samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Elvira Nabiullina: Review of Russia's economic and financial developments in 2018 Speech by Ms Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Bank of Russia, at the plenary session of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Moscow, 30 May 2019. * * * Good afternoon, esteemed colleagues. Today, I draw to your attention the report on the Bank of Russia’s activity in 2018. The Report was sent to the State Duma three weeks ago, and we had a chance to discuss it in working groups, at parliamentary group meetings and at the joint meeting of relevant committees. Allow me to express my gratitude for your attentive consideration and deep interest in what we do. I would like to dwell on our key activities determined by the Constitution and the Central Bank Law. They are associated with the national development goals set forth in the Presidential May decree and strategic goals of the Bank of Russia. I will start with monetary policy issues. Our main goal is near 4% inflation. This is stipulated in the Presidential decree. Low inflation is paramount to long-term investments and a rise in public prosperity. We first reached the inflation target in 2017, as we had promised. Since that period, our policy has aimed to keep inflation close to this level. In 2017 and early 2018, both internal and external factors were favourable and we could cut the key rate, whereas in the second half of 2018 serious inflation risks emerged.

Its first stage, which included the expansion of the rate corridor, improved applications of the bonus-malus coefficient, and an update of driving licence categories, has already reduced the cost of OSAGO in nearly all regions, with a countryaverage decrease in the policy cost totalling 4%. The next stage involves rate personalisation for drivers; it should ultimately solve problems faced by OSAGO policy holders. Firstly, it should put an end to the injustice when careful and responsible drivers have to pay for those who drive in a 3/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  risky manner and often have accidents. Microfinance organisations The microfinance market faces the same fair criticism now as in recent years because of usurious interest rates, and incredible fines and penalties. We came up with a serious tightening of the regulation of microfinance organisations. Currently, there are half as many such organisations in the market as there used to be five years ago. From now on, the law caps interest rates at 1% per day, while the full cost of borrowing with all fines and penalties included is limited to 1.5 times the loan amount. These conditions will allow borrowers to use microfinancing to settle their temporary financial problems without running the risk of ending up in an even worse situation. Moving forward, we believe that one of our priorities is to prevent losses from illegal operations in the economy and damages from fraud suffered by households.
For example, some additional confusion may arise from the fact that more than one consolidating supervisor will be involved. On top of this there would be several consolidating central banks and several consolidating ministries of finance. Therefore, I think that the lead authority model will not be sufficient for handling crises in large cross-border banks. In particular, it does not solve the basic dilemma of giving one country the mandate and opportunity to act, while letting the host country retain its responsibility for financial stability. The accountability problem also remains. To my mind, the lead authority model is a model that will work best for banks with limited cross-border activities that are insignificant in the host countries. But for large cross-border banks, I’m afraid that it will work only as long as the going is easy and the weather is fair. Another route that has been suggested is to give the home country authorities a formal mandate to act in the interest of all relevant countries, either through a European mandate or some kind of binding contract between relevant countries. A lead supervisor with a European mandate seems nice in theory and aims at solving the conflicts of interest by creating a central decision-making body. In practice, however, it could easily become very bureaucratic and inefficient. If we are establishing a central decision-making body anyway, why act through authorities from 25 different countries?

According to a study by Hoggarth et al, the average drop in GDP following a financial crisis is 15-20 percent. The social costs from a banking failure can thus be substantial and involve many countries in various degrees. This, in turn, will most certainly have the effect of giving rise to difficult negotiations on how burdens should be shared between the countries involved. The larger the banking group, the more countries that are involved in its cross-border activities, and the more important the bank is to the functioning of the financial system in a country, the higher the stakes will be for individual countries and the trickier and tougher the negotiations will be. But why is this relevant in a crisis management perspective? Couldn’t we just go about and deal with the most urgent phase of a crisis first, and take care of burden sharing later, when we all know the facts? In my opinion, we cannot afford to wait that long. Uncertainty about the distribution of social costs in the event of a cross-border banking bankruptcy can seriously hamper the ability to act in an emergency situation. In particular, there is a risk that crisis management will be held up by a negotiation game between nations unless there are some previously made arrangements for burden sharing.
It needs to break out of the shadows of insurance by evolving new business and operating models. Concepts in takaful with rich potential, such as mutual takaful remain largely untested. The mutual model has a long history. It is also enjoying a resurgence with the rise of new online, peer-to-peer insurers in other countries. This is just one model. There might be others. Boards and senior management should lead the way in exploring these developments and charting new territory. This will require more active engagement of shareholders to develop a clear vision for the company and enlist support for bold strategies that will change the status quo for the better. 4/6  BIS central bankers' speeches  Various programmes such as FIDE and FIDE Forum already include content to help prepare directors in future proofing their institutions. The focus will be even stronger going forward. We are also pleased to announce that a specialised executive Islamic finance education programme tailored for directors of Islamic banks and takaful operators will be launched in the first half of this year. It will equip directors with an appreciation and knowledge of Islamic finance by incorporating practical business perspectives. With this, directors are better able to contribute towards growth and innovation, beyond their roles in ensuring that their institutions operate within sound Shariah and risk management parameters. At the level of employees, the reality is that good talent is in short supply. And so, the industry must take a longer view in its human capital strategies.

