samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
To be clear, the Senior Insurance Managers Regime should not be operated in such a way so as to put good people off. The desired outcome is that of effective governance, not enforcement. Insurance innovation and regulation Preparedness for what tomorrow’s world may bring will likely involve a degree of change – greater risk-awareness, ensuring good governance, collaboration with the regulator – but is the insurance industry capable of that change? The insurance industry has been founded upon taking the long term view. This is a concept that perhaps evokes a perception of consistency rather than innovation. However, the UK industry has traditionally not shied away from changing with the times, with the London market being a particular example. Already, in response to changes on the horizon, we are seeing shifts in business models. Insurers are refreshing their product offerings, altering operational structures and enhancing distribution channels. The PRA has an important role to play in this so let me return to the subject of regulation. To be clear, regulators have no intrinsic reason to stifle innovation. Far better to supervise a successful, profitable, innovating enterprise than a declining out-dated one. Underpinning that view, I would say that there should not be a prohibitive trade-off between insurers’ ability to innovate versus their ability to manage risks. Instead, the PRA will need to work with its regulated entities closely and early in the process of innovation.

Technological enhancements bring new opportunities to businesses but the pace of innovation must be met by the pace of corresponding safeguards to deal with the risks. In particular, the risk of cyberattack is a great concern. The pace here is really changing very rapidly. As with the other risks, insurers are affected for both good and ill: with ever more frequent and increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks on businesses and individuals, insurers are being relied upon more and more for protection. A new business opportunity for sure. But, unlike most other insured risks, insurance firms could themselves be significant victims. It is difficult to predict how cyber-crime – or even cyber accidents – will evolve, and it is very challenging to obtain data for losses that arise out of cyber-events. This makes it all the more difficult to quantify reserves, models and prices as well as develop operational safeguards internally. An Insurer wishing to expand into any new business area needs to demonstrate to the PRA that new risk exposures are well understood and that the required capital for an altered risk profile has been fully considered. As stated previously, business model analysis forms an important part of the PRA’s supervisory approach and a focus for its supervisory activity. Insurers will need to deal with the PRA in an open, co-operative and constructive manner to allow us to understand whether the business model is sustainable and to identify key vulnerabilities. This will ensure a more informed, focussed and proportionate supervisory approach.
But apart from this progress on the international and European levels, the crisis has also required national governments to come up with energetic responses at home. This is because not all economies faced the onset of this crisis with the same macroeconomic imbalances or the same weaknesses in their banking systems or supervisory arrangements. From the start of the crisis, governments in some of the biggest economies were, in addition to compensating for the effects of the tightening – and even closing down – of certain funding markets, obliged to support some of their major banks with public funds. Fortunately, the more strictly regulated and supervised Spanish banking system withstood reasonably well this first wave of the crisis. But that does not mean we were immune to it. The crisis entailed an abrupt decline in world growth and gave rise to major problems on international funding markets which significantly affected the Spanish economy in general, and its banking system in particular. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  In the long upturn prior to the crisis, the Spanish economy had built up significant imbalances, such as the external deficit, the increase in private debt and the excessive expansion of the real estate sector. In parallel, weaknesses had been incubating in the banking industry, especially in parts of the savings bank sector.

