samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
The savings in fees and charges matters: •  If we can take one percentage point out of the fees and charges that ordinary savers pay in many market-based pension schemes, that one percentage point makes a large difference in retirement savings. Taken over a lifetime of work, that one percentage point will mean at least a 25% improvement in retirement savings. •  In a whole range of countries, the experience has been that it has been difficult for people to manage their own funds. They don’t make the right investment decisions. We have to think hard about the reforms that pool and collectivise savings, to reduce the costs for ordinary savers. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  28. A third challenge has to do with reforming healthcare systems. The advances in healthcare have been remarkable and that’s largely why people are able to live for much longer than we used to. We are living healthier lives. But by and large, in a whole range of countries, we have extremely inefficient healthcare systems. Too much treatment takes place in hospitals rather than in primary care or in the community. And it is also a system where subsidies have been dispensed on an untargeted basis in many countries. The system is not sustainable and is going to take up a lot of resources in the future: both private and public resources that could otherwise be used to strengthen retirement adequacy and incomes.

The demand for protection will grow, not just the need to insure against losses but also the demand from businesses who wish to strengthen their resilience and to recover more quickly from security breaches. 41. But the market needs development. It’s still in its infancy. We have to increase awareness of the importance of insurance in dealing with cyber risk. Again, however, the data needed for efficient underwriting of risk is weak. We need to strengthen collaboration between the industry, government and academia to build reliable databases and analytical tools to enable the efficient underwriting of cyber risk. •  We have set up the Cyber Risk Management Project in Singapore. It was launched recently, involving the Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU)’s Insurance Risk and Finance Research Centre (NTU-IRFRC), and supported by leading industry players and the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) in Singapore. Conclusion 42. It is, to conclude, a difficult and challenging environment for insurers globally. We have to live with a low interest rate environment for a long time to come, even as our societies are getting older. It’s a challenge for everyone in the retirement business, including insurers. We have to find ways to make savings for affordable for ordinary savers as they prepare for their retirement. 43. But we also have to meet new opportunities in the insurance industry.
Excessively optimistic expectations of the future could lead to financial imbalances with excessive indebtedness building up in the Swedish economy. High stock exchange prices and increasing property prices can intensify this tendency. In  3  BIS Review 72/2000  this situation, an expansive monetary policy, based on the same over-optimism, would contribute to imbalances being built up. However, an important issue for the Riksbank is whether such a scenario is possible without different indicators for inflation signalling in time that overheating is on the way so that monetary policy has time to react. Experiences from other countries show that low consumer price inflation and healthy central government finances do not by themselves constitute a guarantee for future good development. Although one should always be cautious about drawing conclusions from comparisons between countries, it has been seen, for instance, that with experiences from Japan at the end of the 1980s and from Korea in the mid-1990s, overheating can be expressed in exaggerated stock exchange and property prices, high lending rates and low yield investments rather than in rising consumer prices. I can conceive of at least two factors in the Swedish economy that lead to an increasing overheating not being expressed in rising consumer prices and therefore risk leading the Riksbank and the general public to draw the wrong conclusions about the state of the economy. In the first place I believe that both wage and pricing behaviour are affected by inflation expectations being low and stable.