The introduction of the Financial Markets Committee (FMC) measures has put in place the foundation for a healthier and more vibrant financial and foreign exchange market. As a result of the strong economic performance in 2017 and the improved sentiments following these measures, the ringgit has strengthened by 14.6% in 2017 and 2018 thus far. The ringgit has also been of the most stable currency in the region. As our economic outlook remains strong, the ringgit will continue to reflect this strength. For Bank Negara, we have always indicated that market forces will determine the value of the ringgit. There has never been a target level for the ringgit exchange rate. With the economy and financial markets constantly evolving, fixation on a particular level of ringgit exchange rate is counterproductive, if not detrimental to the economy. What matters for Bank Negara and all of us here is to ensure that any adjustments taking place is done in a gradual and orderly manner, without causing undue disruptions to businesses and households. The foreign exchange market can sometimes be very fickle. Therefore, we should always remain on our guard, as the global economic and financial conditions may change rapidly following many developments such as normalisation of interest rates, geopolitical risks and the tendency to adopt policies that might curtail open trade. The ringgit’s recent appreciation and stability is not something that we should take for granted. What we have learnt in recent years is to never downplay the unexpected.
In the four largest euro area countries. 12. Altavilla, C., Barbiero, F., Boucinha, M. and Burlon, L. (2020),   ”, Working Paper Series, No 2465, ECB, Frankfurt am Main,  “  The great lockdown: pandemic response policies and bank lending  conditions  September. 13. “In the realm of ideas, everything depends on enthusiasm; in the real world, all rests on perseverance.”  CONTACT  European Central Bank Directorate General Communications    Sonnemannstrasse 20    60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany        +49 69 1344 7455 media@ecb.europa.eu  Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.  Media contacts  7/8  Copyright 2021, European Central Bank  8/8

Adnan Zaylani Mohamad Zahid: Keynote address - Bank Negara Malaysia and the Malaysian Bar Joint National AML/CFT Conference 2019 Keynote address by Mr Adnan Zaylani Mohamad Zahid, Assistant Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Bank Negara Malaysia and the Malaysian Bar Joint National AML/CFT Conference 2019, Kuala Lumpur, 29 August 2019. * * * It is a great pleasure and honour to welcome you this morning to the Joint National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Conference 2019. I understand that this conference, jointly organised by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Malaysian Bar, forms part of the initiatives under the capacity development programme to elevate the understanding and level of AML/CFT compliance outside of the financial sector, the designated non-financial businesses and professions and other non-bank financial sectors or in brief known as the DNFBP sectors and the legal fraternity, in particular. On this note, I would like to express Bank Negara Malaysia’s appreciation to the Malaysian Bar for their continuous support to Bank Negara Malaysia as the competent authority under the AntiMoney Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA), particularly in advancing AML/CFT capacity development initiatives. Apart from today’s conference, the Malaysian Bar has also since mid-2018, incorporated AML/CFT requirements as part of its Continuing Professional Development (CPD) module, in addition to the on-going engagements and discussions to instil compliance culture among the legal fraternity.
The factors that could trigger such a sequence of events include, for instance, US share prices continuing to fall or a decline in house prices. On the other hand, developments in the USA could be stronger and the positive spread effects to the surrounding world greater than we have estimated. A large part of Sweden’s exports is to the euro area and economic activity in these countries is therefore particularly important to us. The improved growth prospects in the USA will contribute to the recovery in Europe. However, a continued weak development on the European labour market and an unexpectedly high inflation rate will probably subdue the recovery somewhat. Germany, which is an important market for Swedish products, is still showing a very weak development. According to some leading indicators, European companies have become more optimistic recently. However, profit margins have been pushed down by the fact that productivity has fallen and when productivity falls, labour unit costs rise, which in turn reduces the scope for investment. This could be an explanation for the recent high inflation rate in the euro area. When the level of economic activity rises and productivity increases, the inflation rate is expected to subside. In addition, the high inflation rate can be partly explained by “secondary” effects from earlier price increases on food and energy, and possibly by rounding-off effects on the introduction of euro banknotes. (Diagram 3 - inflation in the euro area) Growth prospects are good for several important Swedish export markets in the rest of Europe.

