samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
All parts of an organisation need to understand cyber risk and their responsibilities towards improved cyber hygiene. This includes Board level engagement. Front line business areas need to understand and own the risk. Management of cyber vulnerabilities needs to feature in strategic planning. 3  2  The Bank, Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). BIS central bankers’ speeches  3. Cyber requires effective and regular testing: Of people, processes and technology. Industry investment in cyber is significant but testing the effectiveness of this investment has not kept pace. Assurance is often based on audits and control sampling which is not sufficient, not least because of the challenge for internal audit departments to keep pace with change in this area. And of course, given the dynamic nature of the threat, such tests should take place on a regular basis. This leads me onto the other element of our response to the FPC recommendation I wanted to talk about: vulnerability testing through the CBEST 4 program. CBEST is a framework that we have developed working with government, industry and commercial providers of penetration testing and threat intelligence. The idea is to bring to bear the best available intelligence on potential threats to test directly a firm’s ability to protect, detect and respond to cyber attacks. The scope of a CBEST test is tailored to the business of the firm and the critical services it provides.

It needed support from other policy areas and agents, who, whether they like it or not, also play a role in the development of inflation. And although we now have well-designed frameworks in place for different policy areas, this in itself is not always sufficient to ensure a good economic outcome – the frameworks must also work together and result in a meaningful whole. A lot has certainly changed in a year. Inflation has risen substantially around the world, and central banks have raised their policy rates quickly and quite a lot. The problems with the lower bound for the policy rates and too low inflation have therefore disappeared from the agenda at the moment. However, as I have noted, it is far from clear that the global economic playing field has changed in any profound way in the longer run. Above all, there is a great deal to suggest that the global real equilibrium interest rate remains at a historically low level. It is therefore possible, perhaps even likely, that these problems will reappear in a few years’ time. But perhaps my most important message today is that there is a need for interaction between different agents in the economy also when inflation is too high, as it is today. It is true that the policy rate is not restricted upwards in the way that it is downwards – it can be raised without it hitting any ceiling.
Paris Europlace International Financial Forum – Paris, Wednesday 12th July 2017 Roundtable 3: capitalizing on the new G20 regulatory steps  Introductory remarks by François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France  Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a pleasure to be with you today to introduce this roundtable, which could not be more topical, just a few days after the leaders of the G20 met in Hamburg. From London in 2009 to Hamburg last week, there is only 450 miles as the crow flies; but there has been considerable progress in terms of financial regulation. Thanks to international cooperation between the 20 major economies, the resilience of the global financial system has significantly improved in eight years, without impeding the financing of the economy or global economic growth. We can all be proud of these achievements, but there is no room for complacency today. Let me elaborate on what I see as the three priorities for further work, and the two requirements to consolidate what we have achieved so far. ** 1. Three priority areas where further work is needed. First, we have to finalise the Basel III framework, “without further significantly increasing overall capital requirements across the banking sector, while promoting a level playing field”.

The output floor is to serve as a backstop, not as the primary driver of capital requirements: yes to Basel III, no to Basel IV. Having said that, the main issue now is no longer the solvency of banks, but the liquidity of non-banks. Therefore the bulk of the regulatory efforts must now be focused on the shadow banking system, which has risen from USD 73 trillion of assets in 2007 to USD 92 trillion in 2015ii – i.e. 150% of total GDP – in the jurisdictions monitored by the Financial Stability Board. And those parts of shadow banking that may pose financial stability risks represent USD 34 trillion; two-thirds of which is composed of collective investment vehicles (CIVs) with features that make them susceptible to runs. It is thus of key importance that authorities develop and use system-wide liquidity stress-testing tools, in order to address the risks of a “funds-run” in adverse market conditions. The FSB decided on this; it has to be implemented with a strong commitment by IOSCO and national regulators. The third main area of work is the regulatory framework for central counterparties (CCPs). The clearing obligation of OTC derivatives has fortunately reduced OTC transactions, but as a result CCPs have also become more and more systemic and concentrated. The FSB guidance on a recovery and resolution framework, which is currently being transposed into EU legislation, is a good step forward.
A further similarity relates to the lack of capacity to manage the increased risks associated with the transformation of the financial sector. For Asia , the increased liberalisation was not accompanied by the development of the necessary domestic financial infrastructure and the capacity to manage the increased risks and vulnerabilities associated with the liberalisation. In the current crisis, financial innovation occurred at a pace that outstripped the ability to manage the associated risks with such innovations. There was excessive risk taking and a lack of transparency and disclosure in the financial transactions. The complex structured instruments and securitisation process resulted in multi-layered structuring of financial products which were not supported by enhancements to governance processes and the risk management infrastructures and practices. This resulted in an underestimation of the risks involved and the capital buffers that were necessary. The ensuing turmoil in the financial markets that followed was increasing illiquidity in the financial markets and the subsequent breakdown in the functioning of the markets. As this continued, it has translated into stress and insolvencies in the financial sector. In both crises, this precipitated a sudden pull back in bank lending. The ensuing credit crunch magnified further the damaging impact on the economy. In Asia, the economic contraction was severe in the range of minus 7% to 13%. In the current financial crisis, however, the spillover impact of the effects on the economy has yet to be fully felt.