Recognizing its great potential to alleviate poverty in the Pacific, the UNCDF has joined forces with the UNDP, the European Union, AUSAID and other Donor Agencies together with Governments and central banks in the region, to drive and spread the benefits of financial inclusion throughout the Pacific Island Countries. For today’s Workshop, the focus will be on Mobile Money and Banking, an important Financial Inclusion strategy already launched in many developing countries. And, I don’t want to pretend that I am an expert on mobile money or mobile banking. Suffice it to say, that these Initiatives have presented great opportunities for the previously unbanked communities in large, developing countries such as Kenya, the Philippines, Mexico, and Brazil to name a few. Here at the Central Bank of Samoa, we believe that the introduction of mobile money and mobile banking in the domestic economy will be hugely beneficial. It will allow better financial access to our low-income community in the rural and isolated areas as well as to improve and speed up our payments system. In launching an Automatic Teller Machine (or ATM) for one of the commercial banks yesterday, I acknowledged the benefits of having and maintaining bank branches out in the rural areas, as these will help increase access to financial services. It is expected that some of these rural branches will not be financially viable in the short term.
To quote Mr David Bailey, “data and Regtech go hand-in-hand and data must be at the heart of any Regtech conversation”. Good quality data means Regtech can be used to build effective models and generate decision-making insights. It is vital to build trust with your customers if you want to acquire sufficient quality data. You then need to store and transform that data according to a solid set of data governance rules, identify data which is relevant, and use it in an intelligent and responsible way. Third, proper risk management remains as important as ever. In Hong Kong, we are proud of our banks with their long histories, but we recognise that their legacy infrastructure can potentially hold back Regtech adoption. One key takeaway from today is the reminder that Rome was not built in a day. Banks can start on a small scale, for example by conducting a Proof of Concept (PoC) in a business unit or implementing Regtech in a Cloud-based environment in a newly established part of their business. As a regulator, I must point out that when navigating technologies and determining how to put Regtech to use, it is essential that banks adopt a robust risk assessment framework to evaluate and manage the associated risks. This resonates with Ms Jane Fraser’s suggestions that banks should be mindful of risks such as data security and third-party operational risks that come with new technologies, and that the sandbox provides a valuable means to test new Regtech solutions.

2/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  Finally, collaboration among different parts of the ecosystem is crucial. My colleague Raymond Chan has highlighted the importance of collaboration in the ‘Path Forward’ session. Regtech solution providers and professional services providers, such as technology firms and advisory firms, have a wealth of knowledge and experience supporting Regtech implementations. As Ms Jessica Tan noted, these technology companies can help to bridge the gaps that banks may have in technical capability, people and skills. We also heard today that some banks have successfully implemented Regtech using external vendor technology for some of their solutions. Leveraging such expertise in turn frees up banks to focus on their core value propositions and competitive edge. How to Grow and Nurture Regtech in Hong Kong 13. Some of the Regtech adoption challenges are technical ones. But one very common barrier is mindset. We have heard multiple speakers who are leaders in their respective organisations say today that investment in Regtech is growing, and it will grow even faster in the future. How can we ensure that the mindset for growth is in place throughout the Regtech ecosystem? 14. One way with which we promote Regtech adoption in Hong Kong is by providing an environment conducive to the development of Regtech solutions. This includes attracting top talent to the city. The Global Regtech Challenge was one such initiative. Earlier, we had the Regtech Challenge finalists presenting their amazing solutions for transforming risk management and regulatory compliance processes.
Therefore, a range of banks should especially focus on this issue. As Anatoly Aksakov has already noted, the Bank of Russia granted regulatory easing last year so as to enable banks to promptly adjust to operation in crisis conditions and, which is even more important, to support their clients while adjusting. Moreover, we analysed regulatory easing in other countries. I should say that the regulatory easing in Russia is much more extensive than in many other states. However, it is crucial to understand all the concerns expressed by the banking community regarding the termination of regulatory relaxations. Since the very launch of them, we have been stressing that this regulatory easing is temporary and should be ended in due time so as to prevent any hidden problems that may emerge inside the banking system. In the future, hidden problems may become a source of systemic risks and we should therefore avoid this. As I have already said, if we estimate the potential amount of issues related to restructured loans in the current situation and banks’ revenues as the banking system’s profit decreased by 6% against 2019, we will see that there are no reasons why anti-crisis measures should not be terminated gradually. We believe that the regulatory relaxations for restructured loans should be cancelled according to the earlier announced schedule, that is, by 1 July. There may be still one exception. Namely, we are ready to continue loan restructuring for small and medium-sized businesses in the regions where restrictions for such enterprises are still in place.

