BIS Quarterly Review, June 2017

International banking activity weakened in Q4 2016. Cross-border claims dropped by $281 billion in the quarter, but were nevertheless up 1.9% in the year to end-December 2016. The decline was driven primarily by reduced lending to non-banks and unrelated banks, while intragroup positions picked up. Trends diverged between advanced economies and emerging market economies (EMEs). The weakness in Q4 2016 mainly reflected a fall in crossborder lending to advanced economies, while aggregated claims on EMEs remained relatively stable. More...

Central clearing - a key element in the reform agenda for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets aimed at reducing systemic risks - made further inroads in the second half of 2016. When, at end-June 2016, the BIS collected comprehensive data on central counterparties (CCPs) for the first time, the numbers showed that central clearing was predominant in OTC interest rate derivatives markets but less prevalent in other OTC derivatives segments. Data at end-December 2016 indicate that central clearing is gaining in importance in these other segments too. More...

Residential property prices increased significantly in almost all advanced economies (AEs) during 2016. On average, prices grew by 4% in real terms - ie deflated by the consumer price index (CPI) - on a year-on-year basis. Their growth was particularly marked in Canada. Prices also rose strongly, though more moderately, in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. They grew less in Japan and in the euro area, where a significant increase in Germany was offset by stable prices in Italy. More...