samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
The hoped-for higher returns could not be maintained. Again with the benefit of hindsight, it is possible to identify a number of structural weaknesses in the mechanisms for financial resource allocation in the recipient countries. There was, for example, a general lack of reliable financial information, and a lack of transparency in relation to the financial position, of both public and private sectors. Complex and opaque links between government, financial institutions and non-financial companies made it difficult for outsiders to understand the real nature of their exposures. Financial markets were not well developed, leaving the system heavily dependent upon the banks. There was inadequate regulatory or supervisory oversight. There was widespread, often informal, government influence over BIS Review 36/1998  -4-  financial flows, which importantly also contributed to a perception that much of the borrowing was implicitly under-written by the government. The list could go on. The problem was compounded by the absence of any real perception of exchange rate risk. Borrowers were evidently confident that governments would maintain their exchange rate pegs against the dollar, even when it began to strengthen, so that unhedged foreign currency debt, much of it at short-term, appeared to be a cheap alternative to domestic currency borrowing. The result was a build-up of short-term foreign currency liabilities, by banks and non-banks, which was not fully appreciated, and which left the Asian economies especially vulnerable to a flight of capital in the event of a change in sentiment.

The Inland Revenue Department became the first government department to participate in the Pay e-Cheque portal, providing a convenient and easy option for paying tax demand notes, business registration fees, and stamp duties as well as purchasing tax reserve certificates. III. Lastly, the Treasury has also actively helped promote the acceptance by other government departments of e-Cheques in paying general demand notes. 6. I would like to thank all those involved in bringing the e-Cheque service into fruition. The HKMA will strengthen public education programmes with the Hong Kong Association of Banks to increase public understanding of the use and benefits of e-Cheques. 7. Thank you. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches
Nobody can say today what will be the shape of tomorrow’s Europe because future changes that will be born from present changes are unpredictable.” Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention. 6  BIS Review 59/2004

Zeti Akhtar Aziz: A milestone towards a more efficient and internationally integrated global Islamic financial system Speech by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the global launch of Thomson Reuters Islamic Finance Gateway, Kuala Lumpur, 22 February 2010. *  *  *  In this more challenging global economic and financial environment, Islamic finance has remained dynamic with a steady pace of innovation and fast growing as its expansion gains further momentum. This has demonstrated not only its viability and resilience but also its ability to remain competitive. This decade has also seen the increased internationalisation of Islamic finance as it extends it outreach to serve the global community. The accelerated development of the Islamic financial markets and the supporting international Islamic financial architecture as well as the trend towards greater liberalisation have increased the integration of Islamic finance into the international financial system. Today’s launch of the Islamic Finance Gateway by Thomson Reuters is indeed a welcome development. The timely access to a broad range of key information on Islamic finance including on the products terms, structures and Shariah rulings will contribute to enhanced transparency in the Islamic financial markets. As a platform that allows for price discovery, it will contribute towards the more efficient functioning of the various Islamic financial markets across the world. It will also foster a greater international understanding of Islamic financial practices in the various Islamic financial markets.
In this regard, the proof of the pudding will be in our actions – talk is cheap. What is key – that the appropriate policy steps are taken in a timely manner. However, let me make two points. First, I am very confident that the enlarged Federal Reserve balance sheet will not compromise our ability to tighten monetary policy when needed consistent with our dual mandate goals. Second, I am equally confident that no one on the FOMC is willing to countenance a sustained rise in either inflation expectations or inflation. Let me explain why our enlarged balance sheet does not compromise our ability to tighten monetary policy. Although our enlarged balance sheet has led to a sharp rise in excess  6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  reserves in the banking system, this has the potential to spur inflation only if banks lend out these reserves in a manner that generates a rapid expansion of credit and an associated sharp rise in economic activity. The ability of the Federal Reserve to pay interest on excess reserves (IOER) provides a means to prevent such excessive credit growth. Because the Federal Reserve is the safest of counterparties, the IOER rate is effectively the risk-free rate. By raising that rate, the Federal Reserve can raise the cost of credit more generally. That is because banks will not lend at rates below the IOER rate when they can instead hold their excess reserves on deposit with the Fed and earn that risk-free rate.

