samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
These are questions of a more technical nature that we will examine further before it is time to make a decision. Have the extraordinary measures had an effect? So have the extraordinary measures had an effect? It is difficult to say exactly what has affected the economy and in what way during a period when so much has happened, and so quickly. But certainly there are signs that the situation has improved. A more general observation is that lending in the Swedish economy does not seem to have been tightened more than can be expected in a recession. The fact that confidence between different participants in the financial markets more or less completely drained away at the beginning of the crisis raised concern over a potential credit crunch. If the banks themselves experience funding problems, this could ultimately lead to a much more severe contraction in the supply of loans to households and companies than would normally occur in an economic downturn. This could in turn further worsen the economic situation, which we neither wished nor wish to see. But it appears as though the measures taken to restore confidence in the financial markets, together with the substantial cuts in the repo rate, have had the right effect. The opportunities to borrow in the market are relatively good, both for large companies and for banks. The Riksbank’s company surveys and the National Institute of Economic Research’s Business Tendency Survey also indicate that the funding situation has improved.

If successful, this will provide alternatives for cheaper, safer and faster cross border transactions. Benoit and my respective committees took a hard look at general purpose CBDC, – and there are many implications - including cost of bank funding, credit provision, and financial 26.  stability with the risk of deposits possibly taking flight to central banks during stress periods. These are issues that will have to be addressed should a central bank be deliberating on issuing digital currencies to its wider population. The CPMI and MC study is a reminder that even as we push the boundaries of payments and aim to utilise the latest technologies, central banks need to carefully assess each change and the larger impact to financial stability as well as monetary policy, before jumping on the bandwagon. E. CONCLUSION These are some of the issues that central bankers are grappling with in Asia, and how Singapore thinks about regulating this innovative area of payments through innovative regulation. With the fast-paced and global nature of changes, cooperation and 27.  dialogue between central banks are more crucial than ever before. I am glad to see many familiar faces from various central banks here today. The conference today is a useful forum for us to continue our dialogue, share important perspectives and keep tabs on the latest developments. 28. Thank you, and I wish all participants here today a fruitful two days ahead. 1 1 Capgemini, World Payments Report 2017 (Developed/Mature APAC includes Australia, Japan, Singapore,  and South Korea.
The SIC payment system, whose technical and operational components are handled by a subsidiary of the SIX Group, is also a product of the “Gemeinschaftswerk”. In contrast to this successful public-private partnership, in other countries most large-value payment systems belong to the central banks. On an functional level, vertical integration thus appears to be more complete in Switzerland than in other European markets. In Germany and the United Kingdom, for example, the private firms which dominate the FMI (Deutsche Börse Group and London Stock Exchange Group, respectively) do not operate the national payment systems. Conversely, on an organisational level, in the 1990s and early 2000s demutualisation occurred in most European countries, shifting governance away from a “user-owned,” “usergoverned” model towards an investor-centric structure. The changing world of FMIs As I have inferred, the world of FMIs and their stakeholders is in a state of flux. It is hence crucial that we consider how such changes influence the Swiss market and how they will do so in years to come. A mere glance at the news headlines illustrates the extent to which established financial and economic entities are evolving as never before. There are several examples of shifts in the landscape of trading venues, which stem from various factors, such as regulatory changes, e.g. MIFID,10 the trend towards demutualisation and increased international competition.