Miroslav Singer: Czech central bank head sees lowered risk of deflation – interview in The Wall Street Journal Interview with Mr Miroslav Singer, Governor of the Czech National Bank, in The Wall Street Journal, conducted by Paul Hannon on 11 October 2014. *  *  *  The threat of a slide into deflation or a long period of very low inflation in the Czech Republic has diminished, the head of the country’s central bank said Saturday, although he intends to maintain the weak-koruna policy at least into the start of 2016. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, Miroslav Singer said he had been encouraged by the stimulus measures announced by the European Central Bank since June, since he had expected it to take longer to react to very low inflation rates. Mr. Singer also said that he was confident the central bank could bring its weak-koruna policy to an end without risking a “snapback,” or a sharp strengthening of the currency. The Czech Republic is a member of the European Union, but has chosen not to use the euro. It does have close economic ties to the currency area and particularly Germany. As a result, low growth and low inflation in the eurozone have been a big problem for the central bank.
Another untapped segment of the market is the takaful sector in view of the fact that Muslims constitute more than 40% of the population in ASEAN, mainly in Malaysia , Indonesia and Brunei . Globally, the Muslim population accounts for about 24% of the total population. This has supported the growth of the takaful market in recent years as an alternative to  2  BIS Review 134/2007  conventional insurance. The global takaful market is expected to grow between 15 and 20 per cent per annum. Based on the market penetration level which is at 6.8% in Malaysia and less than 5% in many Muslim countries, this represents significant market potential for the future growth of takaful business. The expansion of insurance markets in ASEAN will need to be reinforced by further consumer education to increase awareness among the public on the importance of longterm financial planning as well as to equip them to evaluate product features and make informed decisions. The insurers must recognise that it is an important responsibility on their part not just to ensure that adequate information is provided to the consumers, but that consumers are suitably advised in the sales process. This includes ensuring that information about insurance products is presented in a manner that is meaningful and easily understood by consumers. This distinction between quantity and quality is important.

This was in the 70s. If you think of the iconic figures who have been on the Central Bank staff, they were legendary figures in this country. I don’t want to mention any names because I might miss some out but you just look back through the history of the Central Bank and you see some great names, people who have made massive contributions to this country. So I wanted to be part of that narrative and so I came back and started life as a probationary staff officer of the Central Bank. And I must tell you, when I was working for the Commonwealth Secretariat, almost for twenty years as Dr. Nandalal said, obviously one travels around. There are 54 members of the Commonwealth and I have been to many countries. And invariably there are various occasions when you are introduced. I was always introduced by saying I started my career in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and that was a great source of pride, to be able to say that I started my working life in this institution, and I continue to be enormously proud that I was part of this staff of this great institution for fifteen years. So in a way, it is coming the full cycle. It’s like coming back home after a long absence. It is a great pleasure, privilege and an honour to be able to come back.
The IMF’s research does not tell us the channels through which inequality may have dented growth. And without an appreciation of those channels, it is difficult to know where public policy could make inroads into the problem. Nonetheless, it is useful to piece together evidence on possible channels of causation. Growth is rooted in investment, specifically the accumulation of human capital by individuals (education, skills, experience) and physical capital by firms (research and development). Both boost productivity, the elixir of economic life. And both require inter-temporal sacrifice – patience, a willingness to defer gratification. This is a topic I have researched in recent years (Haldane (2010), Davies et al (2014)). Individuals’ patience, and hence human capital accumulation, is a complex process. But it is affected importantly by their financial environment. An important new book by psychologists Mullainathan and Shafir (MS) illustrates the impact of financial circumstances on decisionmaking (Mullainathan and Shafir (2013)). Solving everyday problems of scarcity – of time, money, friendship – absorbs huge amounts of the mind’s energy. It taxes cognitive bandwidth. And this can have dramatic effects on behaviour. In one experiment, two groups – one wealthy, one poor – are IQ-tested, asked to contemplate suffering a significant monetary loss and then re-tested. The remarkable finding is that merely contemplating monetary loss is sufficient to reduce significantly the measured IQs of the poor, lowering scores from “average” to “seriously deficient”. This is a dramatic, environmentally-induced, loss of cognitive power, the direct result of minds being impoverished by financial insecurity concerns.