For many larger institutions, a release of loan loss reserves has been important in supporting earnings. Credit availability has improved somewhat as very tight standards start to loosen (Chart 9). As a result, some measures of bank credit are beginning to expand again (Chart 10). Second, monetary policy and fiscal policy have provided support to the recovery. On the monetary policy side, the unusually low level of short-term interest rates and the Federal Reserve’s large-scale asset purchase programs (LSAPs) have fostered a sharp improvement in financial market conditions. Since August 2010, for example, when market participants began to anticipate that the Federal Reserve would initiate another LSAP, U.S. equity prices have risen sharply and credit spreads have narrowed (Chart 11 and Chart 12). Long-term interest rates have moved higher after initially declining, but this does not appear troublesome as it primarily reflects the brightening economic outlook. On the fiscal side, the economy has been supported by the shift in policy toward near-term accommodation. In particular, the temporary reduction in payroll taxes is providing substantial support to real disposable income and consumption. This could have a particularly strong impact on growth during the first part of the year. Third, growth abroad – especially among emerging market economies – has been strong and this has led to an increase in the demand for U.S.-made goods and services. Over the four quarters of 2010 real exports rose 9.2 percent (Chart 13). After a disappointing performance earlier in the year, U.S. net exports surged in the fourth quarter (Chart 14).
We still estimate this neutral range to be at 5–6%, provided that inflation is close to the Bank of Russia’s target of 4%. Thank you all for your attention. 3/3  BIS central bankers' speeches

The fact that employment depends on a number of other factors than monetary policy decisions and cyclical variations is illustrated, among other things, by the miscalculations of the National Labour Market Board just prior to 2004. In November last year the Board estimated that Swedish economic growth would be 1.4 per cent in 2003 and 1.9 per cent this year, while unemployment was forecast to be 5.1 per cent this year. Moreover, the Board believed that the repo rate should be cut from 2.75 to 2.25-2.5 per cent. These forecasts were roughly in line with those of the Riksbank at that time, with the exception that we, as usual, based our forecasts on the assumption that the repo rate would be kept unchanged. A year later we can say that economic growth has exceeded both the National Labour Market Board’s and our expectations at the same time as the monetary stance has become looser. Nevertheless, labour market growth has been weaker. This shows both that forecasters can be surprised by unexpected developments in the economy and that unemployment at present is not chiefly due to insufficient demand for goods and services owing to low growth and tight monetary policy.
Mr. McDonough examines recent developments and trends in the foreign exchange markets Remarks by the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Mr. William J. McDonough, before the 39th International Congress of the Association Cambiste International, The Financial Markets Association in Toronto on 30/5/97. I am delighted to be invited to address the 39th International Congress of the Association Cambiste Internationale (ACI) -- The Financial Markets Association. I must confess to a certain affinity for the foreign exchange community, stemming, no doubt, from my commercial banking experience and my time overseeing the foreign exchange desk at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. I’ve long believed that, more so than in most other sectors of the finance industry, there is a real community among those engaged in foreign exchange -- a community that relies on close personal ties and contacts. It is this spirit of community that makes events such as these ACI meetings today and tomorrow so enjoyable and important, giving us the opportunity to renew old friendships and build new relationships that will enable us to do our respective jobs that much better. In my remarks to you this morning, I would like to highlight some recent developments in the foreign exchange market and share with you my view, as a central banker, of what has been driving some of the trends we’ve been observing.

