samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Taken to extremes, the  3  BIS Review 98/1999  system as a whole could be brought into disrepute. This is why we promoted the Code of Banking Practice issued jointly in 1997 by the two industry associations. The Code is intended to be observed by authorised institutions in dealing with their personal customers, and it provides an extremely useful mechanism for the promotion of fair and transparent banking services in Hong Kong. What tools can banks use to manage ethics in their own organisations? No doubt you will have been discussing this during the course of the seminar and I will not go into a lot of detail in this speech. Clearly, the first essential is for the bank itself to be clear about the key ethical values to which it subscribes. It then needs to ensure that the organisation and the employees act in accordance with these values. This can be done through the adoption of codes of conduct. The former Commissioner of Banking issued a guideline in 1986 which requires all authorised institutions in Hong Kong to prepare a code of conduct for their staff setting out the standards to which they are expected to adhere. It is also necessary to have policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with the standards specified in the code of conduct. For example, many companies now employ “ethics officers” and give their staff specific training and advice on ethical issues.

Dear Audience, The international, regional and national combined efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing are stringent evidence of combating those crimes and the consequent  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  economic, social and security risks they may cause. Accordingly, the Kingdom has supported efforts aimed at developing international frameworks capable of monitoring the global financial system to detect such offenses. The Kingdom is one of the countries that participated in and called for the creation of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force. It is still supporting all the efforts of the FATF and MENAFATF, whether through its permanent participation in work teams and supporting activities that enhance the work of the two entities or through its commitment to raise the level of its government organs, financial and non-financial institutions and making sure that its related laws are in line with the international requirements. In addition, it supports the IMF’s Technical Assistance Fund. Ladies and Gentlemen, To achieve our objective, we should work together to promote awareness of the gravity of such crimes and protect all segments of the society, its government organizations, and financial and non-financial institutions. In this aspect, I would like to refer to the recent FATF’s recommendations issued to strengthen the international efforts in the fight against this global scourge and make necessary adjustments to the systems and techniques of their detection and combating. On this occasion, I would like make reference to the results achieved by FATF, after reviewing and revising the recommendations.
BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  The first is that one must of course have regulations in a monetary union that enable one to avoid a crisis of the proportions we are seeing now. This was what the creators of the union were thinking when they initiated the Stability and Growth Pact. However, the pact did not work very well and intensive discussions are therefore underway as to how it can be supplemented with new regulations that will guarantee that no members have excessive budget deficits or can build up excessive debt burdens. Hopefully these discussions will bear fruit. However, it is far from certain that the developments we are seeing now could have been avoided even if the Stability and Growth Pact had been upheld. Low interest rates have meant that not only governments, but also companies and households have built up their debt. But an efficient regulatory system would probably have made the crisis more manageable. A second conclusion is that when one refrains from the crisis resolution mechanism inherent in a national currency, one must replace it with something else. Because crises that entail concern over a member state’s creditworthiness are always a risk. One must have an institutional framework to manage the investors’ concerns regarding rising bond yields in, for instance, Italy now that there is no Italian currency that can depreciate and the Banca d’Italia cannot create the necessary liquidity.

If one has not created a credible crisis resolution mechanism in good time and does not manage to do so during the crisis, there is finally only one last resort, and that is the ECB. The ECB is the monetary union’s central bank and can do in a crisis what the union’s national central banks are unable to do. It can always create liquidity and buy securities as needed and therefore in principle it can also attain the same credibility as the Bank of England has in the United Kingdom. The problem is that the ECB does not have an indisputable mandate to do this, and that the EU member states have differing views as to whether it should be given such a mandate. The ECB should not save countries from making necessary adjustments in legislation and public finances, many quite rightly point out. But this also risks having the consequence that one refrains from the only remaining mechanism that can manage an acute crisis. Obstacles to setting up crisis management mechanisms One reason why it appears difficult to set up clear frameworks for managing a crisis in advance is, as I mentioned earlier, that crises occur so rarely. “There will be no more crises during my mandate period,” a politician said to me after the Swedish crisis in the early 1990s, when we were to discuss new crisis legislation. And he was right, of course. It took almost 20 years until the next crisis occurred, and by then he had left politics long ago.
I trust that this agreement, once it is finally approved by the ECB, may be implemented in the opening months of 2016 and that, in any event, future revisions of European legislation will envisage less room for discretion on the part of the Member States, so that the singleness of the relevant legal framework for banking activity throughout the EU may become firmly anchored. To wrap up this first part of my speech, allow me to highlight certain relevant decisions taken by the Supervisory Board during this first year. Among the most important are those relating to the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP), which has for the first time been carried out with a common methodology for all SSM banks. This process, which includes both quantitative and qualitative aspects, determines the risk profile of each significant institution, the sufficiency of its liquidity and solvency in terms of this profile and, finally, it sets the minimum capital levels to be maintained. The decisions on capital, the adoption of which for 2016 will be shortly formalised, will, for all the SSM’s significant institutions, entail average capital requirements somewhat higher than those of the previous year: around 30 basis points (bp), rising to 50 bp if the impact of the phasing-in of the capital buffers envisaged in European legislation is taken into account.