Rajan, Raghuram (2005), Has Financial Development Made the World Riskier? NBER Working Paper No. 11728. National Bureau of Economic Research. Rawdanowicz, Lukasz, Bouis, Romain and Watanabe, Shingo (2013), The Benefits and Costs of Highly Expansionary Monetary Policy. OECD Economics Department Working Paper No. 1082. OECD. The Riksbank (2010), Monetary policy in Sweden. The Riksbank (2011), The Riksbank’s inquiry into the risks on the Swedish housing market. The Riksbank (2013a), The Riksbank and financial stability. The Riksbank (2013b), Repo rate unchanged at 1 per cent. Press release, 5 September 2013. The Riksbank (2013c), Financial imbalances in the monetary policy assessment. Article in Monetary Policy Report, July 2013. 10  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Svensson, Lars (2013a), Skuldhysteri I: Att bara titta på skulderna duger inte. [Debt hysteria I: just looking at debt isn’t enough.] Ekonomistas, 15 September 2013. [blogsite for economists, only in Swedish] Svensson, Lars (2013b), “Leaning Against the Wind” Leads to a Higher (Not Lower) Household Debt-to-GDP Ratio, manuscript, Stockholm University. BIS central bankers’ speeches  11
Heng Swee Keat: Ensuring stability – international perspectives on creating an effective regulatory framework Remarks by Mr Heng Swee Keat, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the Inaugural Plenary Session, World Islamic Banking Conference, Bahrain, 24 November 2008. *  *  *  Introduction Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am honoured to speak at this opening plenary, following the keynote remarks by His Excellency, Governor Rasheed Al-Maraj. I am also delighted to be in Bahrain, recognised globally as one of the leading centres for Islamic Finance. Besides having a core of active Islamic financial institutions, Bahrain also plays host to a number of organisations central to the development of Islamic Finance, including AAOIFI, the LMC, IIFM and the IIRA, and of course, this WIBC. 1 The Central Bank of Bahrain ["CBB"], a highly regarded regulator, has played a key role in spearheading the development of Islamic Finance. The CBB has scored many “firsts”, including the first central bank sukuk in 2001 2 and being the first country to develop and implement regulations specific to the Islamic banking industry. The CBB has also established the Waqf Fund to finance research, education and training in Islamic Finance. There is much that the MAS can learn from the CBB. The current global crisis – some root causes The theme of this session – having an effective regulatory framework – is of great relevance given the on-going financial crisis.

For tail risks in particular, the dark corner where we shine the light may not necessarily be the place where those risks reside. Many of the risks inherent in Islamic Finance are similar to those of conventional finance, including credit risks, market risks, market conduct risks, operational and reputational risks. However, the exposure to those risks could differ between conventional and Islamic finance. For instance, Islamic banks are generally exposed to substantially more liquidity risk than their conventional counterparts, as the range of liquid instruments and hedging instruments are more limited. Islamic banks tend also to be more exposed to the property and infrastructure sectors, in part because these are the prevalent asset classes in the Gulf and also in part because Islamic finance has to be based on physical assets. Given the “large and lumpy” nature of such transactions and the tendency for asset bubbles to build up quickly, it is a risk that merits special attention. In addition, there are also risks unique to Islamic Finance such as Shariah-compliance risk. If products are later found to be non-Shariah compliant, the institutions not only face reputational damage, but also costly unwinding of such structures, with possible losses to investors. The third point is that to achieve a good outcome, an effective regulatory approach needs to embrace a tripartite approach. Regulators, financial institutions and investors all have a role to play. Allow me to share briefly the approach that MAS takes.
As a result, these commodities have a low degree of “moneyness” and cannot be regarded as “currencies”, other than in exceptional times, such as wars or crises in which the mainstream “money” is no longer trustworthy or usable. 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  4. Now let’s get back to the theme of my remarks: to what extent crypto-currencies can serve as money and will they become a credible alternative to traditional forms of money? So it would be useful to measure them using the benchmarks I have just talked about. Medium of exchange: Crypto-currencies are not readily accepted as a medium of exchange. Despite sporadic news that appear from time to time, we have seen no real evidence that crypto-currencies are widely used as a medium of exchange in the purchase of goods or services in any meaningful scale. While it is true that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have attracted many investors and speculators around the world who own and trade them, it is very different from such crypto-currencies being accepted as a medium of exchange. As a matter of fact, Bitcoin is a very inefficient means of payment for several reasons. First, as Bitcoin operates in a decentralised network, each Bitcoin transaction needs to be validated by the so(a) called “miners”, who need to solve a complex maths problem using specialised computers. It takes a lot of time and consumes considerable electricity to complete a transaction. Currently, the average transaction time is some 20 minutes per transaction.