The aim of the plan is to provide clarity of the vision and objectives that are to be achieved in the context of a more challenging environment that is driven by rapid change in a world that is becoming increasingly more integrated and more technology and knowledge-based. In the development of our Islamic financial system, a comprehensive approach has been adopted. Malaysia has given emphasis to the development of a comprehensive financial infrastructure that includes the Islamic financial markets, Islamic financial instruments, contract law and law enforcement procedures, Shariah governance framework, Islamic accounting practices and valuation standards, appropriate disclosure requirements as well as an efficient and secure payment and settlement system. Attention has also been directed to develop the prudential regulatory and supervisory framework that underpins the stability of the Islamic financial industry. Today, my remarks will focus on three key areas in which greater attention is needed in order to secure a promising future for the Islamic financial services industry. These areas include accelerating the pace of financial innovation, strengthening risk management capabilities and leveraging on information technology. Accelerating the pace of financial innovation As we advance forward in the development of Islamic finance, innovation will be key in securing the competitive advantage. It will be vital to the future of Islamic finance.
I wish to stress that this commitment was reaffirmed in Hamburg a few days ago by the whole G20, including the United States – and this is important as we need to preserve, in the words of the G20 Leaders’ Declaration, “an open and resilient financial system, grounded in agreed international standards”i . Regarding Basel III, I sincerely hope that we can reach a balanced agreement among Basel Committee members by next autumn. The vast majority of the Basel III framework has indeed already been agreed and is now largely implemented, notably in Europe since 2014 with the CRD IV package. The main outstanding point of discussion is, as you know, the so-called “output floor” which would apply to banks using internal models. The objective of Basel III is to lay the foundations for a strong, balanced and risk-sensitive international regulation, while reducing the undue variability of risk-weighted assets (RWAs). So we need a prudent but a  1  reasonable level of the output floor, combined with strengthened supervision of banks’ internal models – and Europeans made sensible proposals to achieve this. But should the output floor be set at too high a level, the consequences in terms of the reduction of risk sensitivity and the increase in capital requirements would be unacceptable: for example, a 75% output floor would affect half of international banks. It would de facto result in creating a “Basel IV” framework based on the standardised approach.

A minimum loan-to-valuation ratio was also introduced to stem the incipient growth of high-priced residential loans that, if left unchecked, could have led to speculative property bubbles and threat to financial and economic stability down the road. Maintaining financial stability is another all-important policy objective for us as the central bank. In fulfilling that objective, it is imperative that we remain vigilant on developments which might lead to financial imbalances – such as excessive household debt and asset price inflation – and take timely action, including prudential measures, to prevent them from becoming a threat to the financial system and the economy. Ladies and Gentlemen, Another dimension of our policy towards the retail banking business is to ensure that customers are treated fairly, that they are provided with clear and complete information about the product and price before and after the sale, and that they are given sound advice which takes into account their needs and circumstances. In this connection, we have put a ceiling on interest rates on personal and credit card loans. We also require transparency and disclosure of interest rate calculation and fees that banks charge their customers. We have provided guidance to banks regarding appropriate procedures to handle customer complaints as well as fair debt-collection practices. We have also been working to improve the information available to the general public on our new website that we hope would help to facilitate consumer education and raise the level of financial literacy.
Mr George elucidates the new monetary policy arrangement in the United Kingdom and in the euro-zone Speech by the Governor of the Bank of England, Mr E A J George, at The Chartered Institute of Bankers in Glasgow on 18/1/99. Mr President, Secretary of State, Lord Provost, my Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. It would be a masterly understatement to describe the past two years, since the last CIB Scotland Dinner, as eventful. Here in Scotland, following the referendum and last year’s legislation, you are now actively preparing for the elections to the Scottish Parliament in May. In my own neck of the woods, we have seen responsibility for the implementation of monetary policy devolved upon the Bank’s new Monetary Policy Committee. And elsewhere in Europe, 11 countries have merged their separate currencies into the single euro, thereby passing responsibility for monetary policy from national authorities to the new European Central Bank. These are truly historic events. I have no wish to become embroiled in the matters of Scottish politics this evening – I’m more than happy to leave that to the Secretary of State. I simply wish you all well, and look forward to developing a constructive dialogue with the new Parliament as we have with the Scottish banking and business communities. But let me say a few words about the new monetary policy arrangements here in the United Kingdom and in the euro-zone.