The end of the minimum exchange rate has major repercussions for the Swiss economy, and it was by no means an easy decision for the SNB. Yet this is not the first time that the Swiss economy has had to react to shocks and changes in the international environment, and the experience was often painful. The example of the watch industry shows that even a severe crisis can be overcome. Unfortunately, this example is not readily transferable to other export industries. Many companies currently find themselves compelled to seek cost reductions and efficiency gains. The economic outlook depends to a great extent on global economic developments. In its latest monetary policy assessment, the SNB is projecting that momentum in the global economy will pick up again. This should cushion the impact of the exchange rate shock somewhat, and allow Switzerland to return to positive growth in the second half of the year. While inflation has dropped well into negative territory, as things currently stand, a sustained price decline - or, indeed, a deflationary spiral - is not to be expected. Overall, the Swiss franc is currently significantly overvalued. Monetary policy is geared towards this challenging set of circumstances, and is guided by the SNB's willingness to take an active role in the foreign exchange market and apply negative interest rates. This twopronged approach is designed to ease the upward pressure on the Swiss franc. However, in the current climate there is, regrettably, no easy solution that would absorb all external disruptions.
It is about growing the Singaporean talent base as well as being a magnet for the world’s talents. It is about a vibrant entrepreneurial and innovation base, characterised by a lot of start-ups, a lot of experimentation, and a lot of R&D. A key aspect of dynamism is also high rates of churn in the labour and capital resources in our firms: There needs to be continuous flux and reallocation of resources in response to changing economic and market conditions. Both capital and labour need to be nimble and highly adaptive. The structure of the Singapore economy is well suited for sustaining our dynamism. Singapore’s strong advanced manufacturing and related trade and logistics activities are internationally competitive. In modern services, comprising financial, professional services, and info- communications technology, we enjoy an international hub status. Together, these sectors make up some 40% of our economy. If our domestic services can be further professionalised – job by job, each worker possessing deep skills and delivering a high quality of service, we will be a dynamic economy. Finally, dynamism must be about our people. We must remain an open society. 16 / 17  BIS central bankers' speeches  Not just in being open to foreign trade, investment, and talent, but being deeply connected to the rest of the world. Not just attracting foreign talent to Singapore but Singaporeans venturing abroad as our companies and industries internationalise.

Stricter capital requirements could influence monetary policy in a number of ways. First, a tightening of capital requirements would counteract the build-up of financial imbalances. Second, the countercyclical buffer could cushion the adverse effects of a future downturn on bank lending. Third, higher levels of equity capital will increase banks’ resilience and thereby reduce the likelihood of financial crises. The example also sheds light on conditions that have been important to the conduct of monetary policy in recent years. Low interest rates internationally are an important explanation for the low key policy rate in Norway. At the same time, banks have increased their lending margins in anticipation of higher capital requirements. Let me emphasise that capital adequacy requirements are only one of several factors influencing bank lending margins and rates. And bank lending rates are only one of many factors that are given weight when the key policy rate is set. The relationship between capital requirements and the key policy rate is not straightforward. The example above shows that it may be appropriate to lower the key policy rate while at the same time tightening capital requirements for banks. But situations could also arise where it would be appropriate to raise the key policy rate while at the same time tightening capital requirements for banks. This could be the case if the economy was booming, with prospects for high inflation and a concurrent risk of a build-up of financial imbalances.
In particular, the IASB issued the IFRS 9 based on the expected current loss model while the FASB issued its own Standard introducing the notion that provisions should cover the whole expected loss of the loan from inception. Regardless of the technical differences between the two, the crucial element is that both use as a key element the expected loss concept to account for credit losses. In any event, it is fair to say that the new provisioning standards introduce major changes compared to pre-crisis practices. One important change refers to the way that credit loss provisions should be recognised in a timely fashion because it was perceived that the incurred loss model, in force when the crisis took place, considered credit losses “too little  3/7  and too late in the cycle”, and that affected directly the amount of provisions set aside by banks (deemed very small and highly insufficient). A direct consequence of the implementation of the expected loss model is a more timely recognition of credit losses together with an envisaged improvement in banks’ credit risk management. These two elements are expected to positively and significantly contribute to the stability of the banking system. Nonetheless, this assumption largely depends on banks’ awareness and commitment in terms of their ability and willingness to appropriately capture the risk embedded in their loan portfolio. All in all, to understand the performance of the loan book, one has first to look at the specific process of granting loans.

