European Central Bank May Get an Enforcement Role

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Thursday, September 13, 2012

European Central Bank May Get an Enforcement Role

By JACK EWING

FRANKFURT — To the European Central Bank’s existing duties — bulwark against inflation, lender of last resort, ultimate guardian of the euro — add another task: top cop for the euro zone’s banking system.

If the European Parliament and euro zone member states approve a plan presented on Wednesday by the European Commission, at the beginning of next year the central bank will become chief regulator of all banks in the euro zone, with the power to impose fines, remove top executives and even revoke banking licenses.

The central bank would supersede national regulators, which have been accused of being overly protective of the banks they oversee and reluctant to require the lenders to grapple with their problems.

But before the central bank can begin to tackle the task of regulating the more than 6,000 credit institutions in the euro zone, new staff members must be hired, money must be allocated and a clear structure must be developed to coordinate its work with the national regulators that will continue to handle most of the day-to-day tasks. No one yet has even rough estimates of how many people or how much money the central bank will need to perform the new role.

Even though the European Commission’s proposal for a banking union is a big leap, it does not grant the central bank powers on a par with those of United States banking authorities like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Under the current plan, the central bank would not have the resources needed to prevent bank runs or the authority to arrange a decent burial for a terminally ill institution.

The plan for a banking union is a work in progress, assembled in the midst of a fast-moving crisis. It is doubtful whether the central bank’s supervision of banks will do much to ease tension in the euro zone, though it might help in the future.

“They need to develop their specific operational expertise,” said Jörg Rocholl, president of the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin. “I think of this as a long-term project that can prevent the next crisis from happening, to break this nexus between banks and states.”

The plan outlined by the European Commission would, if ratified, give the central bank new supervisory powers on Jan. 1. But it is likely to take six months from that date for the central bank to build up the capacity to regulate just the biggest, cross-border banks in the euro zone. It could be a year before it is able to supervise all the banks.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Some in Europe Resist Reach of Central Banking Plan

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Thursday, September 13, 2012

Some in Europe Resist Reach of Central Banking Plan

By JAMES KANTER and STEPHEN CASTLE

BRUSSELS — The European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, described the proposal for a single supervisor for the region’s banks on Wednesday as the first step in a renewed drive for a federally unified Europe.

But immediate dissent from different European quarters over the ambition and scope of the banking plan, as well as concern about its feasibility, were reminders that a call like Mr. Barroso’s for “more Europe” as a solution to the Continent’s ills might be more easily said than done.

Delivering his annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Mr. Barroso outlined a plan for more central banking regulation as a crucial part of the effort to resolve the region’s debt crisis.

The proposal, which would require the unanimous approval of the European Union’s 27 member nations, would give the European Central Bank the power to withdraw banking licenses, fine noncompliant lenders and require all 6,000 euro zone banks to join the system by Jan. 1, 2014.

Mr. Barroso also opened the door to a new discussion on revising the bloc’s rule book, even invoking the word federation to describe his ultimate goal. But something akin to a United States of Europe is regarded as a step too far by many Europeans, who fear a loss of national sovereignty.

“A deep and genuine economic and monetary union can be started under the current treaty but can only be completed with changes in the E.U. treaties,” he said. “I call for a federation of nation states, not a superstate.”

He indicated that proposals for a new treaty could come as soon as 2014.

That will raise concerns among some politicians who remember how plans to draw up a constitution for the bloc took several years to draft and were then rejected by referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005.

The Lisbon Treaty, which took the place of the constitution, was intended to be the last redrawing of the rules for many years. Any new treaty would require the approval of all member states.

Seeking to paint himself as a moderate with ideas that could stem extremism during a period of economic distress, Mr. Barroso said that “we must not allow the populists and the nationalists to set a negative agenda.”

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Central Banker Facing a Test

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Central Banker Facing a Test

By LANDON THOMAS Jr.

LONDON — Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, has helped the euro zone survive August. But can he save September?

This month, Mr. Draghi stared down bearish international traders who were convinced that Europe’s common currency project would collapse.