I truly hope that bank owners will continue to act in a responsible manner they demonstrated last year, taking care of the future of their banks, probably selecting not always the simplest way, but the one that would ensure long-term stability for their banks and well-being for their clients and promote the development of our economy. Of course, we welcome further discussions and are ready to elaborate joint approaches. Thank you for attention. 7/7  BIS central bankers' speeches
In other economic policy areas, namely fiscal, monetary and prudential policies, the degree, composition and duration of the response should be tailored to those of the pandemic itself and its economic effects. That said, how this crisis will unfold is shrouded in unusually high uncertainty. As matters currently stand, from the point of view of public health there are many unknowns as to how the illness will evolve in the coming months. This will determine at what rate normality returns to our daily lives and, therefore, to economic activity. In this connection, irrespective of the suitability of the containment measures, the longer the duration of the economic shutdown, the greater the damage to activity. We must thus be mindful that anything we do now may not be enough to rescue the economy without considerable damage being caused. Further, it cannot be ruled out that, beyond its effects in the short and medium term, the pandemic may also cause certain structural changes in supply and demand in our economies. While these are currently difficult to anticipate, it is crucial to identify them promptly to ensure the appropriate economic response. Timely identification of these structural damages or transformations is important, since the economic policy response should not be directed solely at temporarily sustaining the incomes of the companies and employees affected but also at assisting reconstruction and cross-sectoral and crosscompany reallocation. However, the current shock therapy is not exempt from adverse side-effects. These are particularly visible in the strong increase in public debt.

18.05.2020  Pablo Hernández de Cos Appearance before the Parliamentary Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation Committee Governor  Ladies and gentlemen, I appear before you today in particularly difficult circumstances. Our country, like many others, is experiencing an enormously complex situation. My initial words are for all Spanish citizens, whose behaviour is proving exemplary. And most particularly they are for all those professionals who, putting their own health at risk, are working so resolutely to preserve the health of others and keep essential services operating. Naturally, these initial words are also to convey condolences to all those who have lost loved ones in this pandemic. We are facing an unprecedented situation. From the standpoint of its economic impact, it has three characteristics I wish to highlight, given that they condition the optimal economic policy response. First, the scale of the shock is immense. Unfortunately, we have seen how, in just a few days, the pandemic stretched our health system to the limit, cutting short thousands of human lives and leaving a deep scar on their families and on Spanish society as a whole. The situation has led our authorities, like so many other governments worldwide, to adopt drastic social distancing measures that severely limit people’s movements and a practical complete shutdown of activity in some productive processes. The economic impact of these measures is most acute because of the reduction in the supply and demand of goods and services.
BIS Review 46/2003  3  First, the government has emphasized the importance of balancing between external reliance and domestic strength in order to mitigate the problem of over-dependence on the possibly volatile external demand. The government’s dual track policy aims to maintain global links between Thailand and her external markets while also creating a strong and broad-based domestic demand especially at the grass-roots level. The merit of programs that reach out to the grass roots like the Village Fund and the People’s Bank is to help relax some of the financial constraints on low-income families which have had limited access to formal financial services. On the upside, more opportunities are being granted to the underprivileged, with long-term benefits hopefully realized in the form of greater ability to earn and consume. However, overdoing some of these programs may induce households to assume too much risk and accumulate debt beyond their ability to service. That will eventually give rise to loan defaults and a burden on the government’s budget. At present, Thailand’s household debt is still considered low compared to other emerging countries. At the end of 2002, the ratio of Thailand’s household debt to GDP is only 27 percent, significantly lower than the ratios observed in other Asian economies. Moreover, this debt accumulation has taken place along with a steady increase in household income and asset, thus mitigating the risk of excessive debt burden.

Outstanding export performance, strong domestic fundamentals, and continued GDP growth will unavoidably attract foreign capital into the country and, as in the recent months, exert upward pressure on the currency. While the economy now enjoys a more flexible adjustment mechanism compared with the past, a huge influx of foreign capital relative to the size of domestic financial and capital markets can nevertheless cause substantial market volatility and, if persists, can even lead to the emergence of asset price bubbles. 4  BIS Review 46/2003  Regarding the upward pressure on the baht, the Bank of Thailand has been monitoring the currency movements closely and has introduced a number of measures to ensure that the adjustment is orderly, in particularly that the exchange rate volatility is kept at a manageable level for the corporate sector. Let me emphasize here that the Bank of Thailand regards the current appreciation of the baht as a natural occurrence for an economy on the recovery and is not concerned with a trend movement that is in line with improved economic fundamentals. However, with realization that Thailand has always been more open on the inward than the outward direction, we have taken this opportunity to liberalize the outflow side of the capital account to make things a bit more balanced. With this intention, institutional investors have been permitted to invest in overseas securities, and the establishment of mutual funds to invest on behalf of local individuals in Asian Bonds issued by sovereign and quasi-sovereign entities has also been encouraged.
In terms of the effect it's going to have on rate raising on both sides of the Atlantic, what do you see as the ramifications for interest rate policy first perhaps for Federal Reserve and then for the ECB? For the Federal Reserve I wouldn't dare comment. I don't think they would like it too much and it's not my job. As far as the eurozone is concerned, so far I would say we can look through. It all comes against a backdrop of a very strong growth momentum, very broad. This recovery, this expansion is the strongest we had for at least 10 years. In terms of its breadth across the board, across sectors, across economies, that's the broadest we had for the last 20 years, I would say. The starting point is a very good one and the economy is quite resilient. There are two reasons why bonds go up, why yields go up or the rates on those bonds go up and yields go up and interest rates go up; One, the economy is going very, very well – or sometimes the economy is going very, very badly. Then the ECB perhaps has to step in again. Do you fear the ECB has to take more action to offset the negative effects of a potential trade war? That's not a discussion we're having today. The discussion we're having today is on how the mix of our instruments will have to change in the future.

