samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
This has included enhancing access to the unserved sectors as well as the introduction of highly innovative delivery channels such as retail outlets and post offices as third-party agents to widen the outreach of financial services. These have worked in tandem to ensure that all members of society, including the most vulnerable groups, have the opportunity to participate in the formal financial system. Concurrently, continuous efforts are being undertaken to promote consumer protection and education, in  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  order to ensure fair and responsible market practices and conduct, and that consumers are better equipped with the necessary financial knowledge to make informed decisions. Recognising that the development of the financial sector also depends on the availability of high quality and skilled talent, focus was accorded to the development of human capital through the introduction of institutional arrangements to provide comprehensive education and learning programmes for the financial services industry. Towards this objective, the Central Bank oversaw the establishment of differentiated platforms to meet the diverse needs of financial services professionals, from the entry to middle management, specialist and leadership levels. These include the setting up of programmes and institutions such as the Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme, the ICLIF Leadership and Governance Centre and INCEIF, the global university of Islamic finance.

Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Reflections on financial reform – Malaysia’s experience Speech by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the 2013 China Business News (CBN) Annual Meeting and Finance Summit “Reflections on financial reform – Malaysia’s experience”, Beijing, 8 December 2013. *  *  *  It is my honour and pleasure to be invited to speak at this 2013 China Business News Finance Summit. As the globalisation of finance intensifies, the world is becoming increasingly more inter-connected and integrated. This has largely been due to the trend towards increased financial liberalisation by most parts of the world. It has been maintained that such deregulation and liberalisation would facilitate the development of more efficient and robust financial systems and that it would result in a more efficient allocation of financial resources across borders. While such financial liberalisation may indeed bring such wide ranging benefits, it also brings with it increased risks that needs to be effectively managed. It was for these reasons that Malaysia adopted a conscious effort to put in place the financial and economic pre-conditions so as to enable us to benefit from such financial reforms involving the deregulation and liberalisation of our financial system. Allow me to share our experience in pursuing this agenda. Following the Asian Financial Crisis, Malaysia embarked on strategies for an orderly development of the financial sector.
But I hope you can see that in its deliberations, the MPC has adopted the spirit, if not the literal shape, of the Round Table. BIS Review 94/2006  3

Thomas Jordan: Monetary policy and the business cycle Summary of a speech by Mr Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the 75th anniversary celebrations of the KOF Swiss Economic Institute, Zurich, 23 September 2013. The complete speech can be found in German on the Swiss National Bank’s website (www.snb.ch). *  *  *  Monetary policy contributes to the prosperity of an economy by ensuring price stability in the medium and long term. This makes it possible to put resources to more efficient use, from an economic point of view, and also promotes investment and, with it, long-term growth. Price stability also helps to avoid undesirable distribution effects. Households with lower incomes derive particular benefit from this. Monetary policy can be used to dampen cyclical fluctuations. However, it is not suitable for short-term fine-tuning of the economy. From the point of view of the business cycle, the goal of monetary policy must rather be the reduction of larger risks and the alleviation of extreme situations. An example of one such measure is the minimum exchange rate, which the Swiss National Bank (SNB) set on 6 September 2011 to halt the Swiss franc's upward trend, thus averting a deflationary spiral and warding off the danger of a serious economic crisis. Monetary policy decisions are always subject to uncertainty. It is therefore of key importance that the SNB has a sound decision-making basis.
Exchange controls were removed in 1979, facilitating capital flows into and out of the UK; and Big Bang, in 1986, opened up the Stock Exchange and paved the way for the participation of the leading foreign investment banks in London’s market. At the same time the growth of international trade and thus capital flows has brought in more business. In some of the activities that London has long dominated, its growth in the last 10 years has largely reflected the growth of global capital market activity. In the foreign exchange market, for example, where the London market is and remains the largest in the world, turnover was a bit over 30% of the global total in April 2004, broadly unchanged from 1998. But turnover in London had increased by nearly 20% over the same period – a big increase despite the creation of the euro, which removed the necessity for trading between so many currency pairs. On an even larger scale the UK’s share of cross border bank leading – which has long been a strength of London’s – remained unchanged at around 20% between 1998 and 2006. But over that same period, the market grew by about 150%. But there are several areas where London’s share of business is rising, particularly in new, innovative and technically demanding areas of finance. London’s share of world over-the-counter derivatives business, for example, has risen from around 35% in 2001 to nearly 40% in April 2004.