“It is pointless to bet against the euro — it is pointless to go short on the euro,” Mr. Draghi said at a news conference on Aug. 2, a week after telling the world that the central bank would do “whatever it takes” to save the euro union.

Investors, or at least the ones venturing into the lightly traded markets this month, have taken heed.

Since Aug. 2, the euro is up 3.1 percent against the dollar. More notably, battered stocks and bonds in Spain and Italy have soared. The euro bears have rushed to close out their negative bets, and even some risk-averse traders have piled into assets they previously scorned.

But it will be September and not the lazy days of August that will truly test Mr. Draghi’s market-moving mettle. He will face severe pressure to provide specific details of his plan to shore up the euro zone’s weaker members by buying their bonds.

The first big test could come next week, on Sept. 6, when the bank’s governing council meets. Afterward, Mr. Draghi will again hold a news conference to try to explain whatever the central bank has or has not done. Bearish traders will be poised to pounce yet again on any signs of waffling.

Worries are also swirling that Germany will refuse to grant Greece the time and resources it is seeking to reduce its debt, something that could push it out of the euro currency bloc. Looming as well is the possibility that a decision from Germany’s Constitutional Court, expected on Sept. 12, will rule out German involvement in the region’s new bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism.

The schism within German policy circles has been revealed in recent days. In an interview with the magazine Der Spiegel on Sunday, the head of the German central bank, Jens Weidmann, who is also on the European Central Bank Governing Council, fiercely criticized any intervention by the European bank in bond markets.

But on Monday, Jörg Asmussen, a German on the E.C.B.’s executive board who was a colleague of Mr. Weidmann in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, said during a speech in Hamburg that the bank had to buy bonds to stabilize European debt markets.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

HP Helps Hospitals Improve Patient Flow

News release from Hewlett Packard:

Press Release : February 08, 2012

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HP Helps Hospitals Improve Patient Flow with Central Logic

Central Logic software integrated with HP touchscreen technology can save hospitals time and money

Topics: Touchscreen Technology

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- HP today announced it is working with Central Logic, a leading healthcare software provider, to help hospitals improve patient care, increase hospital efficiency and reduce costs.

HP is integrating Central Logic Core™, an intuitive, web-based bed management system, into its HP Z600 Workstations. Hospital staff can replace their whiteboards with this HP touchscreen technology solution to more easily manage patient case processing and bed capacity optimization.

Hospitals of all sizes can choose from any number of display options including the HP TouchSmart 9300, HP 47-inch touch capable digital signage displays and the highly mobile HP Slate 2.

Central Logic’s software will be sold exclusively on HP hardware through HP Healthcare Specialist Partners and distributors such as Ingram-Micro.

“The combination of Central Logic Core software and HP technology answers hospital community demands to deliver reliable solutions that leverage touch technology,” said Chris Mertens, vice president, Healthcare Practice, Personal Systems Group, HP. “Touchscreen solutions can save hospitals valuable time and money and result in maximum patient flow optimization.”

“We see this solution as a way of automating bed management processes and replacing the whiteboards you typically see throughout hospitals with functional, dynamic, digital displays that all nurses and doctors can easily use,” said Darin Vercillo, chief executive officer, Central Logic. “Central Logic’s patient flow solutions operated with HP’s touch technology provides tremendous value and will greatly increase hospital productivity.” 

Central Logic offers a full suite of patient flow software solutions utilizing HP TouchSmart PCs and digital signage displays to help manage patients throughout their hospital stay. Central Logic’s ForeFront™ software is the industry’s leading patient transfer and admission solution, Central Logic Edge™ software assists with patient transport and dispatching, Central Logic Connect™ aids the discharging process, and Central Logic Insight™ centralizes physician scheduling and availability.

More information on HP Healthcare solutions is available at: www.hp.com/go/hphealthcare

About Central Logic, Inc.

Central Logic is the healthcare industry’s leading provider of innovative patient flow software and consultative expertise. Since 2005, the company’s solutions have transformed patient transfer processes for some of the United States’ most respected medical systems and hospitals. Central Logic works collaboratively with physicians, administrators and staff to design and deliver patient flow solutions that increase patient throughput while conserving internal resources. For more information, please visit http://www.centrallogic.com/.