samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Nonetheless, China managed to stand firm and implemented the system reform step by step. The critical stages of the reform included the transformation of the top four state-owned banks into joint-stock commercial banks and the subsequent listing of these banks to raise and replenish capital and to elevate the reform of governance, accountability, risk management, staff employment and transparency of the banks to a new height. It was not at all easy to overcome such a hurdle. In 2005 and 2006, the Bank of China, the China Construction Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China were successfully listed in Hong Kong, raising a total share capital of $ billion. During this period, the stock markets in the Mainland witnessed a relatively difficult time. The listing of domestic enterprises was subject to more restrictions. And at this critical moment, Hong Kong fulfilled this historical mission for our nation by playing an irreplaceable role in and making significant contribution to the reform of the banking system in China. We can imagine that, should the listing of the Bank of China, the China Construction Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China be delayed, no one knows to what extent would the progress of the reform of China’s banking system be affected with the outbreak of the global economic crisis in 2008. In July this year, the Agricultural Bank of China was also successfully listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong simultaneously.

While the recent joint staff report on the events of October 15 certainly revealed that much has changed, it is also important to recognize that both private and official sector efforts to ensure a healthy and efficient Treasury market have been ongoing for some time. 3 One obvious example is the Treasury Market Practices Group, or the TMPG. Set up in February 2007, the  1  What I have to say today represents my own views and not necessarily those of the Federal Open Market Committee or the Federal Reserve System. 2  See Regulation and Liquidity Provision, remarks at the SIFMA Liquidity Forum, September 30, 2015. 3  Joint Staff Report: The U.S. Treasury Market On October 15, 2014. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  TMPG is a group of market professionals committed to supporting the integrity and efficiency of the Treasury market. 4 A core purpose of the TMPG is to develop and update a set of best practices related to trading, settlement and risk management, thereby establishing a set of behavioral norms to which market participants are expected to adhere. Most recently, the TMPG updated its best practice guidance to address automated trading, and published a companion white paper on the subject.
The size and durability of the imbalances that characterize the world economy today reflect a myriad of different forces: from differences in actual and potential growth rates, the degree of openness of financial and product markets, the type of exchange rate regime in place, the borrowing requirements of the sovereign, the degree of financial market development, the extent of the official safety nets, to differences in attitudes toward risk and expectations about the future. The interactions of these forces are complex and vary over time. And this limits our capacity to judge the sustainable level of imbalances. On its face, the increase in the size of the U.S. current account deficit suggests that the United States has been the principal beneficiary of the increased availability of global savings and the greater apparent willingness of the world’s savers to invest outside their home countries. At the same time, however, it is not difficult to see that if the deficit continues to run at a level close to 7 percent of GDP—and most forecasts assume it will for some time—the net international investment position of the United States will deteriorate sharply, U.S. net obligations to the rest of the world will rise to a very substantial share of GDP, and a growing share of U.S. income will have to go to service those obligations.

The main purpose of the target revision is to create an achievable disinflation path that can be taken as reference by economic agents and that would take us to our price stability objective in the medium term, which is inflation rate of 4 percent. As you may know, Turkey has not witnessed low single-digit inflation figures for nearly half a century. This has adversely affected the expectations for attaining the 4 percent inflation target. Furthermore, overshooting the inflation targets in 2006 and 2007, and recent supply shocks have elevated expectations even further. Hence, the new targets announced on June 3, 2008 aim to create a new anchor for economic agents, that is attainable. At this point, I would like to emphasize that the nature of these new targets differ remarkably from those set for the 2006-2008 period. The Central Bank will treat the revised targets asymmetrically. In this framework, in the upcoming period, the Central Bank will prefer an inflation that stays below targets. Accordingly, better than expected outcomes in food and energy prices or in other global factors will be perceived as an opportunity to bring down inflation faster than that is implied by the revised target path. Should the upside risks materialize; monetary policy will be conducted so as to minimize any upside deviation of inflation from the revised targets. Target revision is the solution that is provided by our Bank to the “problem of demarcation”, which is faced by almost all central banks today.
But they have hardly ever been tested in a severe recession or a crisis. So we don’t know how well they would work in such situations. In respect of asset management, new products such as robo-advice are now appearing. These are computer programmes that advise customers on how to invest their money. Depending on their design, they might lead many investors to take the same positions at the same time. Such herding could then enforce current trends, creating bubbles or bursting them. And then there are threats of a more technical kind: cyber risks. Cyber risks affect everyone – banks, fintechs and their customers. Arguably, fintechs are more exposed to cyberattacks and data theft. Their IT platforms are small and interconnected, and they often use public cloud solutions and outsource data storage. That said, fintechs are digital natives and are very aware of the risks. Ladies and gentlemen, it is hard to predict where the fintech journey will take us. It is obvious, however, that the train has left the station and is speeding up. Customers want to extend their digital life to banking; they want banking services anytime and anywhere. Those who can satisfy their needs will become dominant players. There is a chance that fintechs will deeply transform the banking business. It is up to regulators and supervisors to ensure that this does not come at the cost of stability. The issue is, of course, that fintechs often operate outside the regulated banking sector.