We are very much data driven; we are driven by facts. We'll look at how all kinds of circumstances, including trade but also the global economy generally and the momentum we have in Europe, feeds into eurozone inflation and that will be the basis for our decisions. So far we are coming from a starting point which is strong and where we have increasing confidence that our inflation objective will be met. When I look at some of the wage deals going around at the moment in Germany and beyond, I see very healthy wage growth of some of those deals as well. When's that going to start feeding through into broader inflation, the kind of figures you want to see to be able to feel more comfortable about raising rates to a normalised level? We've seen some uptick in inflation even in the most recent numbers. It is slow, because we are starting from a point where unemployment at eurozone level was high and broad. We know that it takes time for it to translate into wage pressures. We have to be patient, but there is no reason to think that this will not translate into higher price and wage pressures. We've started to see it. In terms of the cover you've given countries like Italy and others as well, do you feel they've squandered that cover that the ECB has given and the support the ECB has given them through a lower yield and lower borrowing cost?
Thirdly, Regtech benefits regulators: Earlier, Deputy Governor Fan had this to say, “In the era of the digital economy, the financial business environment is opening up more and more, services are becoming more virtual, business boundaries are blurring, and financial risks are becoming more contagious.” We at the HKMA recognise the importance of Regtech in managing the risks associated with the digital economy. Regtech can play a critical role in helping banks to maintain operational resilience, and that in turn makes it easier for regulators to better manage overall risk in the financial system. 8. I particularly enjoyed the analogy made by Mr Benoît Cœuré. Indeed, we regulators are often 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  referred to as watchdogs. Benoit is more specific. He noted that banks are like greyhounds – usually fast at adopting new technologies; while regulators are like bloodhounds – a bit slow and stubborn but having financial stability as their key priority. In fact though, I have to say that the HKMA is increasingly acting like a greyhound in our efforts to promote Regtech. How to overcome Regtech adoption challenges 9. So we have put forward clear evidence that Regtech can benefit many different stakeholders. But we also know that there are challenges associated with Regtech adoption. Part of our Regtech 2025 vision is to see Regtech being extensively adopted by the Hong Kong banking sector. To facilitate this, we aim to share success stories of Regtech implementation – how others overcame the challenges and develop practical guidance to banks.

I also call on banks to better monitor their pricing practices: margins must be sufficient to cover the costs and risks associated with housing loans. These points will be particularly closely monitored by the ACPR in 2020, and they are – I stress – of common interest to both you and us – in terms of financial stability. Lastly, to meet the challenge of profitability, French banks and insurers must be able to – at last! – operate in a genuine single financial market conducive to cross-border consolidation. And yet, the Banking Union is still half-finished: progress on resolution – second pillar – is at least as important as that on the deposit guarantee scheme – third pillar. Moreover, in the run-up to the arduous discussions on the future relationship with the United Kingdom, Europe must – more than ever before – assert its financial sovereignty. This requires the Capital Markets Union. I 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  would like to express my support for the priorities put forward in the “Next CMU” report and for the High-Level Forum (HLF) launched by the new Commission. If 2020 proves to be not only the year of Brexit, but also the year of a Savings and Sustainable Investment Union, Europe will have turned the problem into an opportunity.