But it took a crisis caused by the failure of Lehman Brothers to trigger the coordinated government plan to recapitalise the system. It would be a mistake, however, to think that had Lehman Brothers not failed, a crisis would have been averted. The underlying cause of inadequate capital would eventually have provoked a crisis of one kind or another somewhere else. So where does this leave us? The recapitalisation plan is having a major impact on the restoration of market confidence in banks. Perhaps the single most important diagnostic statistic is the credit default swap premium – an indicator of market concerns about solvency of banks. These premia have fallen markedly since the announcement of the UK plan. From the close of business on 7 October to now the premia on the UK’s five largest banks have more than halved. We are far from the end of the road back to stability, but the plan to recapitalise our banking system, both here and abroad, will I believe come to be seen as the moment in the banking crisis of the past year when we turned the corner. As concerns about the viability of our banks recede, banks should regain the confidence of the market as recipients of funding. There are already some signs of greater activity. But the age of innocence – when banks lent to each other unsecured for three months or longer at only a small premium to expected policy rates – will not quickly, if ever, return.
We believe Project Guardian can help pave the way for the next evolution of financial markets in Singapore We want to create a future where: any asset can be fractionalised; no market is too big to access; trading costs are drastically reduced; and trust can be established with greater transparency and better accountability We invite everyone to join us on this exciting journey of tokenisation. Submit your proposals to our FinTech Regulatory Sandbox for live experimentation. As you can see from the examples of Project Ubin+, Project Orchid, and Project Guardian, there is much more to the digital asset ecosystem than cryptocurrencies. The real value in the crypto industry comes not from speculating in cryptocurrencies but from tokenising assets and placing them on a distributed ledger for use cases that increase economic efficiency or enhance social inclusion. The question is often asked: does Singapore want to be a crypto asset hub? If a crypto hub is about experimenting with programmable money, yes we want to be a crypto hub. If it is about applying digital assets for use cases like atomic settlement, yes we want to be a crypto hub. If it is about tokenising real and financial assets to increase efficiency and reduce risks in financial transactions, yes we want to be a crypto hub. 8/11  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  But if it is about trading and speculating in cryptocurrencies, that is not the kind of crypto hub we want to be.

We will partner financial institutions to integrate more advanced datasets into their financing frameworks. The Digital Marketplace aims to synergise connectivity across the Greenprint utilities and facilitate access to ESG data. It will facilitate linkages between ESG FinTech solution providers and investors, financial institutions, and corporates. It will also house an ESG Data Directory to facilitate discovery and access to the ESG datasets contributed by the Greenprint digital utilities and collaborators. We aim to launch the Digital Marketplace next year. Through Project Greenprint, we want to make Singapore a launchpad for ESG FinTech solutions that will help drive Asia's and the world's transition to net-zero. Conclusion Let me conclude. The five desired outcomes – instant remittance, atomic settlement, programmable money, tokenised assets, and trusted sustainability data – remind us that everything we do in Finance, Technology, and FinTech must have a larger purpose. We want to expand economic opportunity, enhance social inclusion, reduce risks, and protect our planet. The essential feature of the five FinTech projects to achieve these desired outcomes is  10/11  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  collaboration – collaboration between the public and private sectors; collaboration between incumbent financial institutions and emerging FinTech firms; and collaboration across borders. Like the five elements of Water, Fire, Earth, Metal and Wood, it is exchange and interactions that generate growth and new possibilities. It is what the Singapore FinTech Festival is all about. 11/11  BIS - Central bankers' speeches
As of now, though, there are few signs that the disruptions in this one sector of the credit markets will have a lasting impact on credit markets as a whole. Indeed, economic theory and recent practical experience offer some reassurance against both these specific concerns and more general worries about the implications of credit market innovations for the performance of the financial system. The rapid growth in these new types of credit instruments is, of course, a sign of their value to market participants. For borrowers, credit market innovation offers the prospect of increased credit supply; better pricing; and a relaxation of financial constraints. For investors, new credit instruments bring the prospect of broader risk and return opportunities; the ability to diversify portfolios; and increased flexibility. And for lenders, innovations can help free up funding and capital for other uses; they can help improve credit risk and asset/liability management; and they can improve the return on capital and provide new and cheaper funding sources. By spreading risk more broadly, providing opportunities to manage and hedge risk, and making it possible to trade and price credit risk, credit market innovation should help make markets both more efficient and more resilient. They should help make markets better able to allocate capital to its highest return and better able to absorb stress. Broad, deep and well-functioning capital markets complemented by strong, well-capitalized banks, able to provide liquidity in times of strain, make for a more efficient financial system: one which contributes to better economic growth outcomes over time.

