Central Banks

A group of seven major central banks including the U.S. Federal Reserve set out on Friday how a digital currency could look like to help catch up with China's "trail blazing" and leapfrog private projects like Facebook Inc's Libra stablecoin.

The Bank of Japan said on Friday it would begin experimenting next year on how to operate its own digital currency, joining efforts by other central banks to catch up to rapid private-sector innovation.

Wall Street banks are on track for a record year of revenue from trading U.S. government-backed mortgage debt, industry sources told Reuters, amid a surge in demand - from the Federal Reserve in its battle against the pandemic, and from investors hunting yield.   

The world's largest central banks -- and even some of the smaller ones -- are toying with the idea of issuing digital currencies.

British shares rose on Thursday after the Bank of England Governor said he thought a post-Brexit trade deal was possible and hinted at additional stimulus as rising numbers of coronavirus cases lead to fresh restrictions.

The European Central Bank may be more concerned about the pandemic-hit economy than analysts had previously thought, based on its September policy meeting minutes issued on Thursday, suggesting it could roll out more stimulus later this year.

The Bank of England (BoE) on Thursday backed plans to make investors wait up to six months before getting money back from property funds, saying there could be benefits from an even longer delay.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Thursday that risks to Britain's economy were "very much on the downside" and that the central bank was ready to use its policy firepower to limit the impact of a second wave of COVID cases.

Britain's full exit from the European Union could be bumpy for investors as banks staff new hubs in the bloc, but there are few threats to wider financial stability, the Bank of England said on Thursday.