samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Any financial system - and the Swiss system is no exception - can be misused in order to transfer or recycle money issued from, or linked to illegal activities, including terrorism, drug trafficking, illicit trades in weapons, modern slavery, and corruption, just to name a few. To be sure, a money laundering risk already existed in the past. As a result of globalisation, however, and of the growing significance of organised crime, the risk has increased considerably in recent years, not just in my country, but in every major financial centre. For this reason, a dense network of legal regulations, controls and self-regulatory mechanisms is necessary in order to make a financial centre as unattractive as possible for criminal funds. Switzerland has been one of the first countries to introduce strict anti-money laundering laws. They cover the activities not only of banks, but also of any other financial intermediary such as insurance companies, funds managers, lawyers and even fiduciaries. Our experience so far has shown that an efficient fight against financial crime requires two specific rules: first, the application of strict due diligence procedures that includes careful identification of the customers, i.e. of the beneficial owners of the assets involved; second, the obligation, imposed to the market intermediaries to inform the authorities in case of any founded suspicion of money laundering. I am fully convinced that an effective fight against money laundering can only be successful if an active co-operation between financial institutions and authorities is promoted.

Because it is a major investor, the Fund can contribute  5/8  effectively to the promotion of recognised principles of corporate governance. We believe that this will result in higher returns on the Fund’s equity investments in the longer run. The size of the Fund allows us to keep management costs low. We have built up an infrastructure that can handle large transaction volumes. Investments involving much larger amounts can be made without expanding the current infrastructure. Even though the Fund is a large institutional investor, it is not one of the world’s largest investment managers. Companies like UBS, Allianz, Barclays and State Street invest up to ten times as much as the Petroleum Fund, and these companies have funds in a much larger number of accounts with different investment mandates than the Petroleum Fund. Although the challenges facing the Petroleum Fund are considerable, the Fund’s structure is nevertheless much simpler than that of the largest investment managers. Government reserve funds Norway is not the only country to establish a reserve fund to be used in periods of fiscal stress. The age structure of virtually all the developed countries will lead to substantial changes in the ratio of pensioners to the working-age population over the next ten years or so. The working age population must be prepared for a larger share of national income to be spent on pensioners and others outside the working population. Substantial increases in pensions, benefits and health service costs will be necessary.
Given the interconnectedness of financial activities and systems, an effective cyber defence strategy requires close co-operation and sharing of cyber intelligence. A good model for such co-operation among banks in the US is the Financial Services – Information Sharing and Analysis Centre, or FS-ISAC. 4/9  BIS central bankers' speeches  It is the global financial industry’s go-to resource for cyber threat intelligence analysis and sharing. I am pleased to announce that FS-ISAC will set up in Singapore the industry body’s only cyber intelligence centre in the Asia-Pacific region. This centre will help our financial industry better monitor cyber threats and provide better intelligence support. It will also help deepen the capabilities of the cyber security community here. INFRASTRUCTURE for an Innovation Ecosystem The second key thrust of Singapore’s FinTech agenda is to facilitate the infrastructure necessary for an innovation ecosystem and the adoption of new technologies. We need an ecosystem where people can connect and collaborate, and ideas can flow and multiply. We need common standards and inter-operable systems so that innovations can be scaled up quickly and their potential benefits fully realised. W want a hundred flowers of innovation to bloom but also want to ensure they make a garden. To facilitate such an ecosystem, MAS started with itself: Last year, we formed within MAS a new FinTech & Innovation Group under a Chief FinTech Officer – probably the first regulator in the world to do so.