By setting up the Pension Fund, we have separated the extraction of oil and gas from the actual spending of the petroleum revenues. This has probably resulted in higher production of oil and gas over the past two decades. 14  BIS Review 37/2008  The Pension Fund was formally established in 1990, but it was not until 1996 that the first allocation – NOK 2 billion – was made to the Fund. Since then, it has grown to around NOK 2 trillion (well above USD 350 billion). The Fund is fully integrated with the government budget, and the same priorities are imposed on spending from the Fund as on any other government spending. This means that the entire petroleum revenues, as well as the return, go into the Fund. Then, as part of the budget resolution, the Storting decides on an annual transfer from the Fund to cover the government budget deficit. This procedure effectively prohibits use of the capital in the Fund for purposes not considered sufficiently important to be prioritised in the regular budget process. BIS Review 37/2008  15  The fiscal rule states that the Government is to spend – as an annual average through the business cycle – the expected real return on the Fund, estimated at 4 per cent. This cyclically adjusted transfer is estimated at a good NOK 80 billion this year – that is around 10 per cent of public expenditure. It is estimated that the transfer will increase in the years ahead.
And we uphold the integrity of the banking system. 12. 160-plus incumbent banks and new virtual banks — including banks built by tech giants — operate in our ecosystem. They may have different fintech strategies. They may try and grow their digital banking businesses in different ways. But it’s precisely this diversity that 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  makes the Hong Kong banking market so dynamic and well-positioned to drive innovation. This diversity is crucial to our vision of shaping Hong Kong into a global fintech hub. 13. So Hong Kong has embraced a new era for smart banking. But what will thenext era look like? How will we bring our vision to life? I think we’re all here today with those questions in mind. 14. At the HKMA, we know data will be vital to the future of banking. Data analytics is pivotal in customer authentication, credit assessment, and compliance monitoring. Indeed, data is key to almost every banking function. It is perhaps the most powerful tool for delivering the timeless banking principles I mentioned. As we head into the next era, data will enable better service, greater trust, and more efficient capital management. 15. Going back to my dining analogy, you could say data is banking’s “secret sauce”. It makes every meal better — no matter how you serve it. And that is why the HKMA is adopting a data-centric strategy to support the future of banking in Hong Kong. 16.

I have been talking a lot about our efforts to promote diversity and innovation through a level playing field. That reflects our supervisory role. Equally important is our role in fintech market development. This market development mandate is the context for our new data strategy. Let me give you some background. Data and the next era 17. Hong Kong businesses and people are embracing technology. They’re ready for the future. With more data and more analytical tools at our disposal, we should ensure that our data infrastructure continues to improve. Let’s consider where we are today. 18. To begin with, valuable and rich data are scattered across different sectors and entities. It’s often hard to access these data – and it’s hard to verify their validity. 19. What is more, information moves between data providers and banks via a whole host of bilateral, one-to-one connections. Those connections lack compatible protocols and standards. That makes data sharing inefficient and difficult to scale. 20. All of this makes it hard for bankers to collect holistic information from customers about their business or financial activities when they want to provide credit or related services. And that creates real impediments to banks’ ability to better serve their customers. 21. Impediments for banks often mean painful consequences for customers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. When banks can’t perform credit assessments based on up-to-date business data, they may instead require collateral such as property before making a loan. This is a longstanding problem with SME financing. 22.