These are the best contributions the Bank of England can make to the good of the people of the United Kingdom. **************************** Ultimately, the prosperity of the UK will reflect not just the final Brexit arrangements but also the government’s fiscal and structural policies. The first speaker at this conference is the best placed to address these topics. It could, however, have been very different. As some of you may know, the Prime Minister began her career as a new graduate at the Bank before leaving after six years to pursue other interests – ultimately politics. Whilst at the Bank, the Prime Minister worked in the Economic Intelligence Department – then the cutting edge of our activities. During her time she accomplished great things and was destined for much more. Just imagine what could have become of your career, Prime Minister, if you had stayed at the Bank: you could have been in Fishmongers Hall…  5  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  5  Instead you came here by a road less travelled. Theresa May was elected as MP for Maidenhead in 1997, just as the Bank was getting to grips with its newfound monetary policy independence. She held a number of positions in the shadow cabinets of a string of opposition leaders and served as the Chair of the Conservative Party. After the formation of the coalition government in 2010, she would become the longestserving Home Secretary in over 60 years.
The international situation Favourable conditions in the rest of the world are of course of major importance for economic growth in Sweden. In the euro area there are now also increasing signs that activity is picking up. Incoming statistics on confidence indicators, for instance from Italy, France and Germany, show that households as well as firms foresee a brighter future than before. Moreover, the Japanese economy seems to be recovering from its poor performance in recent years. Still, the latest statistics suggest that the trend for manufacturing output remains weak, making it advisable to wait for further statistics before taking a Japanese upswing as given. The US economy remains strong. GDP growth in the first quarter this year was over 4% and over 2% in the second quarter. Household expenditure on consumption has gone on rising more rapidly than current income, so saving has fallen and is now at a record low. This has been accompanied by a weak price trend for a majority of goods. Nevertheless, the US Federal Reserve now considers that inflationary pressure is building up. At the two most recent meetings the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates in order to forestall an unduly rapid increase in consumer prices. New economic relationships? The prolonged strength displayed by the US economy has been unexpected. In the past five years US economic growth has averaged an annual rate of over 3%. At the same time, the average rate of CPI inflation has been little more than 2%.