The 20-year SGS has extended the benchmark yield curve as a price discovery mechanism and liquid hedging instrument for the broader Singapore debt market. The corporate debt market has also seen good growth. As at the end of last year, outstanding corporate debt securities were up 14% from a year earlier. This represents an increase of more than 6 times in size since 1996 to $ billion. Another encouraging development has been an increase in the diversity of issuers. We have seen more real-estate borrowers and foreign issuers tapping the SGD bond market. Almost one-fourth of SGD-denominated bond issuance, or $ billion, was made up by foreign entity issuers. We have issuers from the US, Europe and more recently from Korea, Latin America and the Middle East. In line with the growing sophistication of the investor base, the asset securitization market in Singapore has also taken off. For 2006, ABS issuance amounted to more than $ billion. There is also an influx of more structured products into our market such as convertibles and synthetic Collateralized Debt Obligations. Turning to wealth management, Assets Under Management (AUM) has continued to grow strongly. 2005 was the fifth consecutive year of double-digit growth for Singapore, with AUM increasing 26%. This trend has continued in 2006, evidenced by the expanding wealth management community in Singapore. This underscores Singapore’s emergence as a wealth management center. Singapore is strategically placed to capitalize on the significant wealth building up in Asia.
It is not possible to say how much of this increase is due to greater recognition of the term.

Examples include using the Kuala 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration that offers services as dispute resolution for Islamic financial contracts; Hong Kong issuers tapping the Ringgit sukuk liquidity for cost-effective pricing given the depth of the sukuk market in Malaysia; as well as enhancing knowledge and expertise in Islamic finance through our higher learning education centres such as the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (or INCEIF). Forward-looking scenario – A common trading platform for sukuk Future growth prospect for the sukuk market is tremendous. Growth is expected to come from the GCC and Asian regions as infrastructure projects are estimated to be USD2 trillion and USD8.3 trillion respectively till 2020. Hong Kong, with its sizeable bond market to GDP of 72% can play a role in funding these projects. Moving forward, more efforts are needed towards developing financial inter-linkages between our two markets. One area is for our financial communities to explore a common sukuk trading platform for cross-border transactions. A common platform that incorporates international standards and best practices in all aspects of the sukuk trading is key to instil confidence in secondary markets. It can also increase cross-border activities. It has the potential to spur further diversification of product offerings, reduces cost of intermediation and boosts trading activities.
Although the economy confounded the initial expectations embodied in usually-reliable surveys taken immediately after the referendum – which implied that growth was headed for negative territory - there is no doubt that demand has now slowed. This can primarily be accounted for by a sharp slowdown in consumption growth, from 3.1% as recently as the middle of 2016 to 1.5% in the year to 2017Q2, the weakest four quarter growth since 2012. The primary driver of this weakness has been the weakness in real income, itself reflecting the 18% depreciation of sterling from its pre-referendum peak as financial market participants have reacted to the prospect of Brexit. Working in the opposite direction, we have witnessed a rotation toward other components of demand. While this is a positive development, it hasn’t been enough to offset an overall slowing in GDP growth.   Business investment has picked up a little to grow at 2.5% in the last year, though this is weaker than the 3.9% growth on average across our G7 counterparts, and the strength of future investment implied by capital goods orders in the US and euro area (Slide 4). In addition to the Decision Maker Panel survey and findings of the the Bank’s own Agents, a range of survey results suggest that Brexit related uncertainty is an important factor weighing on investment in the UK despite otherwise favourable conditions for capital expenditure (Slide 5).   Relative to other components of demand, exports have benefited from sterling’s depreciation and stronger than expected global demand.