3/3  BIS central bankers' speeches
For the purposes of the survey, new lending comprises both refinancing of an existing mortgage from another lender and newly granted loans for the purchase or construction of real estate. Equally, actual interest rate risk increases if banks stop – or scale back – hedging activities for such risk to reduce costs. Page 7/10  The SNB regularly conducts simulations to gauge the significance of this interest rate risk exposure for financial stability. As set out in this year’s Financial Stability Report, these simulations suggest that the Swiss banking system is well positioned to absorb a gradual normalisation of interest rates under current conditions. 8 Indeed, the banks even stand to benefit from such a scenario, as a moderate interest rate rise would relieve pressure on interest rate margins. This is due to the fact that the first effect of a moderate rise in interest rates would likely be a normalisation of liability margins. If, on the other hand, we assume a scenario in which interest rates rise very sharply, this would have a significant adverse impact on the banks. This outcome is attributable to the fact that, in such circumstances, structural margins would decline substantially – in other words, losses associated with maturity transformation would materialise. It would not be possible to offset this effect with improved liability margins. In this context, I should emphasise that the domestically focused banks have been accumulating capital in recent years and now hold sizeable capital surpluses that significantly exceed regulatory minimum requirements.

A second – and important – explanation can be seen in the red shaded area of this chart (slide 8). Domestically focused banks have reacted to the decline in liability margins by increasing asset margins by around 50 basis points. Specifically, following the introduction of negative interest, they raised rates for long-term mortgages (shown here in blue), while returns on long-term market investments (illustrated here using the ten-year swap rate in yellow) continued to fall. The banks have since managed to keep asset margins high, notwithstanding the fact that market rates have continued to decline. But there is another, equally important explanation for the limited impact of the low interest rate environment on the profitability of domestically focused banks: these institutions have increased their risk appetite. This applies particularly to affordability risk (typically measured using the loan-to-income ratio) in lending and to interest rate risk from maturity transformation. Let’s take a closer look at the current risk situation with respect to domestically focused banks in Switzerland. Affordability risk refers to cases in which a borrower can no longer afford to make interest and amortisation payments for a loan under unfavourable conditions. 5 A representative quarterly survey conducted by the SNB indicates that a substantial share of new mortgages exhibit high loan-to-income ratios. Moreover, this share has been rising since 2013. 6 Put simply, interest rate risk is the risk that banks will suffer losses as a result of rising interest rates.
Exchange control liberalisation began in earnest in the mid-nineties when Malta accepted the Article VIII obligations of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement and the process was completed immediately prior to Malta’s accession to the European Union on May 1st this year. The deregulation measures I have described were accompanied by institutional restructuring, which ensured that throughout the reform process the financial system was not subject to shocks. The new 1994 Banking Act and the related Directives brought Malta’s legislation in line with EU standards governing bank solvency, capital adequacy and large exposures. At the same time, the Malta Financial Services Centre was established as the regulator for financial services other than banking, which remained the responsibility of the Central Bank of Malta. At this time, the Central Bank undertook a number of initiatives to develop a properly functioning money market, focusing mainly on the three-month Treasury bill. An interbank market also began to operate and the Bank began to trade actively in the money market through regular auctions of term deposits and repos. The Central Bank also ceased to extend credit to the Government, thus further underlining its independence. To reduce its influence further, the Government privatised a small bank in 1994 and one of the larger banks the following year. In 1999 it sold its majority shareholding in the other major bank to a global banking institution, HSBC. The arrival of this bank spurred competition and helped to promote better practices.

With this requirement, my wish is that it will provide an impetus to the attainment of the chartered banker qualification. Second is Character. If competence represents the ‘head’ of a professional banker, then character must surely be the ‘heart’. Over the last decade, the ethical scorecard of the financial sector was blemished by irresponsible risk-taking and opaque practices of bankers in the lead up to the global financial crisis. Ethical lapses and conduct failures in more recent years have compounded matters. Far too often, we witness the rise of bankers who are highly competent but ethically deficient. Worse, we allow and tolerate such practices. This is unsustainable. It also tarnishes the reputation of the many who spent their lifelong careers in the industry, and who hold the profession with great dignity and regard. Another principle worth attention in the Hippocratic Oath is the adage, “Do no harm”. There is a lot of richness in this ethos. It is worth emulating. Considering that consumers come into contact with banking personnel far more frequently than they visit their doctors, one may even argue a higher expectation ought to be applied for the banking industry. The Bank has actively worked towards reinforcing this objective over the years. The Bank believes that when the right set of fundamental principles is followed, it can positively shape the 2/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  actions and behaviour of people. Therefore, the Bank, in consultation with the industry, is due to publish five universal ‘Principles for a Fair and Effective Financial Market'.