Inflation in the euro area has proven to be much higher and more persistent than originally projected. This reflects the unprecedented series of shocks we have faced, and the fact that those shocks have led to turning points in our economic environment. Monetary policy cannot prevent the first-round effects of many of these shocks. But it can ensure that they do not become embedded. This is what the ECB is doing. We have taken major steps along the path of normalising our monetary policy, frontloading our rate increases. This signals that we are determined to bring inflation back to our medium-term target of 2% in a timely manner and ensure that inflation expectations remain well anchored. We will not let this phase of high inflation feed into economic behaviour and create a lasting inflation problem. Our monetary policy will be set with one goal in mind: to deliver on our price stability mandate. 1. Rees, D. and Rungcharoenkitkul, P. (2021), “Bottlenecks: causes and macroeconomic implications”, BIS Bulletin, No 48, Bank for International Settlements, November. 2. ECB staff have estimated that errors in our assumptions about energy prices explain around 75% of our forecast errors one-quarter ahead over the period from the start of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022. See Chahad, M., Hofmann-Drahonsky, A.-C., Meunier, B., Page, A. and Tirpák, M. (2022), “What explains recent errors in the inflation projections of Eurosystem and ECB staff?”, Economic Bulletin, Issue 3, ECB. 3. Average levels from 1 January 2022 to 23 February 2022. 4.
But the bigger impact on financial services, and the broader economy, is likely to come from the technology behind Bitcoins – namely the block-chain or, more generally, the distributed ledger system. •  A block chain is essentially a decentralised ownership record. •  It allows a document or asset to be codified into a digital record that is irrevocable once it has been committed into the system. •  The digital record can be accessed and verified by other parties in the system without going through a central authority. •  The potential benefits of such a distributed ledger system include: –  faster and more efficient processing;  –  lower cost of operation; and  –  greater resilience against system failure. There are many potential applications of distributed ledger systems in the financial sector: •  Ripple in the US offers a solution, based on distributed ledgers, for real-time gross settlement, currency exchange, and remittance. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  •  The same solution could potentially allow regulators to plug into the network to conduct surveillance of risks and to track transactions to detect money laundering or terrorist financing. In fact - and this would be of interest to the lawyers gathered here - distributed ledger systems could potentially be applied in any area which involves contracts or transactions that currently rely on trusted third parties for verification.

•  MAS will work with the financial industry, the Institute of Banking and Finance, training providers, and the universities and polytechnics to provide learning pathways relevant for a Smart Financial Centre. •  We will also provide FIs funding and other support for training opportunities, to help our people acquire specialist capabilities in the relevant areas of FinTech. Conclusion Let me conclude. I have said much about technology and FinTech. The larger picture is really about promoting a culture of innovation in our financial industry. •  Such innovation is not always about high-tech. •  It is about designing better work processes and creating new business models that will deliver higher growth, more enriching jobs, and better services for the consumer. •  Technology is very likely to be a key enabler for all this, and we must make a concerted effort to understand it and use it effectively. Thank you. BIS central bankers’ speeches  11
These go by the name econoME. As the name suggests, and like our recent public communications efforts, these materials describe the economy and finance in terms which are personal and relatable to young people’s lives. Why does the economy and finance matter to me? And how do my decisions in turn affect the economy? We set ourselves a target of reaching 400 state schools with econoME during the course of this year. So far since launch in April, over 1,000 schools have downloaded the materials, conceivably covering around 90,000 pupils. 52  This demonstrates the potential pent-up demand for school materials on economic and  financial issues. The Bank’s aim is to reach close to 1,500 schools by mid-2020. We are currently considering where next to take our education initiatives. A promising avenue would be a younger age range, say 7-11 year olds. This will require different materials and possibly a different approach. A more challenging market still would be adults, perhaps linked to existing initiatives to boost  50 51 52  Haldane (2018a) and Barnes et al (2017). ING-Economics Network Survey of the Public’s Understanding of Economics (2017). Assuming 30 students per class and 3 classes per school. 22  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  22  economic and financial literacy in the public at large. The scale of the public understanding deficit means central bank efforts can only be part of the solution but, as public institutions, an important part.

Explaining this increasingly fragile trust in central banks is, in part, a story of the crisis. Pre-crisis, central banks were seen as stewards of the financial system. A failure of that system inevitably then caused some questioning of central banks’ stewardship role. The financial crisis was the catalyst for some loss of faith in the stewards in much the same way the expenses scandal was for British political stewards a few years ago. But there are also deeper-seated changes underway in the nature of the public’s trust, not specific to central banks, what Rachel Botsman calls the “Trust Shift”. 12  Once upon a time, public trust was endowed on public  institutions rather than needing to be earned. Trust was anonymous and centralised. The public did not ask 8  Stock and Watson (2003). King (2003). 10 “VILE” was coined by my MPC colleague Michael Saunders (see, for example, Giles and Atkins (2008)). 11 Haldane (2017a). 12 Botsman (2017). 9  5  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  5  difficult questions and public institutions, by and large, did not feel the need to provide answers. For public institutions, this was the Age of Innocence. As centralised and largely anonymous institutions, central banks surfed on this wave of blind trust during their early years. During the Age of Innocence, there was no public expectation of openness or accountability or need to build bridges with the public or parliaments.