samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
There are no secrets to the strategies, because the factors for success are not unique to Singapore. The challenge is in their execution and implementation. Here are five things that we have set out to do in order to excel as a financial centre in the New Economy. Enhance business environment First, we are seeking to further enhance our conducive pro-business environment. Economic and political stability, an efficient and impartial legal system, comprehensive and up-to-date market infrastructure, and fiscal discipline that allows low taxes are key preconditions, more important than special incentives for the financial sector. Singapore has established a reputation for delivering these preconditions, which we will maintain and improve upon in future. Build talent pool Second, we are building up our talent pool. In a knowledge-intensive industry like financial services, Singapore will not get anywhere without world-class talent. We are making a concerted effort to attract foreign talent who can make a contribution to Singapore, and to integrate them into our economy and society. We are also nurturing home talent to its full potential through a good education system for the young and ongoing training opportunities for those in the workforce. As Asian companies begin to use more complex strategies and products, our financial institutions need the expertise to advise on these sophisticated techniques. From time to time they will fly out experts from London or New York to service clients, but we must also build up our own indigenous capabilities.

Lee Hsien Loong: Financial centres today and tomorrow: a Singapore perspective Address by Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the International Monetary Conference, Singapore, 4 June 2001. *  *  *  Mr Sandy Warner, President, IMC Ladies and Gentlemen:  Introduction I welcome all the delegates to this first IMC of the new century. Please allow me to share with you a Singapore perspective on financial centres as they are and as we expect them to be in the years ahead. In the last few decades the pattern of international financial activity has undergone major changes. Starting with a high concentration in a very small number of financial centres, activity then spilt over to more locations. But now with globalisation revolutionising the financial industry, and expanding the worldwide network of financial markets and activities, paradoxically the trend again seems to be towards concentration, with fewer mega financial centres, complemented by smaller centres with more specialised focuses. In Europe, London is the premier full-service centre, with others like Frankfurt and Zurich occupying strong niches - Frankfurt in the derivatives business and Zurich in private banking. In America, New York is pre-eminent with Chicago playing a specialised role in financial futures, and Boston in asset management. Both London and New York are not just continental but global financial centres, where the top financial institutions have congregated and capital markets run broad and deep.
Norges Bank  Output gap for mainland Norway, based on annual figures 5  5  4  4  3  3  2  2  1  1  0  0  -1  -1  -2  -2  -3  -3  -4 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002  -4  Source: Norges Bank  SG CME 08.06..2004  5  The following chart shows a similar estimation using the quarterly figures that I just showed you. Norges Bank  Output gap for mainland Norway, based on annual figures and quarterly figures 5 4 3  5  Annual figures  4  Quarterly figures  3  2  2  1  1  0  0  -1  -1  -2  -2  -3  -3  -4 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002  -4  SG CME 08.06..2004  Source: Norges Bank  6  We must not and cannot fine-tune economic developments. We must therefore exercise caution in our use of short-term statistics and quarterly figures. Changes in these figures may represent more noise than news. The challenge facing us is to identify the contours of cyclical developments. 16  See Inflation Report 1/2003 for further discussion on the method of calculation. BIS Review 36/2004  9  Allow me to conclude.

Before I conclude, allow me to mention one area of concern not only to the microfinance sector, but the entire financial sector in general, and that is money laundering. In the absence of effective cooperation among the various players in the financial sector, there will be no realistic change of defeating or significantly curbing money laundering. It is therefore imperative that the microfinance sector becomes more alert and report suspected cases of money laundering to the Anti-Money Laundering Investigations Unit for corrective action. Money laundering, if left unchecked can erode the integrity of our financial system. Ladies and Gentlemen, in conclusion I wish to state that the Bank of Zambia is committed to the development of a robust financial sector in Zambia, and I would therefore like in this particular instance, to call upon the microfinance industry to play its role effectively by expanding its outreach so that more poor people can have access to financial services. I implore you to discuss issues openly and now declare this 8th Annual General Meeting of AMIZ officially opened. Thank you and God bless you. 2  BIS Review 72/2006
In order to avert damage to Switzerland, on the Sunday before last the authorities decided on extensive measures to safeguard financial stability. Within the framework of its mandate, the SNB contributed to this solution, acting as lender of last resort to ensure the stability of the Swiss and global financial system. Today we are talking about another element of our mandate: ensuring a well-functioning system of payment transactions in Switzerland. All three elements – price stability, financial stability and a well-functioning payment system – are important for public confidence in money. This evening, we will be looking at the future of cashless payments. The payments system is currently undergoing extensive change, both in Switzerland and around the world. The main drivers of this change are the ongoing digitalisation and the increasing use of new technologies such as distributed ledger technology (DLT). These are enabling new forms of money and are fundamentally changing the way we make payments. The key question we are addressing in our talk today is: How can we harness the potential of digitalisation and new technologies in payments while maintaining confidence in the payments system and in money itself? In other words: How can we innovate while safeguarding the tried and tested? To achieve this, we first need an effective division of labour between the public and the private sector. The public sector lays the foundation for public confidence in money.