Sabine Lautenschläger: Digital na(t)ive? Fintechs and the future of banking Statement by Ms Sabine Lautenschläger, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, at an ECB Fintech Workshop, Frankfurt am Main, 27 March 2017. * * * We will never know who did it and when exactly it was done – all of that is lost in the mists of time. But about 4,000 years ago, one of our ancestors invented the wheel. It was one of the most important inventions in the entire history of humanity. Ever since, our lives have been shaped by innovations. Some of these innovations have made our life better – just think of vaccines or the telephone. Others have had more ambivalent impact – think of nuclear power. In any case, it is always hard to guess where an innovation will take us. And it is all too easy to get it wrong. As the President of IBM said in 1943: “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” He got it wrong, it seems. And so did Robert Metcalfe in 1995. As the founder of a tech company, he predicted that “the internet will soon go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse.” The internet did not collapse. Instead, it has changed our lives. Could you live without the internet? Could you live without a mobile phone? Our entire life has become digital, and this includes the way we do banking.
The FSA has also been able to lower micro prudential liquidity requirements because of the extra liquidity backstop being provided by the Bank of England – in particular the ECTR and the Funding for Lending Scheme. This example may be important in a wider sense. One of the challenges facing macroprudential policy is that the instruments may not be symmetric in their impact. Put crudely, we can make firms hold more capital and liquidity when the going is good. We can’t force them to use those buffers when the going is bad, even if the rules are relaxed. Taking away the stick isn’t the same as offering a carrot. Vegetable metaphors are not always welcomed but I think it’s acceptable to suggest that the FLS may be seen as a carrot! And the FPC recommendations are perhaps a first example of macro prudential policy being used in a co-ordinated way (with central bank actions) to support the resilience of the UK financial system, by being counter-cyclical in approach. This ability to co-ordinate may also demonstrate the benefits of some shared membership across the FPC and MPC. 6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  I want to turn now to the Funding for Lending Scheme in the context of our announcements this morning of the first banks and building societies to have signed up and their stock of sterling lending to UK firms and households at end-June 2012 (Table 1) that will be used as a reference point.

At the same time, euro area labour markets have been characterised by favourable trends in the last few years. Since 1999 the euro area has witnessed an increase of more than 12 million in the number of people employed and a substantial decline in the unemployment rate from 10% to 7.9% on average in 2006 and 7.2 % in March 2007. Looking forward, it is important that this favourable trend in labour markets continues, so contributing to the diminishing of unemployment as well as a prolonged and robust economic growth. In this respect, the Governing Council of the ECB considers decisive that the social partners continue to meet their responsibilities. Wage agreements should avoid wage developments that would eventually lead to inflationary pressures and harm the purchasing power of all euro area citizens. Beyond this, it is important to point out that particular wage agreements should take into account price competitiveness positions, the still high level of unemployment in many economies and productivity developments across sectors. Wages should be sufficiently differentiated across countries and sectors to reflect these factors. More specifically, moderate wage developments in the euro area as a whole reflect an aggregation of diverse wage developments across euro area countries with important implications for cost competitiveness. Indeed, over longer horizons we observe that euro area countries that have been able to preserve a low level of unit labour cost growth have also experienced significant gains in employment.
Towards the end of the year, there were clear signs that growth in the Swedish economy had also slowed down, partly due to reduced demand for Swedish exports. Figure 7 shows how the Riksbank and other analysts revised down their forecasts for the increase in Swedish exports in 2012 during the second half of 2011. The second occasion is when inflation began to fall from already low levels during the latter part of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. This happened in connection with a sequence of negative inflation surprises indicating that the underlying inflationary pressures in the economy had fallen. For example, inflation had appeared unusually low for a time in relation to the increase in unit labour costs (see Figure 8). Even after that, inflation has been lower than expected, most recently in September this year. Figure 9 shows how the forecasts for CPIF inflation in 2014 have been revised down from just over 1 per cent to around 0.5 per cent. It is clear in both of these examples that it is the general picture that has changed, not that the Riksbank suddenly realised something that everyone else had known for a long time. The fact that inflation has been surprisingly low is by the way not a specific Swedish problem, but very much an international phenomenon.