We are beginning to aggregate and analyse large data sets to: gain richer insights into customer behaviour and needs; detect fraud or anomalies in financial transactions; sharpen surveillance of market trends and emerging risks. Big data is in turn being driven by advances in: sensor networks and natural language processing to gather information from a wide universe of sources; cloud technologies to store and retrieve large volumes of information at low cost and ondemand; learning machines and smart algorithms that can continuously adapt and improve on their decision making with every iteration. 1/9  BIS central bankers' speeches  Smart Financial Centre Vision Be it countries, businesses, or people – those who are alert to technology trends, understand their implications, and harness their potential will gain a competitive edge. To be sure, many of these technologies are disruptive to existing jobs and existing business models. But if we do not disrupt ourselves – in a manner we choose – somebody else will – in a manner we will not like. Last year, MAS laid out a vision for a Smart Financial Centre, where innovation is pervasive and technology is used widely. Since then, MAS has been working closely with the financial industry, FinTech start-ups, the institutes of higher learning and other stakeholders towards this shared vision. MAS’ role in supporting this FinTech journey is two-fold: provide regulation conducive to innovation while fostering safety and security; and facilitate infrastructure for an innovation ecosystem and adoption of new technologies.
1 In addition to these changes in choice of interest rate assumption, Norges Bank has on some occasions commented on market expectations. In December 2000, the Bank stated in its editorial in the Inflation Report that market participants had a different view of the future interest rate. Communication following monetary policy meetings sometimes contained information concerning probable interest rate developments in the near future. After the inflation target was introduced in March 2001, monetary policy assessments had a more prominent position in the Inflation Report. In some cases, the Bank has indicated that it would prefer an interest rate path that differed from the path on which the projections were based. For example, Inflation Report 2/04 stated that “the most appropriate alternative now seems to be that the interest rate should be kept unchanged for a longer period than indicated by market expectations”. In other words, the interest rate considered by the Bank to provide a better balance was lower than the rate factored in by market participants. The chart illustrates what happened in summer 2004. The broken blue line shows the interest rate path underlying the projections. The line was consistent with interest rate expectations in the market as measured by forward rates. Norges Bank indicated in the Inflation Report that a lower interest rate than expected by the market would provide a better balance. What the appropriate interest rate level should be, however, was not stated explicitly, but the shaded area can perhaps provide an illustration.

The criticism of a Swedish membership of the Eurosystem has often concerned the possibility of being able to conduct an independent stabilisation policy under these circumstances. This is based on a supposition that the Swedish economy could for some reason become out of synch with the economic developments in the euro are, what is termed an asymmetric shock. An independent monetary policy and currency, in addition to fiscal policy, gives us the opportunity to stabilise our economy ourselves a form of shock-absorber that will be lost if we have a joint monetary policy steered by inflation and economic prospects throughout the entire euro area. This was the primary reason why the Calmfors Commission, which examined the consequences for Sweden of participation in the third stage of EMU, concluded that Sweden should wait before joining the Eurosystem until the Swedish labour market and wage formation showed sufficient flexibility to be 1 able to manage a serious shock. It is often forgotten that one of the points of the EU is that the union shall function as an insurance; that the countries are strong standing together than they are standing alone. In practice, it is also the case that when the Swedish economy has come out of synch with the euro area, this has not been due to shocks over which we had no control, but to mistakes made in our own economic policy.
This would indeed contribute to further broaden and develop the Islamic domestic capital market. This Islamic securities issuance is the largest Ringgit issuance by a supranational to-date. In closing, I would like to thank the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the confidence it has placed in the Malaysian capital market. We look forward to see other issuances by non-resident issuers into the Ringgit capital market, thereby contributing towards broadening and deepening the market. Such issues will have far reaching advantages for the domestic bond market. Let me once again, congratulate the World Bank and the Joint Lead Managers CIMB and ABN AMRO, for a successful issuance of the IBRD bond debut in Malaysia. Thank you. 2  BIS Review 29/2005

I want to take this opportunity to commend our banks, particularly those participating in the Comprehensive Assessment, as this was a very challenging year. The changes I just mentioned coincided with the new requirements and rules under the Comprehensive Assessment. I recognize that these changes may impact profitability in the short-term, but sound governance sets the stage for sustainably higher returns in the longer term. Banks are now subject to the single rule book and this calls for increased awareness and focus to meet these new challenges. This will reduce the overall risk in the financial system both in Malta and elsewhere. Going forward, there are other challenges that will need to be addressed by our financial system in order to further mitigate certain risks. In the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis there is a heightened recognition that a more diversified investment portfolio would reduce the risk exposure related to the bank-sovereign nexus. Looking into the future, further diversification of our sovereign debt market may be warranted. It would be advisable if, going forward, stable alternative options are identified to complement current practice. Long-term placements with certain international wealth funds, for example, would ensure that government securities can have a more diversified investor base and possibly reduce the government’s borrowing costs at the same time.
Finally, transparency contributes to macroeconomic stability and long-term growth by enhancing the price and wage setting mechanism, and by improving the functioning of the labour market. A credible monetary policy strategy oriented towards price stability contributes to moderate nominal and real wage developments. Workers do not have to ask for extra wage increases to compensate for inflation risk and firms know beforehand that they will not be able to pass higher wages on to consumer prices. Overall, transparent and credible monetary policy enhances firms ability to manage their production costs, retain profitability and create new jobs. Transparency of the ECB Let me now turn to the ECB and its concept of transparency and external communication. It was understood at an early stage that external communication would be crucial for the ECB. Already during the time of the European Monetary Institute the ECB’s future communication policy was discussed; consequently, the ECB’s Governing Council adopted some communication policy objectives and principles as early as 1998. They reflect the duty and “self-interest” elements already mentioned: since then we have communicated to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of our monetary policy and to make the ECB, an independent central bank, accountable. On this score, the publication of the key elements of the monetary policy strategy back in October 1998 constituted in itself a major step towards monetary policy transparency.

