlike the Fed, the ECB strives to maintain
the annual growth in consumer prices below 2%. As an export dependent economy, the ECB also has a
vested interest in preventing against excess strength in its currency because this poses a risk to its
export market.

Frequency of Meeting - Bi-weekly, but policy decisions are generally only made at meetings where there
is an accompanying press conference, and those happen 11 times a year.
Key Policy Official - Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank. Prior to succeeding
Wim Duisenberg as ECB president in November 2003, Trichet was the president of Bank of France. He
has a reputation for being a cautious and forthright banker, though many criticize his slow response to
European economic stagnation and high unemployment. Typically seen as a hawk with a bias toward
making preemptive moves to ward off inflation, Trichet has the huge responsibility of managing the
monetary policy of 12 nations.

Bank of England (BoE)

Structure - The monetary policy committee of the Bank of England is a nine-member committee
consisting of a governor, two deputy governors, two executive directors and four outside experts. The
BoE, under the leadership of Mervyn King, is frequently touted as one of the most effective central
banks.

Mandate - To maintain monetary and financial stability. The BoE's monetary policy mandate is to keep
prices stable and to maintain confidence in the currency. To accomplish this, the central bank has an
inflation target of 2%. If prices breach that level, the central bank will look to curb inflation, while a level
far below 2% will prompt the central bank to take measures to boost inflation.

Frequency of Meeting - Monthly

Key Policy Official - Mervyn A. King, governor of the Bank of England. Prior to assuming the role of BoE
governor on June 30, 2003, King was a professor at the London School of Economics. Initially joining the
BoE in 1990, he became an executive director and chief economist in March 1991 and was promoted to
deputy governor in 1997. King's "Goldilocks" monetary policy, which is neither too restrictive nor too
accommodative, has propelled the U.K.'s economy into its longest streak of uninterrupted growth in 200
years.

Bank of Japan (BoJ)

Structure - The Bank of Japan's monetary policy committee consists of the BoJ governor, two deputy
governors and six other members. Because Japan is very dependent on exports, the BoJ has an even
more active interest than the ECB does in preventing an excessively strong currency. The central bank
has been known to come into the open market to artificially weaken its currency by selling it against U.S.
dollars and euros. The BoJ is also extremely vocal when it feels concerned about excess currency
volatility and strength.

Mandate - To maintain price stability and to ensure stability of the financial system, which makes
inflation the central bank's top focus.

Frequency of Meeting - Once or twice a month

Key Policy Official - Toshihiko Fukui, governor of Bank of Japan. A lifelong bureaucrat, Fukui joined the
bank of Japan in 1958 and held various posts before succeeding Masaru Hayami as governor on March
19, 2003. Although Fukui has a reputation for being conservative, he has implemented new policies
geared toward greater transparency, such as publishing BoJ economic outlooks and detailed minutes of
policy meetings. On March 9, 2006, he ended the five-year-old ultra-loose monetary policy and prepared
for a return to conventional rate targeting.

Swiss National Bank (SNB)

Structure - The Swiss National Bank has a three-person committee that makes decisions on interest
rates. Unlike most other central banks, the SNB determines the interest rate band rather than a specific
target rate. Like Japan and the euro zone, Switzerland is also very export dependent, which means that
the SNB also does not have an interest in seeing its currency become too strong. Therefore, its general
bias is to be more conservative with rate hikes.

Mandate - To ensure price stability while taking the economic situation into account

Frequency of Meeting - Quarterly

Key Policy Official - Jean-Pierre Roth, chairman of the Swiss National Bank. Roth has spent most of his
professional career at the SNB, starting in 1979; he assumed the role of chairman of the governing board
in 2001. Roth is also a member of the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements and is
governor of the International Monetary Fund for Switzerland.

Bank of Canada (BoC)

Structure - Monetary policy decisions within the Bank of Canada are made by a consensus vote by
Governing Council, which consists of the Bank of Canada governor, the senior deputy governor and four
deputy governors.

Mandate - Maintaining the integrity and value of the currency. The central bank has an inflation target
of 1-3%, and it has done a good job of keeping inflation within that band since 1998.

Frequency of Meeting - Eight times a year

Key Policy Official - David Dodge, governor of the Bank of Canada. Princeton-educated Dodge held
various public offices and taught at a few universities throughout the U.S. and Canada before taking
office as the central bank governor in 2001. He is known for being frank and open about his beliefs, and
has also been credited for carefully balancing inflation with currency appreciation. Mark Carney is set to
replace Dodge in February 2008.

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)

Structure - The Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary policy committee consists of the central bank
governor, the deputy governor, the secretary to the treasurer and six independent members appointed
by the government.

Mandate - To ensure stability of currency, maintenance of full employment and economic prosperity
and welfare of the people of Australia. The central bank has an inflation target of 2-3% per year.

Frequency of Meeting - Eleven times a year, usually on the first Tuesday of each month (with the
exception of January)

Key Policy Official - Glenn Stevens, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia. Stevens has been with the
RBA since 1980. Prior to succeeding Ian Macfarlane, Stevens held a variety of positions at the RBA, from
head of the Economic Analysis Department to deputy governor in December 2001. As with his
predecessor, he is expected to keep a close eye on inflation, which is expected to be a challenge as the
Australian economy continues to boom. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ)

Structure - Unlike other central banks, decision-making power on monetary policy ultimately rests with
the central bank governor.

Mandate - To maintain price stability and to avoid instability in output, interest rates and exchange
rates. The RBNZ has an inflation target of 1.5%. It focuses hard on this target, because failure to meet it
could result in the dismissal of the governor of the RBNZ.

Frequency of Meeting - Eight times a year

Key Policy Official - Alan Bollard, governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Before his appointment
as governor of the RBNZ in September 2002, Bollard served as secretary of the treasury, chairman of the
NZ Commerce Commission and director of the NZ Institute of Economic Research. Known as a strong
inflation hawk with extensive economic training, Bollard has condemned large current account deficits
and raised New Zealand interest rates to a high level of 8.25%. (For further reading, see Current Account
Deficits and Understanding The Current Account In The Balance Of Payments.)

Putting It All Together

Now that you know a little more about the structure, mandate and power players behind each of the
major central banks, you are on your way to being able to better predict the moves these central banks
may make. For many central banks, the inflation target is key. If inflation, which is generally measured
by the consumer price index, is above the central bank's target, then you know that it will have a bias
toward tighter monetary policy. By the same token, if inflation is far below the target, the central bank
will be looking to loosen monetary policy. Combining the relative monetary policies of two central banks
is a solid way to predict where a currency pair may be headed. If one central bank is raising interest
rates while another is sticking to the status quo, the currency pair is expected to move in the direction of
the interest rate spread (barring any unforeseen circumstances).

A perfect example is EUR/GBP in 2006. The euro broke out of its traditional range-trading mode to
accelerate against the British pound. With consumer prices above the European Central Bank's 2%
target, the ECB was clearly looking to raise rates a few more times. The Bank of England, on the other
hand, had inflation slightly below its own target and its economy was just beginning to show signs of
recovery, preventing it from making any changes to interest rates. In fact, throughout the first three
months of 2006, the BoE was leaning more toward lowering interest rates than raising them. This led to
a 200-pip rally in EUR/GBP, which is pretty big for a currency pair that rarely moves.