And within that the notional amount of credit derivatives traded in London multiplied by more than 100 between 1997 and 2006. While the US remains the main centre of the hedge fund sector, at the latest count twelve of the world’s largest 50 hedge funds were based in London, as against only three in 2002. London has a share of nearly 80% of the European based hedge fund market, up from around 70% in 2002. The UK private equity market has been another prominent area of growth recently. UK private equity funds raised in 2005 were over £ billion, around twice the size of the previous peak in 2001, with the UK private equity industry accounting for over 50% of the total European market. The drivers of the City’s recent growth In part the City’s recent growth reflects – as it did a century ago – a rapid growth in international trade and financial liberalisation. Globalisation has brought an expansion of world imports by 180% since 1990 compared with an 80% increase in world GDP. Progressive upgradings of a number of emerging economies have broadened and deepened international links. Higher savings in the emerging Asian economies, in particular, have combined with demographic change in the West to increase demand for long-term savings instruments and a fall in their yields. 10 All these trends taken together have led to a period since 2002 of unusually high returns for holders of many financial assets and the explosive growth in new products and markets.
Financial innovation is good and healthy for our economies. Changes that have occurred in the last years strongly contribute to market efficiency and overall increase the resilience of our financial system. By allowing wider spreading of risk through credit derivatives, in particular, hedge funds bring an important contribution to market efficiency and liquidity. At the same time, the implications of those changes for financial market dynamics might be more complex and far reaching than before. New instruments have been developed in a very benign environment. Liquidity in many market segments has not been tested in period of stress. How these instruments would behave in periods of stress is a major question for market participants and authorities alike. In such an uncertain environment, securing the full benefits of the structural shifts in the financial system does put a premium on risk management. Everybody would agree, I think, that the first mitigant against the risks associated with hedge funds is robust internal risk management systems, both in hedge funds themselves and at their prime brokers. These are the basis for an efficient market discipline and a condition for financial stability. Strong and rigorous implementation of sound principles for risk management seem essential. You have noticed the reference, in yesterday's G7 communiqué, to the Paulson's task force (Presidents Working Group).

Global results in 2006 were once again surprising. World growth was around 5%, greater than expected at the start of the year, and inflation was contained, despite the persistence of a notable rise in oil prices. The country that most improved in the euro area was Germany, where growth rose from 0.9% in 2005 to 2.5% in 2006. The fact that Germany should have moved onto a growth path after so many years of sluggishness is undoubtedly of great importance for the prospects of the Spanish economy. The optimism emanating from the booming international climate needs to be qualified, however. The world economy evidences certain problems and there are question marks about how hard or soft the landing of the US economy will be and whether the absorption of the balance of payments imbalances will be orderly or not. Furthermore, and above all, uncertainty looms over the level of asset prices following their high growth in recent years, in a situation of historically low long-term interest rates and exceptionally buoyant corporate earnings. In the case of the Spanish economy, the ongoing expansion has been accompanied by the emergence of certain imbalances that pose potential risks to continuing economic dynamism. The Banco de España has reiterated that Spanish growth is being driven by resident spending that has not always been met with sufficient responsiveness in domestic productive activity; consequently, cost and price pressures have ensued. These have contributed to certain imbalances whose presence means that any potentially excessive optimism must be tempered.
On the one hand, to accumulate reserves, strengthening our international liquidity position, and on the other hand, to provide some transitory relief to sectors that need to undergo an adjustment due to current international conditions. A more debated tool is the use of capital controls. This is particularly important for countries that are going through a period of important net capital inflows, which is not the case of Chile. Capital controls are part of the central bank’s toolkit in EMEs. However, their effectiveness is still a matter of discussion, and instead of discussing this evidence I would like to point to distortions that they may bring about. First, they may redirect capital inflows from controlled segments of the financial system to uncontrolled ones, fostering the shadow banking system. And second, they may generate discriminations in the corporate sector as some firms may have access to foreign financing free of controls, while other firms, especially small and medium sized enterprises, have to seek financing from more expensive domestic sources. Capital controls are not only a macro tool, but have recently been considered “macroprudential” measures as well. Their purpose is to avoid the building up of financial vulnerabilities, in particular currency and maturity mismatches. But, this can also be achieved with regulation directly introduced to prevent these mismatches and through appropriate risk management. Finally, given some recent calls for the use of capital controls in EMEs, there is a collective action problem.