Nina Stoyanova: The future of money Speech by Ms Nina Stoyanova, Deputy Governor and Head of the Banking Department of the Bulgarian National Bank, at the Manager Magazine Fourth Banking and Finance Forum “The Future of Money”, Sofia, 20 October 2021. * * * Thank you for inviting me to open today’s fourth Banking and Finance Forum on the topic ofThe Future of Money. New technologies are changing the financial sector today and leading to the offering of increasingly diverse and convenient payment products in a highly competitive environment. The policies of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and national regulators are aimed at catalysing this process, to exploit more fully the potential offered by technology and to achieve cheaper, safer and more accessible payment solutions. The dynamics of the processes in Europe is also fully valid for our country. Data on payments processed by payment systems in our country show a significant growth. For the first six months of 2021, the value of payments made through the BNB-operated Real-time Gross Settlement System in BGN (RINGS) increased by 30% compared to the first half of 2020, while for the same period the value of payments in euro through the national component system of the large-value payment system in euro – TARGET2-BNB increased by 65.7%. I would like to touch briefly on some of the recent technological developments in the field of payment services in the European Union and in our country.
Those responsible for other policy areas are urged now even more to take the necessary steps to improve longer-term growth prospects for the euro area through strictly and decisively adhering to the aims of the Stability and Growth Pact and through convincing structural reforms in the economy. I should now like to inform you about some of the other matters considered today. The Governing Council examined the outcome of a test run of the production of euro banknotes. This so-called zero production run involved the printing works of the participating countries. The main purposes of this test were, first, to check the compliance of the test banknotes against the technical specifications and, second, to prove that all printing works are in a position to produce the euro banknotes to the same high quality standards. The result of this test was positive, as only some minor technical specifications need to be modified slightly. The printing works will now start their final preparations for the commencement of the mass production of the euro banknotes. The Governing Council also decided to establish an Analysis Centre for Counterfeit Euro Banknotes. As is already indicated by its name, the main purpose of this Analysis Centre will be to technically analyse and classify new types of printed counterfeits, and to store the related technical data in a database. The Analysis Centre will be located at the ECB in Frankfurt. We are now at your disposal should you have any questions.

The problems we encountered in communicating monetary policy, which arose in conjunction with the substantial rate cuts during the second half of the 1990s, were also a significant reason for the Riksbank's decision in 1999 to publish a clarification of the formulation of policy and the application of the inflation target.1 Among other things the clarification specified the situations in which there may be reason to deviate from the simple rule of aiming policy at meeting the target of 2 per cent CPI inflation one to two years ahead. My discussion today is based on exactly the same line of reasoning as in that clarification. The second example is taken from spring 2001. Higher food and energy prices due to foot and mouth disease and mad cow disease, as well as supply shocks in energy production, caused a sharp rise in CPI inflation. The price increases were judged to be temporary, and the Riksbank decided therefore not to raise the repo rate. As the prices rises were estimated to disappear from CPI inflation relatively quickly, there was no need in this case to depart from the Bank's simple rule of monetary policy. However there was a need in our external communication to illustrate clearly the assessment that it was mainly transitory price increases that had caused CPI inflation to be so high above target.
But if the overall story of recovery in underlying growth still looks broadly intact, there has been bad news on the inflation front. The recent inflation data, particularly for goods prices, has come in a little stronger than expected. Sterling oil prices and wholesale gas prices have risen by more than 5% since February. Together with duty changes announced in the March Budget, that seems likely to leave the short-term outlook for inflation on a path a little higher than incorporated into the central projection described in the MPC’s February Inflation Report. I think inflation might remain above 3% throughout the second quarter of this year, and possibly into the second half of the year. Already in February, there was a risk that inflation might fall back towards target less quickly than incorporated into our “most likely” central outlook. Not only was there a prospect of supply disruptions to oil production, there was also a possibility that firms might seek to rebuild margins faster than assumed as and when economic recovery becomes more secure. So one possibility is that companies have begun to rebuild or protect their profit margins more quickly than expected. According to the latest ONS data, by the end of last year the profits of mainstream businesses (excluding oil and finance) had fallen to their lowest share of GDP for a couple of decades. Companies’ willingness to tolerate a further squeeze, in the  BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  face of rising import prices, might be limited.

