Federal Reserve profits fall as normalisation takes hold

The Federal Reserve sent lower remittances to the US Treasury in 2018, as normalisation increased interest expenses and drained income.

The Fed sent about $65.4 billion of its profits to the Treasury, down 18.5% from the previous year, and 44.1% down from the $117 billion paid in 2015, a statement from the Fed revealed.

Last year’s payments included $3.2 billion from the Fed’s capital surplus account, which lawmakers tapped into twice to offset government spending.

Staff cuts made at majority of central banks since 2013

The financial crisis, restructuring of departments and expanding mandates have had a dramatic impact on staff numbers at central banks since 2013, according to data from the 2019 Central Banking Directory.

Of the 177 central banks surveyed, 52 saw an increase in their staff numbers between 2013 and 2018, while 104 institutions cut their staffing. A total of 21 central banks saw no changes to the number of staff.

China has retained the top spot in terms of total staff numbers with just over 127

Beyond payments: central bank digital currency

In Sweden, a change is occurring.

On October 26, 2018, the country’s central bank announced it would begin work towards creating a framework for the issuance of e-krona – a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that, if issued, would give members of the general public access to central bank cash in a digital format.

The move was the next step in the Sveriges Riksbank’s exploration of the digital world, fostered in part by the growing decline of cash usage as a means of payment

Vietnam continues with payment card upgrades

The Central Bank of Vietnam is going ahead with plans to upgrade payment cards within the country.

In a statement released January 2, the central bank announced commercial banks will have to switch 30% of their current magnetic strip cards to chip and pin cards by the end of 2019.

The measure is part of the central bank’s “card roadmap”, which aims to increase the proportion of chip and pin cards to at least 60% by the end of 2020. The final goal is to phase out magnetic strip cards entirely

Central Bank of Ireland gives go-ahead to Google payments

The Central Bank of Ireland has issued a payment licence to technology giant Google, under the European Union’s Payment Services Directive (PSD2).

Google was granted a licence on December 24 and now has the ability to “issue payment instruments/and or acquire payment transactions”.

Under PSD2, a payment instrument is defined as either a “personalised device” – including debit or credit cards – or a “personalised set of procedures agreed between the payment service user and the payment service

ECB adopts new capital key

The European Central Bank has made its regular five-yearly change to its capital key, which decides the size of the shares in its capital held by the European Union’s national central banks.

The shares held by NCBs are calculated on the basis of eurozone member states’ proportions of the EU’s population and GDP “in equal measure”, the ECB said. The calculations also adjust the amount NCBs must contribute to the ECB’s capital.

The data for this calculation is provided by the European Commission

Hold His Beer: US Congressman Busted With a Six-Pack on Capitol Hill

One of the brewers of the beers Senator Cunningham was trying to present to the co-chair of the House’s Small Brewers Caucus took note of the incident and made its own suggestion regarding a “very bipartisan” alcoholic beverage.

Rep. Joe Cunningham, a newly elected Democrat congressman from South Carolina, was prevented from entering the House floor on Friday because he was carrying a six-pack of beer on his person.

As Cunningham himself explained on Twitter, the beers were meant to be a gift for Rep. Peter DeFazio, co-chair of the House’s Small Brewers Caucus.

"Making friends when you’re a freshman is hard and I thought I’d grease the skids with some Lowcountry beer," he remarked, adding that DeFazio got the six-pack in the end.

Dozens of Democrats Flock to Puerto Rico for ‘Hamilton’ Broadway Show Amid Shutdown

Dozens of Congressional Democrats flocked to Puerto Rico on Friday to watch the opening weekend of Hamilton amid the ongoing government shutdown, in a trip that organizers hope will allow them to lobby for additional federal funding to the impoverished island.

According to Luis Miranda, a Democratic consultant and the father of Hamilton director Lin-Manuel Miranda, the trip will provide an opportunity for members of Congress, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, to see the need for further investment to Puerto Rico, with the island recovering from the impact of the 2017 hurricane that devastated large swathes of its infrastructure.

“They’ll get to experience firsthand the needs of the island, so that they go back and sort of fight (President) Trump and the Republicans,” he said in an interview with CBS News.

Documents published by The Wall Street Journal‘s Andrew Scurria show hotel rooms at the island’s Concha hotel will cost a hefty $289 a night, while tickets to the show range from $200 to $350.