samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Of course, the leverage ratio will play an important as a simple backstop against overreliance on models and past statistical relationships. Open Trust is also needed in a wider context: trust between countries in their supervisory and regulatory frameworks so as to support an open and stable financial system. To achieve its full potential, the financial system must remain global. Fragmentation will reduce the efficiency with which savings are allocated to investments, and potentially lead to misallocation of capital on a global scale. All economies would be harmed by this, whether advanced, emerging or developing. This is a real risk. Since the crisis, measures of capital market integration have declined notably.24 A clear home bias remains in investment. The crisis was a vivid reminder that openness must be built on the foundation of stability and trust in the foundations of the global financial system. For an open system, trust between authorities is therefore fundamental. Although markets and many financial institutions are global, regulation remains national or regional and concerns about spillovers from failures of foreign institutions, or market contagion starting elsewhere, can prompt jurisdictions to safeguard themselves unilaterally. A national regulator’s first responsibility is to do its utmost to ensure the safety and soundness of its own jurisdiction. To avoid the Balkanisation of finance, each regulator must trust others to implement agreed common standards. In this regard, Singapore is a world leader.

Here in Malaysia, buildings consume almost half (48%) of the electricity generated in the country. In response to this, green buildings were conceived, prioritising environmental and health concerns as well as resource efficiency throughout their life cycle. In the process, they also respond to the changing preferences of an increasingly environmentally conscious population. As a country, Malaysia has committed to the target of reaching Net Zero emissions as early as 2050. In line with this and the priorities laid out in the 12th Malaysia Plan, state and city councils have increasingly stepped up efforts to spur the greening of their respective jurisdictions. DBKL for instance has issued the Kuala Lumpur Climate Action Plan 2050, which details out the actions necessary to achieve the goals of the Paris agreement. While we will be mainly focusing on green housing at this event, it is important not to forget that this is a cross-cutting agenda that requires many different parts of the ecosystem to work effectively. With climate change, however, we are not simply pursuing an aspirational goal. We are dealing with an existential treat for which bold and decisive actions are needed to correct what has been described as the “greatest market failure the world has ever seen”. Central to these actions is the remarkable capacity of the private sector to innovate solutions that will move us closer to our climate goals, and our collective responsibility to harness that capacity. Physical risks associated with climate change are already with us and are rising.
Other factors that may have contributed to the surplus is that the financial market in the United States is more highly developed than in many Asian countries, which has made it advantageous to invest savings there rather than in the domestic economy, and that companies in China pay out a relatively small part of the profits in dividends, which probably helps to boost saving but restrict consumption. 13 Global imbalances and capital flows after the crisis The crisis that actually arrived took an entirely different course than many expected. Although the United States was hit hard, the dollar was actually strengthened initially because investors fled from risk and US government securities were seen as a safe asset. The countries that had large current account deficits were, however, hit to a greater extent  9  See for example Bernanke, 2009, White 2008 and King 2009. 10  For example Krugman, 2007. 11  See Bernanke, 2005. 12  See Llaudes et al., 2010. 13  See for example Caballero, 2006, Hoffman and Kuijs, 2006 and Bayoumi et al., 2010 for a discussion of this. BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  than countries with surpluses by major falls in housing prices. 14 This shows that current account deficits were often a reflection of underlying weaknesses, for example unsound lending practices and the build-up of debt. However, the crisis itself and the subsequent recession reduced the imbalances, at least temporarily.