Krugman, Paul (2014b), Apologizing to Japan. The Opinion Pages, The New York Times, October 30. Malmqvist, Peter (2014), Låg ränta bäddar för överhettning. (Low repo rate paves the way for overheating) Svenska Dagbladet Opinion, 19 July. Mian, Atif and Sufi, Amir (2014), House of Debt. University of Chicago Press. Mitelman, Henrik (2014), Nu blir Ingves börsens bästis. (Now Ingves is the stock market’s best friend) Dagens industri newspaper, 29 October. Münchau, Wolfgang (2014), What central banks should do to deal with bubbles. Column, Financial Times, July 13. OECD (2011), OECD Economic Outlook, No. 89, May 2011. Schularick, Moritz and Taylor Alan M. (2012), Credit Booms Gone Bust: Monetary Policy, Leverage Cycles and Financial Crises, 1870–2008. American Economic Review 102(2). Smets, Frank (2013), Financial Stability and Monetary Policy: How Closely interlinked? Sveriges Riksbank Economic Review 2013:3. Jubilee issue. Stein, Jeremy C. (2013), Overheating in Credit Markets: Origins, Measurement, and Policy Responses. Speech at “Restoring Household Financial Stability after the Great Recession: Why Household Balance Sheets Matter”, research symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. 12  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Summers, Lawrence (2014), Washington Must Not Settle for Secular Stagnation. Financial Times, 5 January. Svenska Dagbladet (2014a), Krugman har fel om svensk bubbla. (Krugman is wrong about a Swedish bubble) Interview with Lars Svensson, SvD Näringsliv (business section of Svenska Dagbladet newspaper), 14 January. Svenska Dagbladet (2014b), ”Nollränta är som att kasta bensin på en brasa”.
Employees need dependable transportation to get to training programs-and to their jobs. And broadband is sorely needed in many households. I can't tell you how many people said, "Good luck getting broadband," when I told them I was buying a home in Columbia County. It's a problem that plagues rural communities throughout the Second District.2 Investing in businesses and innovation is also an important piece of our tower. Businesses need resources to innovate so they can grow and prosper-and that, in turn, benefits entire communities. All of you here today-representing employers, schools, nonprofits, funders, and community organizations-are key to our tower's foundation. You are what makes our tower strong. Workforce Development Components How do we reinforce our tower? There have been a number of initiatives-and quite a bit of research-regarding workforce development throughout the Federal Reserve System. This includes a three-volume book called Investing in America's Workforce,3 which highlights the ways investments can overcome systemic barriers to employment. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are many promising efforts to learn from. The role of community colleges cannot be overstated.