4 In an RTGS system, each payment is settled individually in central bank money and in real time. A payment is executed precisely if – and only if – the paying commercial bank has sufficient sight deposits. The receiving commercial bank can therefore be assured that it is receiving risk-free money. Payments in the SIC system are thus final and irrevocable and contribute to confidence in the payment system. Settlement in central bank money creates a stable core in the payments system, around which innovative customer solutions and new technologies can flourish. The third principle is that payment systems, payment solutions and forms of money should be integrated as seamlessly as possible (cf. slide 3). This means there needs to be a high degree of interoperability: It must be possible to exchange Swiss francs seamlessly and one-to-one across different forms of money and payment systems. A lack of interoperability leads to frictions which result in higher costs and time delays and thus limit the usability of money. The three principles – a two-tier system, settlement of payments in central bank money, and seamless integration within the ecosystem – are well-established and, at the same time, necessary requirements for a well-functioning payment system. Payments are currently undergoing extensive change, both in Switzerland and around the world. What are the main challenges posed by this transformation? Challenges arising from innovation and change The first challenge is the increased speed demanded for payments (cf. slide 4).
MAS is involved in the discussions on both the capital and liquidity proposals and supports the broad thrust of these initiatives. As MAS’ regulatory framework has generally been regarded as conservative, we are in a good position to comfortably adopt these more stringent standards. However, we are aware that more regulation on its own is not a panacea. It would be undesirable for the regulatory pendulum to swing towards extreme conservatism and for over-prescriptive rules to severely restrict financial innovation. MAS will adopt a balanced approach and will work closely with and consult all stakeholders in implementing the new regulatory standards. Role of industry participants Supervision has to work in concert with effective risk governance in the financial institutions. The Boards and senior management of financial institutions must take ownership and responsibility to manage risks. A report issued by the Senior Supervisors Group 2 in March 2008, on observations on risk management practices highlighted many risk management practices that improved the resilience of financial institutions during a crisis. Let me highlight three areas. First, effective capital planning. Banks need to conduct a thorough and comprehensive assessment of their levels of capital. These have to be “forward-looking”, taking into account the nature and level of the bank’s risk, not only under “normal” business conditions, but also  2  The Senior Supervisors Group comprises senior financial supervisors from seven countries (United States, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, United Kingdom). It is chaired by William L. Rutledge from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Fifty years ago, there were almost half a million suspected cases annually of measles in England and Wales. In the following year, a vaccination for Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) was introduced in the UK. Cases of measles fell dramatically, by the mid-1990s reaching fewer than 10,000 per year. In 1998, a widely-publicised article appeared in The Lancet linking the MMR vaccine to autism and bowel disease. 24  News of these findings spread as contagiously as measles itself. In response, rates of MMR  vaccination, which had peaked at over 90%, fell to 80% by 2004. 25  The scare had socially, as well as  clinically, contagious consequences for public health, causing lower rates of vaccination against un-related diseases. Only recently have rates of MMR vaccination returned to their late-1990s highs. The 1998 MMR study has since been comprehensively discredited and the lead author struck off as a doctor. Yet the costs of this episode are still being felt. Rates of measles infection began rising in the UK from the  21  ING-Economics Network Survey of the Public’s Understanding of Economics (2017). YouGov / Post Crash Economics Society Survey (2015). 23 ING-Economics Network Survey of the Public’s Understanding of Economics (2017). 24 Wakefield et al (1998). The article has since been retracted. 25 Public Health England, The National Archives. 22  5  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  5  early 2000s and only recently have cases peaked.
BIS Review 31/2003  1  As mentioned before, forecasts generally point to a firming of the recovery in the second half of 2003 and an additional improvement in 2004. Despite the rapid conclusion of the war in Iraq and the improvement in financial markets sentiment in recent weeks, the economic data and indicators do not yet show an unambiguous improvement, partly because some of them are still contaminated by geopolitical uncertainties, and partly because other imbalances and factors of uncertainty still persist. The fifth element I would like to stress today is the resilience of the global banking system in most developed countries. This capacity of the banking system to withstand diverse shocks was pivotal in maintaining a certain degree of dynamism in the world economy. One of the lessons of the past few years is the importance of financial markets in the functioning of the world economy, and the complexity of the channels of interaction between such markets and the real economy. This simple idea has fostered quite a number of initiatives, at the national and international level, to reinforce the resilience and efficiency of financial markets. Topics that used to be too technical and tedious, such as accounting and corporate governance, have become exciting and the centrepiece of many reform agendas. Let me mention just three issues in this regard: First: Financial market integration I believe that one factor which can and should prove fundamental to strengthening the world economy is the integration of international financial markets.