Thomas Jordan: Central banks in action – financial market turbulences and policy measures Speech by Mr Thomas Jordan, Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the 36th General Assembly of the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland, Geneva, 6 June 2008. The author thanks Caesar Lack for very helpful comments and suggestions. * 1. *  *  Introduction  It is a pleasure and honour for me to have the opportunity to speak at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Foreign Banks. The foreign banks are the fastest growing group of banks in Switzerland. This demonstrates the attractiveness of Switzerland as a financial centre. At the same time it also shows how important the foreign banks are for Switzerland. I am therefore very much looking forward to interesting interaction with my distinguished audience. In my talk, I will focus on the financial market crisis and the policy measures taken by central banks in response to the crisis. I will also try to identify some preliminary lessons that central banks have learned through applying these measures. In recent weeks, financial markets have improved, to some extent, from the situation that prevailed at the height of the turmoil in mid-March: risk premia have fallen on most assets, and equity prices have recovered. Even money markets, although still tense, have improved somewhat. These developments have given rise to the hope that the worst of the financial crisis might have passed by now. However, it may be too early to give the all-clear.
Let us imagine that our households – which we assumed did not amortise at all to begin with – are forced to amortise their loans over a period of 50 years. If the households began to amortise in this way, it would on the one hand initially mean increased expenditure for the households corresponding to between almost 5 and a good 12 per cent of their disposable income. To achieve the same effect with an interest rate increase, the mortgage rate would need to increase by almost 3 percentage points. On the other hand, the amortisations would mean that interest expenditure fell as the loan was paid off. As amortisation is a form of saving, this measure means in the long run that the loan cost falls and that the household improves its balance sheet or financial position. In this example we have assumed that the  19  With a tax deduction of 30 per cent, an interest rate increase of 1.7 percentage points means that the interest after tax increases by 1.2 percentage points. This is as much as abolishing the tax relief would increase costs if the interest rate was 4 per cent to start with. 20  http://www.fi.se/upload/43_Utredningar/20_Rapporter/2011/effekt_bolanetak_delstudie.pdf. BIS central bankers’ speeches  9  households do not have any savings, in practice of course they would also be able to manage changes in amortisation requirements by reducing other saving. Comparisons with the interest rate A relevant comparison is what a direct increase in the interest rate would entail for our households.

Kuttner and Shim (2013) have made a panel study covering 57 countries and stretching across more than three decades, which investigates the effect on debt and housing prices of various tools. According to their study, the tools that appear to have the most obvious effect on debt include the elimination of tax relief on interest payments and the introduction of a mortgage cap. Let us try to estimate what effects these measures would have on our standard households here. Say that the tax relief for mortgages was abolished. Changes to the tax relief are nothing new – at the end of the 1980s, the tax regulations were changed so that tax relief was almost halved for certain groups of households. For the family in Luleå, with loans worth SEK 1.1 million, the loan costs would rise, if they did not adapt their level of indebtedness, by around SEK 1,100 per month, or almost 3 per cent  18  The calculation is based on assumptions of unchanged yield requirements for the banks of 15 per cent, unchanged borrowing costs for the banks and the allocation of the banks’ costs on the basis of risk weights. 8  BIS central bankers’ speeches  of their disposable income. And for the family in Upplands Väsby, the abolition of the tax relief would increase their loan costs by SEK 1,750, or around 4 per cent of their disposable income.
These questions of credit analysis and risk control are an integral part of the current work of the Basle Committee on credit risk management. The starting point for that work is a paper describing the framework for traditional credit risk management by banks. That framework can then be used to consider how changes in the financial markets affect the credit process. In addition to the issues I’ve described, this work will look at the impact of other developments such as credit risk models, credit derivatives and securitization. One goal of this work is to identify areas of risk management which are improving, and those which may need strengthening, especially potential problems in the internal controls that prevent and detect breakdowns in risk control. The second question, how the larger role of capital markets activities is affecting liquidity risk, also involves a reconsideration of the guidance the Basle Committee developed a decade ago. The recent market turmoil has been especially hard on emerging market banks which funded domestic currency assets with unhedged foreign currency liabilities. The liquidity risk of concentrations on the asset side of the balance sheet has a different significance when assets are sold not only to raise cash but also to conduct portfolio management, which assumes generally liquid markets. Moreover, we are seeing new liquidity needs arising from the changed funding practices of customers.