Peter Pang: Promoting the prudent development of m-payment in Hong Kong Speech by Mr Peter Pang, Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, at the “Tapping the potential of mobile commerce with innovation” Conference, Hong Kong, 18 September 2014. *  *  *  Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, 1. I would like to thank the South China Morning Post for inviting me to talk about the exciting topic of mobile commerce. I. (a)  Prelude – a quick recap of the technology evolution The past  2. Mobile technology has come a long way over the past two decades. I recently came across an article that indicates that in an upcoming technology exhibition in London, a futuristic smartphone will be put on show. It offers a wide range of computing features, and has a stylish screen. If you carry it on the street today, I am quite sure it will have a “wow effect” no less than any other new model that is on offer right now. 3. Don’t get me wrong – I am not talking about any latest phone models. I am talking about the first “smart-phone” in the world, the IBM Simon, which went on sale in the summer of 1994, and would be put on display in London’s Science Museum in October this year. 1 4. The model disappeared from the market around two years after its launch.
Notwithstanding this 25bp increase, Bank Rate remains close to its lowest rate its 323 year history (Slide 2). 4  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  4  I wasn’t in that majority. That was not because I disagree with the overall framework for setting monetary policy in this exceptional period, but rather because I have a somewhat different assessment of the economy. By way of framing my own decision, let me give a few comparisons to how things might have turned out in the absence of Brexit, for which I will use the MPC’s May 2016 forecast as a proxy (Slide 3). GDP growth in the year to 2017 Q2 (the latest quarter for which we have a full set of both expenditure and labour market data and the latest data available at the time of the November MPC decision) was 0.8pp weaker than the MPC’s May 2016 forecast, within which business investment growth was a full 5.2pp lower. Despite the weakness in output, employment and hours have actually been stronger than expected, meaning productivity growth per hour was been 2.2pp weaker in the year to 2017Q2. Nominal wage growth was 1.5pp weaker than in the pre-Brexit forecast, which, coupled with the effects of the depreciation on inflation, meant real wage growth was 2.6pp weaker. So, how does this nexus of data fit into my assessment of the economy? Let me start with demand, which is arguably the most straightforward to explain.

But effective delivery extends well beyond mechanically changing parameters within our systems. The Bank’s operations in money, gilt, corporate bond and foreign exchange markets, its operation of the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, all supported by its comprehensive financial and operational risk 8  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  8  management framework, afford it a unique insight into the workings of the financial system. Markets and Banking staff are thus able to advise members of the MPC, FPC and PRC about key developments in monetary and financial conditions. Our operations also leave us well placed to assess the resilience and effectiveness of markets and the infrastructure that underpin them. The Bank has always stood ready to use its convening powers or, where necessary, intervene directly in order to help ensure the smooth functioning of core sterling markets. But this has been given new impetus in recent years as initiatives such as the Open Forum and the Fair and Effective Markets Review made clear that the Bank considers scanning the horizon for emerging vulnerabilities as important as stepping in when risks have crystallised. Working to monitor and improve resilience and effectiveness is something I consider to be a core part of delivering not only monetary, but also financial stability. And I believe the Bank’s work in this area will play an important role in ensuring the UK has a resilient, effective and innovative financial system as it leaves the EU.
Brian P Sack: Dollar asset markets – prospects after the crisis Remarks by Mr Brian P Sack, Executive Vice President of the Markets Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the Financial Markets Association ACI 2010 World Congress, Sydney, 26 March 2010. These remarks were presented via video conference from New York. *  *  *  Introduction The recent financial crisis provided global capital markets with the most significant stress event that they have faced in many decades. For U.S. asset markets, this episode revealed a wide range of outcomes in terms of their ability to function though a period of stress. Some markets demonstrated remarkable liquidity and an unparalleled status as a safe haven for investors; others simply fell apart as investors shied away from illiquid assets with too much complexity and opacity and too much exposure to counterparty risk. Indeed, for many of the markets involved in the intermediation of credit in the U.S. financial system, the crisis revealed structural deficiencies that made the system unstable. Once revealed, this instability required an immediate and forceful policy response to limit the damage. As certain markets ground to a halt, policymakers took extraordinary actions to mitigate the damage to the broader financial system and, ultimately, to the real economy. Those actions, which included a range of liquidity facilities launched by the Federal Reserve and by central banks around the world, proved effective and brought the financial system back from the brink of a complete meltdown.

