Several Major Central Banks Take Coordinated Action to Boost Liquidity Amidst Banking Crisis

On Sunday evening, March 19, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the U.S. Federal Reserve, along with several central banks including the Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, and the Swiss National Bank, announced a coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements. The announcement followed a banking crisis that began with the collapse of three U.S. banks and spread internationally.


Turmoil in Banking Industry Leads to Coordinated Action to Enhance Liquidity


Before Wall Street opened on Monday and ahead of the next Federal Reserve meeting, the U.S. central bank, along with five other major central banks, announced decisive action to add liquidity to the financial system. The participating banks included the Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Bank of Japan, Swiss National Bank, and the European Central Bank (ECB). In fact, all participating central banks published similar press releases regarding the new measures.


“To improve the swap lines’ effectiveness in providing U.S. dollar funding, the central banks currently offering U.S. dollar operations have agreed to increase the frequency of 7-day maturity operations from weekly to daily,” the Federal Reserve announcement details. “These daily operations will commence on Monday, March 20, 2023, and will continue at least through the end of April.”