The macroeconomic projections accompanying the Budget for 2013 include the stabilising of our unemployment rate at around 25% of the labour force, a rate double the average for the European Union countries. This rate of unemployment is, quite simply, dramatic. Hence the enormous importance of economic recovery and of greater labour market flexibility: these two variables complement one another, and without both operating simultaneously, net job creation will not be possible. Fiscal consolidation I shall now move on to public finances and to the nature of the fiscal drive needed. In 2007 Spain posted a budget surplus of close to 2% of GDP and a public debt/GDP ratio of 37%, then one of the lowest among the euro area members. However, this apparently healthy state of affairs concealed a precarious situation owing to the presence of high tax revenue that had a significant temporary component tied to the major expansion of the construction and real estate sector, and to unsustainable spending dynamics. Indeed, the end of this expansion uncovered the risks latent in that situation. Almost half of the deterioration of more than 13 pp of GDP over only two years from 2007 to 2009 – a turnaround in public finances unprecedented in Spanish economic history – was due to the fall in revenue, largely associated with the disappearance of the aforementioned extraordinary revenue.
Ultimately, whether we transform and succeed will depend on our finance professionals taking ownership of their own professional development. IBF will continue to introduce new platforms to help our finance professionals do just this. IBF has recently launched the MySkills Portfolio. This is an online tool which can be a useful resource for individuals to plan and manage their learning. MySkills Portfolio allows individuals to track their training progress and receive programme recommendations based on their training goals. It also functions as a repository of training records. Most of all, IBF is about building a community. Today we celebrate our latest cohort of IBF Fellows and Distinguished Fellows. These individuals have contributed their time and expertise, not just on policy ideas, but also as speakers, trainers and mentors to our young finance professionals. All of you compete vigorously when it comes to business – and that is good. But together we have created something unique here in Singapore’s financial sector: a shared vision for building up our capabilities; working towards the greater good; looking out for one another and bringing people along. And we must bring our people along. This is what will help ensure that our financial sector grows from strength to strength; that we create good job opportunities for Singaporeans; that we build up skills and raise standards across the industry; and that all those who work in the industry enjoy the fruits of growth. Thank you once again for your strong support, and I wish everyone an enjoyable evening.

Beyond the headline growth rates, Singapore has also made significant strides as an international financial centre in recent years. We are consistently ranked among the top five financial centres in the world, sometimes even top three. Singapore, along with Hong Kong, remains the dominant centre in the Asia-Pacific for offshore lending, debt markets, and derivatives trading. Our role as the leading regional hub has grown in re-insurance and infrastructure finance. We have a global position in foreign exchange, private banking, and asset management. But we have quite some way to go in the equities market space, beyond of course REITS where we are still Asia’s largest hub. Financial services are a major export engine for the Singapore market. Singapore runs a surplus in financial services trade. This surplus has grown by 40% since 2011. Singapore has been gaining market share in the imports of financial services by several major economies including China, India, and ASEAN. The medium-term prospects for the financial sector are good. 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  I say this, with full recognition of the daunting challenges facing the industry. But our challenges are not without silver linings – which, if we are smart and nimble, we can harness to our advantage. Global growth is very unlikely to pick up to the levels that we saw in the heady days before the financial crisis. But Asia will remain the most dynamic region in the world. Its middle class is rapidly growing and its businesses are expanding across the region.
First prize The first prize was awarded to PEGI MYSHQERRI, a student at the Goethe University, Germany, for the study on the Master's theme: The effects of ECB Asset Purchases on European Corporate Bond Markets)". In her work, Pegi has assessed the impact and channels of the European Central Bank's quantitative easing policies on the interest rate of corporate bonds. The author has also analysed the behaviour of firms toward these programs of the European Central Bank, and whether they have affected or not in the issuance of an acceptable (adequate) debt. More specifically, Pegi has employed the econometrics methods to assess that both programs - the purchasing program in the corporation sector (CSPP) as well as the emergency purchasing program during the pandemic (PEPP) - have had an effect on the interest rate of corporate bonds, but the scale of the impact of each program has been different. Furthermore, results show that quantitative easing programs have had a considerable role in mitigating the lending conditions to corporation in the Euro area, affecting thus the increase of both the number and volume of corporate bonds issued. First, I would like to commend the winner of the first prize for choosing this theme; a rather interesting and relevant theme for banks in advanced economies, but which has been gaining traction in emerging countries.