Investor protection or market integrity: As most of these crypto-assets are traded in unregulated platforms, usually via the internet, there are significant gaps in data collection and investor protection. Crypto-asset markets are therefore prone to (c) market manipulation, such as spoofing or flooding the market with fake orders to trick others into buying or selling. Moreover, the security or integrity of some of the trading platforms is also in doubt given the number of cyber incidents that have led to significant losses of the investors. 7. Having said all the above, I wish to conclude by making the following points: Crypto-assets are not money or currencies. So people wishing to invest or speculate (a) in crypto-assets should do so without harbouring the unrealistic expectation that they would one day become money or currencies that can be used as a means of exchange. Central banks must take extra care in making sure that the issuance of fiat (b) currencies is managed prudently in order not to diminish the purchasing power of the currencies or people’s confidence in them. Overseers of payment systems must take proactive steps to ensure that large value as well as small value retail payment systems, making use of commercial bank or central bank balances, are efficient, convenient and at low cost to the users. This is increasingly important as the public now expects and demands a faster and cheaper means of electronic payment or digital cash, as some would call it, for their day to (c) day transactions.
4/6  Growth in the swedish economy continuing to strengthen For the Swedish economy, too, it was concluded in the Inflation Report that the economic upswing appeared to have gained impetus again after the slowdown at the start of the year. Compared with the previous assessment, GDP growth and resource utilisation were forecast to be somewhat higher in the years ahead, largely owing to more expansionary economic policy. All in all, the assessment was that growth would be relatively firm in the Swedish economy in the coming years. The recent years’ high productivity growth has partly laid the foundation for this development. Companies have been able to boost output with their present workforces, which has improved their cost situation and held back price increases in the economy. The low inflation rate has enabled monetary policy to be expansionary for a comparatively long period. In addition, the high productivity and relatively good profitability is anticipated to create scope for comparatively favourable wage growth in the period ahead. This means that there are good prospects for firm growth in domestic demand over the coming years. Expansionary fiscal policy will also help to boost domestic demand, while more robust growth in Swedish export markets will contribute to stronger exports. New information broadly supports the picture of a continued improvement in economic activity in Sweden. The National Institute of Economic Research’s (NIER) latest business tendency survey provides a relatively bright picture of economic conditions in most of the surveyed industries.

The international financial system and the global economy are still facing significant challenges and downside risks. So far, prompt action by financial authorities in the US and Europe has helped avert a wider crisis. But financial markets remain uncertain and volatile. 11. Singapore banks have limited exposure to US mortgage related securities, and they remain well capitalised. Over the past year, MAS has intensified our monitoring of financial markets and our supervision of financial institutions. We have also conducted stress tests of Singapore banks and the domestic operations of the large foreign banks here, and the results reported by the banks showed them to be resilient. Nevertheless, there is no room for complacency. The current crisis provides important lessons on the areas we have to work on to enhance the resilience of the Singapore financial system. MAS is also participating in several international working groups that are reviewing ways to strengthen supervisory practices and standards. 2  BIS Review 94/2008  Strengthening resilience: Basel II, liquidity management and standing facilities 12. As new international regulatory standards and practices are finalised, MAS will consider strengthening our standards and market infrastructure where appropriate while taking care to avoid a disproportionate response. Let me highlight three areas, where we had started reviewing our regulatory framework before the crisis and have proceeded to implement these new measures to further strengthen the resilience of our financial system. 13.
However, the Riksbank's most important contribution is not this type of “fine-tuning”, but rather maintaining the inflation target and upholding confidence in price stability. When we achieve this, we can contribute to stabilising real growth in production and employment. But this is not our main objective. Productivity growth - an expansion Last year, employment in the business sector showed an unexpectedly weak increase, while growth was roughly as expected. This was reflected, as I have already mentioned, in the fact that productivity growth was unusually good. The most recent National Accounts figures also indicate a stronger productivity growth last year than we assumed in our December assessment. The question is what this implies about the future; is what we are seeing a sign of higher productivity growth which will continue over a number of years or is it a temporary rise as a result of an improvement in economic activity? Or is the upturn perhaps a chimera and the result of statistical problems connected with, for instance, difficulties in measuring productivity in certain sectors, such as the telecom industry? In the United States, the pattern of a weak growth in employment, combined with a recovery in economic activity has been established for a number of years. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER, the US economy bottomed out in November 2001.

Capital deepening and TFP growth Percentage 12-month change (5 quarters sliding average) 6  6 5  Capital deepening  TFP growth  5  4  4  3  3  2  2  1  1  0  0  -1  -1 -2  -2 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 00 02 04  Sources: Statistics Sweden and the  8  BIS Review 9/2004  It is also interesting in this context to compare how developments in Sweden compare with other countries, particularly the United States. These comparisons are made more difficult by the fact that comparable statistics are hard to find. However, the statistics that are available indicate the factor productivity growth is relatively good in Sweden; much better than in the euro area, for instance. To summarise, we can conclude that there has been an upturn in productivity development in recent years. Earlier economic patterns are not being repeated entirely. However, it is difficult at present to establish what lies behind the upturn. The situation is reminiscent to some extent of that we saw for a few years at the end of the 1990s. Then, as now, there was reason for a wait-and-see policy, but not to reject outright the idea that what we see is a clear change. In any case, some importance should be attached to the new figures when taking a policy stance, although we must try even harder to understand what is happening.
This group of speculators, despite increasing volatility to a certain extent, cannot remain in the market for long, as they generally lose money. The second group or the good speculator, on the other hand, in line with his/her forecasts, sells when it is a bull market and buys when it is a bear market. Leaving aside the problems of causing volatility, this group contributes to stability in the markets. Within this framework, it is possible to see members of both groups in any market. In an effective market, it is not possible to make a profit continuously guided by bad speculation, nor do the prices formed in the market approach those prices indicated by economic variables. Consequently, speculation does not have much effect on prices created in an effective market; on the contrary, it may make a positive contribution to the markets by increasing liquidity. Hence, speculation is not a threat in derivatives markets, but a guide in activating the spot market by increasing liquidity. Another important point with regards to derivatives markets is that these markets enhance the predictability of spot markets, which form the basis, and help them perform more effectively, by enabling the expectations of economic units in the future to be measured and reflected on prices. As a matter of fact, prices in derivatives markets are actually the prices that are expected in spot markets in the future. 5  Baron D. (1976), “Flexible Exchange Rates, Forward Markets and the Level of Trade”, The American Economic Review, Vol. 66, No. 3, pp.