John C Williams: Bridging the skills gap Remarks by Mr John C Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the "Skilling the Gap: Building Local Talent for InDemand Careers", Columbia-Greene Community College, Hudson, New York, 21 October 2022. ***  As prepared for delivery Thank you for that kind introduction. I'm so pleased to be here-especially at this time of year, when the autumn colors light up the region. In fact, my wife and I have fallen in love with this area-so much so, that we are now splitting our time between Columbia County and New York City. Of course, I'm not just here as your neighbor. Part of my job as president of the New York Fed-one of the best parts-is to meet with business and community leaders from across the Federal Reserve's Second District. This gives me the opportunity to see and hear the challenges they face. And throughout the Second District-which includes New York State, Northern New Jersey, Southwestern Connecticut, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands-the issues I hear about consistently have to do with labor shortages and the skills gap. Employers can't find enough skilled workers-and workers can't obtain the skills they need to move up the economic ladder. Before I go any further, I will give the standard Fed disclaimer that the views I express today are mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Open Market Committee or others in the Federal Reserve System.
This development, whether we like it or not and depending on who we are, is a reality that we have to relate to. In this structural development in the payment market, there will be several challenges for commercial players, as well as for those of us working on the public side. Evolvement is seldom a gradual and smooth process. This gives rise to a number of interesting issues that we have the chance to address here today. It also explains the conference agenda. Three topics for the conference The first topic concerns the current development. How do the different market players view the evolving ecosystem? Are the banks hurt or do they benefit from the entry of non-banks as a result of an increase of payment traffic through their systems and between their accounts? Are all market players a big happy family where everyone cooperates with everyone else or is it razor-sharp competition, a dog-eat-dog market? Who, if anyone, is gaining the upper hand? I’m looking forward to learning more about this type of issue in the first session. The second topic concerns the regulatory environment. The central role of the retail payments market for social welfare ensures that the authorities will want to promote an efficient outcome. How to balance cooperation and competition? How to ensure a level playing field and how to protect consumers? For example, is the current supervision 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  sufficient or will we have to sharpen it in the future?

Interoperability across systems and operators merits continued focus. Big technology companies, or BigTechs, have so far offered services to end-users overlaid on top of traditional payment infrastructures. They can also have an interest in offering their own currency and payment systems. One example is Libra, backed by among others Facebook. Regulation of such systems will be important if we as a society are to secure the benefits of these new solutions while limiting the associated risks. The European Commission recently presented legislative proposals for an EU regulatory framework on crypto-assets as part of its digital finance package. As an EEA country, Norway will also be affected by this framework. Globalisation is about more than BigTechs entering the payments market. Payment infrastructure providers are also undergoing structural changes. Global operators are taking positions in Norway and the Nordic region. Mastercard will be acquiring many of Nets’ services and will be an important provider for Norway’s payment system. Central bank digital currency Structural changes in the payment landscape raise questions around whether there is a need for Norges Bank to implement measures to ensure that payments can continue to be made efficiently and securely in NOK in the future. A central question is whether Norges Bank should provide central bank money to the public in digital as well as physical form. Central bank digital currency – CBDC – will be both a new type of money and a new payment system. CBDC, like cash, is a claim on the central bank.
In this connection, the issuance of a standard framework for the derivation of the rate of return in Islamic banking business has an important role in addressing the information asymmetry between the Islamic banking institutions and the depositors so as to ensure depositors receive their appropriate share of returns on the investment. In addition, the issuance of the guidelines on the model financial statement for Islamic banks will provide for greater disclosure on the risk and return profiles of the different categories of deposits. This will enable depositors to obtain the true and fair assessment of the Islamic banks’ financial performance and hence, promote confidence and strengthen the competitiveness of the Islamic financial industry. Enhanced financial disclosure needs to be complemented by customer education and awareness programmes to elevate the level of financial literacy of consumers and businesses to be able to make informed financial decisions and instill market discipline amongst financial players. The launching of the Consumer Education Programme and the organization of the Islamic Banking and Takaful Week are aimed at achieving these objectives. These programmes have contributed to enhance the understanding and appreciation of the unique characteristics of Islamic banking and finance, Islamic financial products and services and their underlying Shariah principles and concepts.

Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Current issues and developments in Islamic banking and finance Keynote address by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the ASLI’s Conference on Developing Islamic Banking and Capital Market: “New Opportunities, New Market and New Frontier in Islamic Banking and Finance”, Kuala Lumpur, 25 August 2004. *  *  *  Islamic banking and finance has emerged as a financial intermediation process that is competitive and resilient and that contributes to the overall wealth creation, growth and development of our nation. Amidst an increasingly challenging and competitive financial environment, the evolution of a comprehensive Islamic financial system seeks to meet the range of requirements of a rapidly changing economic environment, with its soundness and stability secured through the robustness of its regulatory framework supported by the strength of its financial infrastructure and the sophistication of its products and services. Indeed, the strength of the respective components of the system and the interconnections of its markets will open new frontiers in Islamic banking and finance and will maximize the potential and opportunities that it accords. Distinguished guests, It is my pleasure to be here today at this conference organised by ASLI to speak on the current issues and developments in Islamic banking and finance. The Islamic financial system in Malaysia has evolved as a viable and competitive component of the overall financial system, complementing the conventional financial system as a driver of economic growth and development.