Research tells us with a high degree of confidence that: •  In the Northern Hemisphere the last 30 years have been the warmest since AngloSaxon times; indeed, eight of the ten warmest years on record in the UK have occurred since 2002; 3  •  Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are at levels not seen in 800,000 years; and  •  The rate of sea level rise is quicker now than at any time over the last 2 millennia. 4  Evidence is mounting of man’s role in climate change. Human drivers are judged extremely likely to have been the dominant cause of global warming since the mid-20th century. 5 While natural fluctuations may mask it temporarily, the underlying human-induced warming trend of two-tenths of a degree per decade has continued unabated since the 1970s. 6 While there is always room for scientific disagreement about climate change (as there is with any scientific issue) I have found that insurers are amongst the most determined advocates for tackling it sooner rather than later. And little wonder. While others have been debating the theory, you have been dealing with the reality: •  Since the 1980s the number of registered weather-related loss events has tripled; and  •  Inflation-adjusted insurance losses from these events have increased from an annual average of around $ in the 1980s to around $ over the past decade. 7  The challenges currently posed by climate change pale in significance compared with what might come.
This has enabled us to undertake extensive financial relief to businesses and households. However, just like how sand piled in dams may delay but not prevent breakage, it is inevitable that the unprecedented support will not be able to help sustain all borrowers. To be 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  clear, that was never the intention to begin with. As relief measures are gradually rolled back, we should expect non-performing loans (NPLs) to rise, particularly among borrowers that are unable to make successful adjustments to post-pandemic operating environment. It is therefore important for supervisory authorities to have a sound and credible exit strategy to ensure that the expected build-up of NPLs does not impair the functioning of the banking sector and hamper economic recovery. As rightly pointed out in the World Bank Report launched today, this is not an easy task. In deciding the timing and pace of roll back, policymakers all over the world need to consider the uneven recovery across sectors, as well as continued uncertainties surrounding the pandemic trajectory itself. At the same time, it is crucial to maintain support for distressed but viable borrowers to facilitate economic recovery while recognising the risk afflicting banks’ balance sheet. On the latter, it is imperative for authorities to ensure that the focus on sound credit risk management by banks does not translate to excessive risk aversion that could jeopardise the recovery process.

The statement shall comprise the first two parts of the report by the Zimmerli Expert Commission (on the creation of integrated financial market oversight and sanctions). The third part of the project (examination of expanded prudential oversight) will be dealt with at a later point in time. The Federal Council has taken various concerns of the National Bank into account. As regards the division of tasks between the supervisory board and the management board in particular, the Federal Council has moved closer to the view held by the National Bank, which believes it important that the power of disposition remains with the management board. As a non-professional body, the supervisory board is inevitably faced with conflicts of interest, which could prove an obstacle to individual dispositions. However, the experience and know-how of the supervisory board can be fully exploited with regard to the deliberation of questions of principle, budget and important staff issues. Furthermore, we support increased budgetary autonomy of the Federal Financial Market Oversight Authority (FINMA), as we are convinced that a financial centre that is as complex and significant as the Swiss financial centre requires an authority with a supervisory and management board whose powers are equal to those of the corresponding bodies of banks and insurance companies. The National Bank backs the project regarding the FINMA Act. We continue to view the integration of financial market oversight as a means to improve oversight rather than as an end in itself.
In trade settlement, Hong Kong banks handled a phenomenal amount of RMB2.9 trillion in the first half of 2014, as compared to the total amount of Mainland’s external trade settled in RMB of RMB3.3 trillion in the same period. Hong Kong has also become the largest issuance hub of offshore RMB bonds or Dim Sum bonds, with a total of 93 issuances in the first six months of this year, amounting to RMB130 billion in value. The total amount of outstanding RMB bonds issued in Hong Kong amounted to RMB380 billion at end-June this year. In addition, the forex and financial derivative markets for RMB have grown steadily over these few years, which, according to SWIFT, have raised RMB from the 20th position of the most used payment currency to the 7th position lately. Most strikingly, the value of payments that go through our RMB Real Time Gross Settlement system has registered a phenomenal growth, reaching an average of around RMB700 billion each working day. 4. I won’t bore you further with the numbers as I am sure you are very familiar with them. Surely it is useful for us to pause, look back, take stock and try to think of ways in which we can continue to excel as we go forward from where we are.

Luis M Linde: Brief review of recent developments in the Spanish economy Testimony by Mr Luis M Linde, Governor of the Bank of Spain, before the Senate Budget Committee in connection with the draft State Budget for 2013, Madrid, 21 November 2012. *  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen, This is the first time I am following the tradition of the Governor of the Banco de España in giving testimony to this House as part of the debate on the State Budget. It is a pleasure to do so. The Budget is being debated this year in a national and international economic context beset by difficulties. Consequently, before analysing fundamental aspects of the Budget, I think it is appropriate to briefly review some of the most significant recent developments in the Spanish economy. I will confine my comments to those developments I consider most important for the debate on this draft law. The international setting and the euro area In the current circumstances, marked by the need to complete a series of difficult adjustments, the Spanish economy’s ability to recover is heavily conditioned by the fragile external setting. On the most recent projections of the main international organisations and most private analysts, the euro area’s gross domestic product – and, therefore, the imports of our main economic partners – will hardly grow next year.