It will also give the board the opportunity to convey its views directly to us, for example on whether we are imposing too much of a regulatory burden. As a result of the consultation exercise, we have received a number of supportive comments. It is difficult, after all, to argue against the principle that banks should be encouraged to raise their governance standards. However, a number of concerns have also been voiced. I will not go into these in detail, but some of the questions that have been raised are as follows: Is the HKMA interfering too much in the way in which banks choose to manage themselves? Is too much burden being placed upon the board, and upon non-executive directors in particular, in terms of establishing policies and controls? Should there be a distinction between listed and non-listed banks? Is it right to place more onerous requirements on banks compared with other companies, for example as regards the required number of independent directors? And is it going to be possible to find sufficient independent directors of the right quality? I have answered some of these questions already in this speech. We do believe that banks are different from other companies because they are looking after other people’s money. From this point of view, it does not matter whether the bank is listed or non-listed. We also believe that banks are exposed to special risks compared with other companies, and that the board needs to ensure that policies are in place to manage these risks.
Indeed as far back as the middle ages Nicolaus Oresme has argued in favour of stable money as a principle of natural law and has denounced the debasing of currency by the state as worse than usury and equivalent to robbery and exploitation. In our times another bishop, Karl Lehmann, the current chair of the German Conference of Bishops, has stressed a moral and ethical justification of price stability. In line with recent documents of catholic social teaching he emphasises the fact that inflation tends to hit the weakest segments of the population hardest and that it has contributed to impoverishment in particular in developing countries. On the whole, however, the world of faith and the world of money eye each other with a good measure of distrust and suspicion. Men of faith have often regarded money as the symbol of greed, sin and evil rather than as an instrument for mutually beneficial exchange and a foundation of prosperity. The Christian ethical tradition has in particular expressed moral reservations against the trading or lending of money against an interest charge. This sceptical attitude towards money and interest rates, which to an economist is simply the intertemporal price of money, was well-entrenched in the Scholastic tradition and goes back to Aristotle’s view that to “make money out of money” would go against natural law. Interestingly such moral scruples on lending against interest are also found in other religions and this form of lending is banned to this day in the Islamic world.

The difficulty today is one that monetary policy must address – this is to balance the risks of removing the stimulus from the expansionary monetary policy too soon, starving a recovery while it is still immature, against the risk of allowing inflation and inflation expectations to become stuck at above the target level. Balancing those risks in the UK is not easy. That is the issue the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England faces today and the one I now want to explore. The immediate monetary policy problem The financial crisis dealt a huge blow to the financial infrastructure in most of the developed world. In the UK, and here in Ireland, the financial system came close to total breakdown. It was not so much that virtually no-one thought this sort of thing would happen. It was worse than that; virtually no-one thought this sort of thing could happen. But it did happen. As a result the supply of credit to businesses and to households was – and continues to be – seriously affected. The confidence of businesses and households has been severely dented. Fiscal deficits have exploded; private sector investment has imploded. Whatever the aftermath of this event is – and we will not know that for many years – I very much doubt it will be a normal cyclical recovery after a downturn.
For example, the fact that chief executive officer compensation and prestige are related to size may be just as important. On the other, this still is a problem because it works to distort the structure of the financial system and makes – by encouraging the proliferation of large, complex firms – the too big to fail problem worse. I conclude that while the funding advantage issue is very relevant to the debate on too big to fail, it may not be the most important issue. To me, the unacceptable risk posed to financial stability from the failure of large, systemic firms is at least as important. Solving too big to fail As I see it, there are two broad ways of solving the too big to fail problem. The first is to create a more robust financial system so that the failure of a large, systemically important financial firm does not threaten to take down the rest of the financial system. In this case, the authorities can let the troubled firm fail. Because failure is now credible, this should also eliminate the funding advantage from being perceived as too big to fail. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  The second is to take steps to prevent the failure of such large, complex firms in the first place. This also reduces any funding advantage for firms perceived as being too big to fail, but without some of the negative financial stability consequences associated with failure.

As a result, the Bank of Albania supports the scientific research and the activity of Albanian students, studying at university and other academic institutions, in Albania and abroad. In this framework, I would like to continue a cherished tradition of the Bank of Albania, the ceremony of Governor's Award for the Best Diploma Thesis. For 16 years, the Bank of Albania selects and awards research studies conducted by Albanian students, graduating in Albania or abroad. Over the years, the focus of the presented research materials is on recent economic issues. The research follows how the needs and the economic, financial and social events affect the authorities, businesses and the society. Simultaneously, the process of setting the hypothesis, selecting and implementing the applied methodologies, is conducted in congruence with the best up-to-date research practices. This renders analysis and research investigation valid and professional. During this year's competition, there were a series of applications received, mainly focusing on topics that deal with recent phenomena taking place in the fields of economics and finance. The studies are directly or indirectly connected with the activities of the central bank. Some of the most interesting topics of these studies were the following: the impact of policies on the central bank's balance sheet in the corporate bond markets;  2/4  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  the impact of credit and the expansion of banking products; the effect of prices on the real estate market; the multiplier of government expenses and consumption, and their effect on the economy.