Though group term insurance does not offer guaranteed renewability like individual Term Assurance policies, it nonetheless helps to supplement the shortfall in insurance coverage at an affordable rate. 16. Given its social mandate and objectives, INCOME should take the lead to address the shortfall in insurance protection. Here, I must add that when my insurer notified me, upon my reaching 65, that my Term Assurance has lapsed, I heaved a sigh of relief that it expired before me! I treated the premium paid as an expense. 17. MAS will also play its part in helping consumers make informed decisions when purchasing insurance. It will be working with the industry to enhance transparency in the disclosure of bundled insurance products such as the Whole Life plan. Currently it is unclear how much of the premium paid for a bundled insurance product goes towards providing protection, how much to savings and what the return on the investment is. This will help consumers make a better decision in planning his protection and financial needs. Conclusion 18. As you have declared publicly in your rebranding exercise, INCOME was born with a difference. Indeed, INCOME’s mission is to serve the interests of the policyholders first and foremost, before that of the shareholders. Its social role is to provide essential insurance cover which is accessible and affordable to the population. As you venture into wider segments of the market in line with the rising affluence of Singaporeans, you should not forget the basis of INCOME’s formation. 19.
Boards  BIS Review 99/2008  3  and senior management must have a sound understanding of the risk profile of the respective banking institution and ensure that it holds sufficient capital that is commensurate with that profile. This is reinforced by the greater attention being accorded by supervisors to the risk management control functions within the banking institutions and how they are effectively governed. Improved market disclosures under the third pillar of the framework further subjects the banking institutions governance practices to closer market scrutiny. These developments have challenged governance practices that may have been tolerated in the past, but which would be grossly inadequate to provide the oversight that is demanded in today's far more complex business environment. Such practices have included vague reporting of risks to the board, boards that are disengaged, and boards that have no or little expertise in risk and financial matters. Boards and supervisors need to confront these issues with firm resolve. This will entail the more rigorous scrutiny of board members and senior management, both prior to their appointments and on an ongoing basis. Boards need to also assert themselves more actively in advocating and driving risk reforms, and demanding the appropriate level and amount of information from management that would enable the oversight responsibility to be discharged effectively. In many respects, Basel II remains a work in progress.

Two aspects of legal certainty are particularly crucial: Contractual certainty One key element of a stable legal framework is contractual certainty. Systems of contract law that show respect for formal agreements help to drive down commercial risk and therefore to promote the efficient allocation of capital. And uncertainty as to the enforceability of contracts is likely to be particularly damaging to financial markets. Against this background, contracts are becoming longer and more complex as financial innovation continues apace: the documentation for a structured finance product can often run into several hundred pages, thus raising the important issue of “documentation” risk. Legal and regulatory stability Another key element is legal and regulatory stability. This is very important to the financial markets, where the ability to form complex plans with a degree of confidence as to the stability over time of external influences (such as legal rules) impacts directly on risk, price and, ultimately, the efficient allocation of capital. A stable planning environment is conducive to investment and, therefore, market growth. Examples of harmful consequences of ambiguities in legal/regulatory frameworks include uncertainty as to the extent and scope of regulatory obligations or sanctions, and uncertainty as to how old laws will apply to dynamic and fast-changing market practices. The Financial Markets Law Committee (FMLC) In recognition of this, a number of countries have established groups of experts to promote greater legal certainty in financial markets. In the UK, the Financial Markets Law Committee was established in 2002.
However, my remarks today will focus on monetary policy. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  from markets in which they are no longer competitive, or relocate part of their production – and thus some jobs – to lower-cost countries, in order to keep pace with their foreign competitors. Individual companies may even have to cease their activities in Switzerland altogether. A study by the KOF research institute shows that, following a Swiss franc appreciation, the segment of lower-skilled workers in particular sees employment numbers fall. 3 However, the same study also points out that, despite pressure on margins, the remaining companies will respond to the franc’s appreciation by stepping up research and development, improving product quality and increasing the number of highly skilled workers they employ. Over time, these measures should lead the industries concerned to become more productive overall. The majority of empirical studies for other countries confirm that, as a general rule, strong competitive pressure increases an industry’s productivity. 4 Moreover, a number of country studies indicate that an appreciation can have a positive impact on productivity. 5 Often, the relationship is reciprocal, with productivity gains themselves leading to a stronger currency. Thus, in contrast to the short term, in the long term one cannot claim a contradiction between an economy’s competitiveness and a strong currency (cf. chart 9). The fact that Switzerland is among the world leaders in competitiveness, despite the strong Swiss franc, confirms this finding.