But the number of smaller companies tapping the sterling markets remains low. More needs to be done by the industry. A number of initiatives are underway. For some while now, the London Stock Exchange has been supporting the involvement of retail investors in the corporate bond market. The recent Breedon Review made a number of suggestions intended to help open the door to non-bank sources of finance for SMEs. And the Government is entering into a scheme to co-invest with the private sector in managed funds that will lend to SMEs. Dare I say it, but securitisation might even play a role. Nearly £ of long-term financing was recently raised in the London markets by offering investors a first claim on a £ portfolio of loans to small businesses with a typical turnover of under £ million per annum. The funds were raised at a lower cost than many bank issuers would face in their own name. A few other banks are thought to be exploring similar deals. It is important, though, that the lessons from badly designed securitisations in the past should be learnt. Almost the most important lesson is that to be healthy the securitization market, like any other capital market, needs a bedrock of real, unlevered investors. Holders and traders who have borrowed to make their purchases have a tendency to sell when the weather deteriorates. We have seen where that can lead.
Because different banks were acquiring the same merchant so that they could offer the merchant lower on-us rates for their cards dipped in their own terminals. This was good for merchants, and even for the consumer as the merchants passed on some discounts to them. But there were hidden costs: Cashiers had to be trained on different terminals, customers at self-checkout lanes fumbled with which terminal to dip their card into. So we set out to study the market, see which merchants had more than one POS terminal, prioritise them by the volume and value of transactions that they handled, and worked closely with their acquirers one-by-one to on-board onto a single terminal that can accept all schemes that use chip and contactless near-field communication (NFC). Today, the process is still underway, but you can already see these UPOS terminals deployed in supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol stations – these are merchants that we visit daily, if not weekly. Besides addressing the challenges I mentioned above, this has certainly made the self check-out experience a delight. 17. Second, Singapore Quick Response (SGQR) code. Besides chip and contactless NFC payments, many mobile payments are optical via a Quick Response (QR) code. Just as we started to tidy up the POS terminals at merchants, we started to observe a proliferation of payment QR codes as each e-payment company deployed its own QR code sticker at each merchant’s cashier. We identified the problem early and immediately formed an industry task force comprising payment schemes and acquirers.

Those three or four e-wallets may hold smaller amounts of money each, but in sum might add up to more than what he/she would have otherwise held in cash in one physical wallet. He/she needs to topup each e-wallet separately, because each wallet has a different top-up and refund mechanism. b. Merchants may proudly display all the schemes that they accept, whether by card or contactless or QR codes. Underneath all that, the merchant needs to deal with different acquirers that send him settlement files in different formats, at different times, and pay him on different days. 3/6  BIS central bankers' speeches  c. Between the consumer and merchant, instead of counting cash and change, the payment ordeal could transform into checking which payment instrument is accepted, which card to dip into which terminal, or which QR code to scan. Fortunately, we have not reached that e-payment nightmare. While competition from many payment providers benefits consumers with lower prices, convenience and more innovative solutions, e-payments still need to interoperate in order for the industry to continue growing. Let me share three areas where MAS is enhancing interoperability of e15. payments, namely point-of-sale terminals, QR codes and regulatory powers. 1 6 . First, Unified Points of Sale (UPOS) terminals. Singapore is a highly-carded market, with over 349 payment cards per 100 inhabitants9. Many merchants, if they accept e-payments, have a terminal, usually provided by a bank acquirer. Five years ago, we started noticing that some 15% of merchants had more than one terminal. Why?