Top Interest Rate Headlines 08-17-11: Plosser Explains His Dissent

Plosser Explains His Dissent
By Gary Siegel, the Bond Buyer
Calling the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision “inappropriate policy at an inappropriate time," and its statement on the economy “excessively negative,” Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles I. Plosser said he would have liked to wait until September and watch data before making such a decision.
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Bank of America Said to Weigh Foreclosure Deal That Allows New York Probe
By Hugh Son, Cheyenne Hopkins and Lorraine Woellert, Bloomberg
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) may settle a state and federal probe of foreclosure practices in a deal that lets New York proceed with an inquiry into securitizations, according to two people with direct knowledge of the talks.
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Iceland Central Bank Hikes Interest Rate 25bps to 4.50%
Cental Bank News
Iceland's Sedlabanki raised its seven-day collateral lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.50% from 4.25%.  The Bank also increased the deposit rate by 25 basis points to 3.50% and overnight lending rate to 5.50%.  The Bank said: "The interest rate increase is in accordance with recent MPC statements and reflects the fact that the inflation outlook for the coming two years has deteriorated still further since the Committee's last meeting," and noted "It is necessary to act now to contain inflation and reduce potential pressure on the krona."
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The World's Wealthiest Sovereign Funds
Economy Watch
Sovereign funds are investment funds that are owned by the state, and composed of various financial assets such as stocks, bonds, properties and other financial instruments.
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Fed’s Fisher: Businesses Need Regulatory Clarity, Not More Monetary Stimulus
By Anusha Shrivastava, WSJ.com
Businesses in the U.S. need more clarity on fiscal and regulatory policies rather than further monetary accommodation, said a top central bank official, underscoring this is essential for job creation
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US mutual fund outflows surge after downgrade
Reuters
U.S. mutual funds had the largest outflows in nearly three years in the wake of the
downgrade of the U.S. credit rating by Standard & Poor's, data
from the Investment Company Institute showed on Wednesday.
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US court approves Lehman CLO deal
By Dan McCrum and Nicole Bullock in New York, FT.com
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RBS cuts some customers' ATM access
BBC
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to stop nearly a tenth of its account holders using cash machines owned by rivals. This will affect nearly a million people with basic bank accounts that do not offer overdrafts or cheque books.
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Citi Clears First Trades on New York Portfolio Clearing (NYPC) with BlackRock
Morningstar
Citi, a global leader in central clearing, announced today that it has begun clearing trades on New York Portfolio Clearing (NYPC), a joint venture of The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation and NYSE Euronext. Citi cleared trades executed on NYSE Liffe U.S. for BlackRock, a leading asset management, risk management and advisory services firm managing more than $3.6 trillion for institutional and retail clients worldwide.
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Pressure Remains on ECB
BY TODD BUELL, WSJ.com
The failure of Tuesday's summit between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to convince markets of a speedy resolution to the euro-zone debt crisis puts huge pressure on the European Central Bank.
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