When there is a fixed exchange rate target, one might even have to expect an uncontrolled expansion of the balance sheet. This is attached to a number of imponderables. 6 In addition to major financial risks, it should be noted that, as the balance sheet grows, it will become increasingly difficult to reduce excess liquidity during a subsequent normalisation of monetary policy, and to fulfil the monetary policy mandate – of ensuring price stability – sustainably. Second, it is important to bear the following in mind: pegging the franc partially or fully to another currency would mean that the SNB would have to adopt the monetary policy of the  6  4  Cf. also Danthine, J.-P. (2015): Swiss monetary policy facts ... and fiction, speech at the Swiss Finance Institute Evening Seminar, Geneva, 19 May 2015. BIS central bankers’ speeches  currency area concerned. However, it could no longer be guaranteed that this monetary policy would always be optimally tailored to the needs of the Swiss economy. Thus, the benefits of an active exchange rate policy need to be properly weighed against the costs for the economy as a whole. But there is no one-size-fits-all method of determining the need to intervene in the foreign exchange market, or the best way to do so. The points to consider will differ depending on the situation. Current SNB monetary policy In that regard, I would like to briefly describe the SNB’s current thinking.
Let me re-iterate that sustainable economic development is not possible without adequate investment in the knowledge industry. It is precisely for this reason that the nations that have attained great economic progress are also those that have invested heavily in education. Ladies and Gentlemen; in the recent years, the Bank of Zambia has been striving to strengthen its focus on economic research in order to improve the formulation and implementation of monetary policy in this dynamic economic environment. The Bank has in this regard been publishing the BoZ Reader where members of staff and external researchers are encouraged to publish articles which have a bearing to the economy in general and monetary policy in particular. The Bank in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University is also in the process of publishing a book on the economic prosperity in Zambia. I wish to take this opportunity to encourage all students and academic staff at UNZA to contribute to some of the forthcoming publications of the BoZ Reader. In conclusion, I wish to re-iterate that the Bank of Zambia commits to continue supporting the Economics Department and Research programmes at UNZA and hopes that the University will live up to its obligations under the framework of cooperation to be signed today. We challenge the Economics Department at UNZA through the Vice Chancellor to scale up its research activities in issues of interest to the Bank and the Zambian economy in general. For this is what this MoU entails.

We also call upon other industry players in the financial sector to emulate our noble contribution in building human capital and research capacities at this important institution. This is important to ensure that our financial sector operates at the cutting edge of knowledge and innovation. I have no doubt therefore, that such investment will yield returns in the long run as knowledge is a secure investment. I thank you for your attention. 2  BIS Review 91/2010
We are mindful that for the NDF market to truly reduce in significance and adverse influences, the onshore market must become highly competitive, not just the foreign exchange market but also all aspects of the financial market. We are determined to realise the idea of having a market that possesses the breadth and depth to cater to the increasingly complex and diverse needs of the economy, and a market that is able to sustain and weather volatilities that contribute to the overall wellbeing of the economy. The early positive results of the measures speak for themselves. The onshore foreign exchange market now regularly records a healthy daily volume. In addition, the ringgit exchange rate has remained stable with volatility reducing by half since the introduction of these measures. The domestic bond market is now more resilient as speculative positions have mostly exited the market. There is a larger composition of stable and longer term investors. This fact is much more important than just looking at the percentages or size of non-resident holdings. Our experience suggests that there is a threshold where non-resident investors will become a destabilising force. The success of our measures and our continued faith in the market mechanism is now validated and restored. Ensuring trust, confidence and integrity of the financial market There are many lessons that we ought to learn. Some of the disruptions were caused from the uncompetitive market behaviors and questionable conduct by players.

Conclusion This year is the 20th anniversary of the Asian Financial Crisis and close to the 10th anniversary 5/6  BIS central bankers' speeches  of the Global Financial Crisis. Anniversaries such as these are opportunities to pause, reflect and ponder on the past, present and future. There are many lessons to be learnt from recent episodes, and let us not repeat them. For if we do, only misery and hardship await us. 6/6  BIS central bankers' speeches