Hence, derivative markets play a crucial role in enlarging the information set used in monetary policy via the information they provide about the future. The critical point here is that while derivatives markets enable the enlargement of the information set required by central banks in making their decisions, on the one hand, they improve the flow of information about the future course of monetary policy needed by economic agents and make contributions in terms of assuring a more predictable monetary policy, on the other hand. Dear Guests, In the framework of the interaction between monetary policy and the derivatives markets, of which I have tried to outline main points, I should clearly state that the development of Turkish Derivatives Exchange will make outstanding and diverse contributions to monetary policy. Transactions in the Turkish Derivatives Exchange will play a key role in the inclusion of quantitative and forward-looking information in Central Bank reports, especially with the transition to full-fledged inflation targeting in 2006. Before I finish, I want to mention a few issues concerning the future of derivatives markets in Turkey. A new era will start with the operations of the Turkish Derivatives Exchange. The main goal in the coming period should be carrying out all the arrangements concerning the functioning of derivatives markets with the utmost care while bearing in mind that these markets act as a catalyst for the whole economy. Moreover, measures should be taken in order to direct banks and firms towards transacting in these markets.
As banks develop new methods of evaluating capital adequacy, we can consider whether these approaches provide new tools for assessing capital adequacy from a supervisory perspective. The second area is transparency. The challenge of understanding the impact of changes in the financial system on banks and financial markets should add impetus to our efforts to increase transparency in the financial markets. As understanding the nature of the borrower and its risks becomes more complex, the demand for better and more timely information is increasing. Moreover, we supervisors have a special interest in putting good information in the hands of investors, lenders and counterparties, and that is the powerful assistance that market discipline can provide supervisors. We have seen how a bank’s equity price, its funding spreads and its access to markets can provide feedback on the bank’s prospects, and how these market signals can be a decisive factor in motivating management to address problems. We also have seen through current events how the absence of sufficient information can mask critical weakness in the corporate and banking sectors, leading initially to an over-optimism that is followed by excessive risk aversion. The Basle Committee has created two working groups, the Transparency Subgroup, led by Susan Krause of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Accounting Task Force, led by Nick LePan, of the Office of Supervision of Financial Institutions in Canada, to suggest ways in which banks, bank supervisors, the accounting community and others can further transparency.

showroomprivé.com, France’s second largest flash sale web retailer, which has accepted bitcoins since 2014]. Second, as intermediaries in exchanges, crypto-assets are far less effective than a currency with legal tender status, insofar as (i) their price volatility makes it hard to use them as a means of payment, (ii) they generate transaction fees that are far too high for simple retail transactions, and (iii) they offer no guarantee of a refund in the event of fraud. Third, the fact that they have no intrinsic value means that they cannot be used to create trustworthy stores of value. In addition, crypto-assets may be conduits for financial risk, security risk and especially risks of cyber-attacks, money laundering and terrorist financing. These would represent major risks for users and hence for the orderly functioning of our payment system if crypto-assets were ever to play a major role in that system. II- In this complicated context, with crypto-assets undergoing technical and economic trials that offer opportunities but also present material risks for our payment system, should we consider establishing a regulatory framework and supervisory approach and, if so, how should we go about this? 1) Various courses of action are available to the public authorities. The first would be to ignore crypto-assets. But even if the volumes in play remain small and do not represent a threat to financial stability, the risks that I mentioned earlier must be addressed. The second course of action would be to ban crypto-assets outright because of these same risks.