As one country imposes capital controls, it pushes international financial flows elsewhere, inducing others to impose capital controls, and so on. Now assume that all countries are able to impose capital controls so that at the margin, there are no changes in net capital flows. Then the global adjustment would not take place, EMEs would grow beyond their potential, generating inflation, while weak economies would be trapped with low demand growth. EMEs can still try to temper capital inflows transitorily, but to completely avoid them would be unfeasible and inefficient. Concluding remarks Despite all the current tensions, the global economy is adjusting. Exchange rates of EMEs and commodity exporters have been strengthening – albeit at different speeds as some economies try to smooth the adjustment – and the global recovery is taking place (Figure 4). Fortunately, trade restrictions, which represent the biggest threat to the global recovery, have not been implemented. In recent weeks we have witnessed increased tensions in the world, such as the turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa and the natural and nuclear disasters in Japan. We need to play close attention to these developments, but they should not change the perspectives of the dual-speed recovery in the world economy. As discussed above, the policy decisions in large countries have repercussions on the rest of the world. However, the main role for policymakers is to secure recovery and to create the basis for sustainable growth, which requires macroeconomic and financial stability.
Stefan Ingves: Financial crises in an international perspective Speech by Mr Stefan Ingves, Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, at the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, Copenhagen, 12 September 2006. *  *  *  Thank you for inviting me here today. It is easy to forget what a financial crisis entails, now that a number of years have passed since we last experienced one and it is therefore important that we remind ourselves. Although we cannot yet see any immediate threats, we must look ahead to prevent potential crises. During my twenty minutes or so today I intend to talk about the following: •  the fact that most of the various crises in different countries during the 1980s and 1990s have had a number of common causes,  •  the fact that it is important to invest in preventing and managing crises,  •  the fact that risks and potential vulnerabilities in the financial system are now changing rapidly as the differences between banks and other financial institutions decline and crossborder integration intensifies,  •  the fact that the cooperation between authorities within and between countries must be developed further, both with regard to regular monitoring and crisis management. In particular, it is necessary to discuss how the responsibilities and costs should be divided up in the event of a crisis. Many of the experiences I describe refer to crises and countries outside of Scandinavia, even outside of Europe, which does not prevent them from being relevant to our discussion.

This change requires the readiness of Shariah scholars to play a greater role and to interact with others from various disciplines to enrich and enhance ijtihad with new perspectives, against the backdrop of a contemporary  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  landscape. This innovation will only be generated through the openness of minds and a paradigm shift, based on sound understanding of the Shariah objectives. As the vanguard of Islamic finance, it is the responsibility of Shariah scholars to promote best practices in the Shariah fraternity through an inclusive and contemporary ijtihad, in line with the rapidly evolving operating environment. Finally, I pray that the discussions will run smoothly and will achieve the intended objectives. On this note, I end my speech with the words of Imam Ibn Taymiyyah,: “Surely among the main thrusts in a religion is the union of hearts, the unison of views and easing of disputes conducted in a good way.” Wabillahi taufik wal hidayah. Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Thank you. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches
If it should suddenly become difficult or very expensive for the bank to borrow money, it may experience difficulty in meeting its payments. The terms for the more long-term lending are largely restricted. In such a situation the Riksbank can help to manage the bank’s financing problems by granting liquidity assistance. But we only do this on condition that the terms I recently mentioned are met and if our assessment is that the stability of the financial system would be jeopardised if the bank in question failed. Another fundamental function that it is important to mention in this context “to keep the different tasks separate” is that the Swedish banks can borrow overnight from the Riksbank against collateral at an interest rate of 0.75 percentage points above the repo rate. They always have this possibility and this is not what we mean by liquidity assistance. But what if the bank suffering problems does not have larger assets than liabilities? Should the Riksbank provide liquidity assistance? No, in such a situation it is a question for the government, not the Riksbank, to decide. What the Riksbank can do is provide additional liquidity under certain conditions. We do not have the task of managing a bank’s problems with its creditworthiness. Even in this hypothetical reasoning it is important to point out, that in principle all those who have deposited money in the bank are protected by the deposit guarantee in the event that a Swedish bank should default.