It features a portrait adapted in the late 19th century from an original sketch by Jane’s sister and closest friend Cassandra, together with the quote “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” from Pride and Prejudice. Our intention is that the Austen note will be introduced within a year of the recently announced Churchill £ note, so that the new note could come into circulation as early as 2017. I am certain she will prove to be a popular choice. This will not, however, be the first time that the Austen name has appeared on a banknote. Jane’s brother Henry set himself up as a banker with interests here in Hampshire as well as in London. At that time many banks were small and local, and could issue their own banknotes. The British Museum in fact holds a £ note from Henry Austen’s bank in Alton, just a couple of miles from here, listing on the note the names of the partners in the bank: Austen, Gray and Vincent. Unfortunately, while Jane Austen wrote in an early work that “when a man has once got his name in a banking house he rolls in money”, that turned out not to be the case for her brother Henry. Banking was for a time profitable, but unwise lending led to the collapse of Alton bank, followed by the collapse of Henry’s London bank and his bankruptcy in 1816. Depositors in these banks, including Jane Austen herself, were left out of pocket.
Muhammad bin Ibrahim: Developing Malaysia’s payment system landscape Keynote address by Mr Muhammad bin Ibrahim, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Payment System Forum and Exhibition 2015 “Moving Forward with e-Payments”, Kuala Lumpur, 3 November 2015. *  *  *  Welcome to the 2015 Payment System Forum and Exhibition 2015, with the theme “Moving Forward with e-Payments”. This year is another important step in our effort to develop our country’s payment system landscape. It marks the mid-way point of our journey to transform our country’s payments infrastructure into one that is highly efficient, secure and competitive as outlined in the 10-year Financial Sector Blueprint from 2011 to 2020. I will focus on 3 areas in my remarks today. •  First, I will provide you with an update of where we are in our migration path five years since we launched the Financial Sector Blueprint, and what we have done and achieved so far. •  Second, I will share with you some thoughts on how collaborative efforts among various stakeholders in the payment value chain can leverage and thrive on epayments as a strategic tool in today’s increasingly dynamic and competitive environment, and  •  Third, I will outline the opportunities that can be realised in relation to the Financial Sector Blueprint targets with specific emphasis on key priorities for 2016.

This strategy would enable the target of 25 terminals per 1,000 inhabitants by 2020 to be achieved. Debit card transactions on the other hand, are likely to maintain its double digit growth rate of about 40% in 2015 (39% in 2014). Despite the encouraging progress, we are still a long way from achieving our target of 30 debit card transactions per capita by 2020. Moving forward, we need to drive the use of debit card by capitalizing on the enabling environment created by the Payment Card Reform Framework. We need to put in more efforts in this area. Of collaborative efforts and strategic tool Banking industry It is estimated that the cost of handling cash and cheques to the banking industry is about RM2.4 billion annually. This is sheer wastage when a cheaper alternative is readily available. There is substantial room for our banks to strengthen their operational efficiency through rationalization of business model and internal processes by emphasizing the use of epayments, instead of the more manually-intensive paper-based payment methods. This would enable banks to achieve a lower cost-income ratio, thus enhancing productivity and competitiveness. For this to happen, it is critical that, banks should upgrade their management information system (MIS) to fully capture the cost of different payment methods and identify areas with potential for greater operational efficiency. In addition, banks should foster better coordination between their respective revenue and cost centres to achieve optimal financial performance.
The size of the Chinese market is undoubtedly a key factor: central government has outstanding bonds worth approximately USD 1,000 billion.5 This makes the onshore Chinese government bond market the fifth-largest in the world after the US, the euro area, Japan and the UK (left-hand side of slide 5). Over and above the consideration of market size, investments in China are also attractive from the point of view of our security criterion, as they offer additional diversification of market, credit and concentration risks. As regards the diversification of foreign exchange risks, however, China offers only very limited potential for us, as the renminbi is pegged to the US dollar. Nonetheless, the renminbi has been allowed to appreciate relatively constantly against the US dollar since 2005 and this incremental appreciation has had a positive effect on onshore Chinese bond yields in francs. In Swiss franc terms, investments in three to five-year Chinese government bonds have, on average, yielded more than 5% per year since 2005; this is substantially higher than the yield available on other major government bond markets (right-hand side of slide 5). In addition to these financial market advantages, China has strong economic fundamentals. At 40%, China’s government debt ratio is much lower than that of many advanced economies.6 Furthermore, the credit quality of Chinese central government bonds is high compared to that of other emerging economies, as is reflected in the ratings.