For example, the number of company bankruptcies and loan losses in the banks is usually higher when economic activity is low and vice versa. There is also a fundamental relationship between our fields of activity. The Riksbank’s most important tool in conducting monetary policy is the repo rate. One can say that we try to influence economic activity and inflation by steering the price of credit, that is,  BIS Review 119/2008  1  interest rates. But to be able to do this, the payment system and our interest rate steering system must function. Financial stability is therefore actually a necessary condition for being able to conduct monetary policy efficiently. With regard to financial stability, the Riksbank makes regular updated assessments. I shall soon return to our views on current developments. But before I do so, I would like to say a few words about what the task of safeguarding financial stability actually entails. Most people are probably aware that we have an inflation target for monetary policy. But what do we mean by financial stability? What do we mean by financial stability? Financial stability is not so easy to define. In the Sveriges Riksbank Act the Riksbank’s task that we commonly refer to as safeguarding financial stability is formulated as “to promote a safe and efficient payment system”. Put simply, this concerns working in different ways to ensure that he financial system is stable and functions smoothly. This is important for many reasons.
Moreover, the utilization of foodstuff in the bio-fuels production combined with the unfavorable weather conditions last year has led to further increases in commodity prices. Despite economic slowdown expectations in developed countries, the surge in commodity prices has continued in 2008 and the oil prices reached USD 140 per barrel. On the other hand, the sub-prime mortgage crisis that has started in the U.S. in mid 2007 has grown to a level that threatens the stability of financial system in many countries. The growth expectations were scaled back significantly. The turbulence might also have negative implications on the Turkish economy. Nevertheless, economic indicators show that the Turkish economy’s resistant to fluctuations in global markets has increased substantially, compared to the previous episodes of turbulences. The current relative resilience is an outcome of the successfully and decisively implemented macroeconomic policies since 2001 together with comprehensive structural reforms. Still, we are facing challenges now. The year-on-year consumer price inflation climbed to double-digit levels in May and it will probably remain high till the last quarter of this year and then decline gradually. Moreover, the growth rate of the GDP stood at 4.5% in 2007, as compared to 2001-2006 period, which was 7.2% on the average. Dear Guests, Turkey has several comparative advantages compared to many of its counterparts that can support high growth rates in the medium term. The first one is the demographic structure. Turkey has a young and skilled population that is one of the most important ingredients of economic growth.

This reduction in minimum CAR does not necessarily translate into a full 2% lowering of the total CAR requirements because in parallel with this, MAS will amend the rules for computing CAR, which is the second component of the package of CAR revisions. (ii)  Changes in CAR computation rules  One noteworthy revision to the computation rules will be a requirement for banks to set aside more capital for significant investments, commensurate with the risks associated with such investments. We had stated in August last year that this would be done, when we extended by two years the grace period for Singapore banks to divest non-financial businesses.2 Another significant revision is to allow banks to include 45% of the revaluation surpluses from banks’ holdings of property assets as well as portfolio equity investments as Upper Tier 2 capital. This will raise the capital available to banks, but it is unlikely to offset the higher capital that they will have to set aside for significant investments. In line with the policy of setting more transparent requirements, MAS will publish these CAR requirements and computation rules. Local banks will report their CAR based on the revised rules starting from their second quarter financial results. 1  MAS lowered the Tier 1 component from 12% to 10% in November 1998, and again from 10% to 8% in September 2000. 2  “Extension of grace period for banks divestment of non-financial businesses”, MAS Press Release, 22 August 2003.