Growing importance of Asia for the SNB’s investment policy In recent decades, the focus of global economic activity has increasingly been shifting towards Asia. The region now accounts for more than a third of global economic output. Asia has contributed more than 50% to global growth over the last decade, with China and India together generating over 40% (left-hand side of slide 2). For Switzerland – a country that is highly export-oriented – Asia has become increasingly significant, too. Swiss companies exported almost CHF 30 billion of goods to the region last year, almost three times more than in 2000, bringing its share to 14% of the country’s total exports (right-hand side of slide 2). Asian countries have made substantial progress in developing their financial markets since the Asian crisis at the end of the 1990s. Most financial markets in the region have become significantly more liquid and diversified than they were 15 years ago thanks to gradual liberalisation of capital flows, better financial market infrastructure and an expanding domestic investor base. Hong Kong and Singapore now rank among the world’s most important financial centres. Between 2003 and 2013, Asian stock markets’ contribution to global market capitalisation increased from approximately 20% to over 30%.1 Bond issues denominated in local currencies have also gained steadily in importance. This market quadrupled in size between 2005 and 2014 and now totals some USD 8,000 billion.2 Equally, Asian financial centres have made substantial inroads into global foreign exchange markets in recent years (left-hand side of slide 3).
Swedish bank managers sometimes claim that the competition in the Swedish banking market is fierce and that it is easier to generate earnings abroad. Foreign bank analysts prefer to emphasise the relative smallness and maturity of the Swedish and Nordic banking market – the major structural deals have already been done and all households already have a home loan. However, bank managers and analysts seem to agree that the potential for improving return on equity is limited. To sum up, we can conclude that Swedish banks are neither more nor less profitable than their European competitors. While Swedish banks are cost-efficient, unfortunately they are less successful when it comes to generating earnings on services other than lending. It reminds me in some ways of the Swedish football team before Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrik Larsson blossomed into the stars they are today – disciplined and effective in defence, but fairly lacking in goals and imagination in attack. The structure of the Swedish banking sector So, is Swedish banks’ average profitability and smaller valuation discount a result of their inability, despite their efficiency, to benefit from higher margins due to tough competition, or is it because the banks operate in an oligopoly and are incapable of developing new, profitable products. In the former case the relatively low profitability is a symptom of an efficient and competitive banking sector. But in the latter situation the authorities should be concerned, while investors possibly can see interesting but risky development potential.

Lars Heikensten: Swedish banks in an international perspective Speech by Mr Lars Heikensten, Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, Royals Vinterträdgård, Grand Hôtel, Stockholm, 10 November 2005. Diagrams for this speech can be found on the Sveriges Riksbank’s website www.riksbank.com. *  *  *  Swedish banks' competitiveness I would like to begin by thanking the Bankers' Association for inviting me to participate in this panel discussion on Swedish banks' competitiveness. Before I set about giving my view on the matter, I think it is important to stress that there are several different perspectives on competitiveness and competition. So, the conclusion will vary depending on the angle from which you look at the issue. The composition of the panel reflects these different perspectives well, which should guarantee an interesting discussion. I would like to define a bank’s competitiveness as a measure of how efficient the bank is at providing a given quantity of financial services at a certain level of quality. For the Riksbank, the competitiveness of Swedish banks is important both from a stability point of view and an efficiency perspective. Competitive banks have greater resilience to different kinds of pressures regardless of whether they stem from increased competition or poorer economic performance. They also are more efficient and can provide more and better financial services at a low cost. How to measure competitiveness, though, is by no means self-evident.