samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
The new Payment Systems Act will unify all relevant regulations currently specified under different laws and enforced by various different agencies. In addition, the Bank of Thailand will support the government’s initiatives to promote nation-wide electronic payment system, including, for instance, the development of “Any ID” payment infrastructure, and the promotion of debit card usage for payment and transfer of welfare benefits. On connectivity, the establishment of Qualified ASEAN Banks, or QABs, will allow Thai banks to expand regionally, while welcoming foreign banks in the region to conduct businesses in Thailand. Bilateral negotiations with several countries have been planned and I expect some arrangements to be made by the end of next year. The Bank of Thailand will collaborate with other central banks in the region on the promotion of local currency settlements for trades and investments. The appointment of cross-currency dealers to act as clearing agents for the Baht and the Ringgit should be done by the first quarter of next year, while negotiations with other countries are ongoing. We are conscious of the rules and regulations which may hinder the development of regional trades and investments, and we are working carefully to remove obstacles without compromising stability objective. The joint initiatives by the government and the Bank of Thailand regarding treasury centers have generated interest among large companies applying for a license. These treasury centers can purchase or sell foreign currencies and hedging instruments for companies within their groups, thereby aiding in foreign exchange and liquidity risk management.

In fact, the share of exports to CLMV in our total exports is now on par with the share of our exports to the major trading partners such as the US, Europe, and Japan. Thailand’s exports to the US are also poised to become firmer as the US economy continues to see improvement in its recovery. Our exports of vehicle parts, electronic-appliance parts and electronics to the US have expanded in the past few months, and are likely to continue their growth momentum in 2016 in line with the US economic recovery. Nevertheless, some structural limitations still weigh on long-term growth. The recovery of the export sector will continue to be impeded by a shift in the global trade structure. Some of our products such as apparels and garments have seen a continuing decline in competitiveness, while some others are falling out of technological trend. Simply put, the Thai economy is like a car whose engine is in need of an overhaul. We need structural adjustments in growth drivers to enhance our competitiveness and sustainable economic growth. The private sector needs to invest in new production technology, and improve product quality in response to changes in global demand and consumer preferences. As Mohamed A. El-Erian, then CEO of PIMCO, once said “structural challenges require structural responses”.1 In this context, we welcome many new initiatives by the government to stimulate public and private investment and upgrade Thailand’s value chain.
Bank governance would be a wealth-weighted democracy, a hybrid of the mutual and joint-stock models. This would help put risk incentives in the right place, while enhancing diversity within the financial system.16 (d) Performance and remuneration The behaviour of the financial system would be improved by an alternative set of performance metrics. The ideal metric would be less focussed on a narrow subset of the balance sheet (such as equity) and do a better job of adjusting for risk (than ROE). One metric satisfying those criteria would be return on assets (ROA). This covers the whole balance sheet and, because it is not flattered by leverage, does a better job of adjusting for risk. It would be a relatively small step for banks to switch from ROE to ROA targets in their capital planning and compensation. Yet the effects on risk-taking and remuneration could be large. Imagine if the CEOs of the seven largest US banks had in 1989 agreed to index their salaries not to ROE, but to ROA. By 2007, their compensation would not have grown tenfold. Instead it would have risen from $ million to $ million. Rather than rising to 500 times median US household income, it would have fallen to around 68 times.17 Conclusion The words “bank” and “bankrupt” have common etymological roots, dating from the 13th century. In the 13th century, it was bankers bankrupting banks. In the 21st century, bankers are still bankrupting banks. But it is no longer just banks.

The collapse of the City of Glasgow bank in 1878 shifted the debate decisively Bagehot’s way. In one sense, this failure was evidence of the power of unlimited liability: no depositor lost a penny. But 80% of the bank’s shareholders were bankrupted and many made destitute. As the Economist observed at the time, “the share lists of most of our banks exhibit a very large – almost an incredible – number of spinsters and widows”.6 Bagehot’s incentive problem was real. Public and parliamentary opinion quickly shifted. The Companies Act 1879 facilitated conversion to limited liability. Between 1849 and 1889, the number of unlimited liability British banks fell to just 2.7 Even then, some of the incentive benefits of unlimited liability were preserved. Shareholder vetting remained in bank deeds. And in place of unlimited liability, UK banks moved to a regime of extended liability. This was the contingent capital regime of its day. Extended liability typically had two elements – reserve liability and uncalled capital. Under reserve liability, existing shareholders were liable for additional capital in the event of bankruptcy. By 1884, British banks had reserve liability of around three times their paid-up capital.8 This placed them on a similar footing to US banks, which had adopted a system of double liability in 1863.9 Reserve capital was augmented by a pool of uncalled capital. This could be tapped preinsolvency at the discretion of bank management. On average between 1878 and 1913, UK banks had uncalled capital larger than their called capital (Grossman and Imai (2011)).
French competitiveness has in particular been impacted by wage increases and catch-ups associated with the reduction in the working week, while Germany has experienced several consecutive years of real wage cuts. From this point of view, it is likely to be positively affected by a strict application of the revaluation rules for the minimum wage. In addition, industrial output has virtually stagnated over the past six years, in spite of efforts aimed at making the French economy more attractive. France is not the only European country in this situation. Industrial output in Italy is also fl at, while that of the United Kingdom has dropped by 5% despite its buoyant economic growth. At the same time, however, industrial activity in Germany and Spain has grown by 15% and 10% respectively. It is as if the French economy had been hit by a “shock” hindering its ability to react to an increase in domestic and, especially, world demand. We need to take a look at the origins of this shock. Corporate investment hardly seems to account for this shock, given that it has risen by the same proportion in France and Germany in recent years (12% in 4 years). Other gridlocks, that are less clearly definable, are therefore hindering the industrial sector’s reaction capacity. Although it is currently impossible to clearly identify them, labour market rigidities have probably played a major role, especially on the supply side.

Nevertheless, several risks should be highlighted: that of a sudden drop in US consumption in the wake of the problems in the property market; that of a sharp increase in commodity prices; that of a return to volatility on financial markets, after several exceptionally calm years; and, linked to the latter, that of a disorderly adjustment of exchange rates triggered by the build-up of international imbalances. The second concern relates to the extremely rapid growth of monetary and credit aggregates in the euro area. The annual growth rate of M3, which was below 6% in 2004, gradually accelerated and currently exceeds 10%. Loans to the private sector also continue to expand by more than 10%. Structural changes in money and credit demand – linked to financial  BIS Review 92/2007  1  innovation – may partly account for this acceleration. However, these developments must be closely monitored in view of their implications for monetary stability and that of financial systems. During 2004 and 2005, household borrowing was the primary source of credit growth; in 2006, this was replaced by lending to enterprises, in line with the economic recovery and the rise in – often highly leveraged – company buyouts. The strong profits and financial soundness of firms facilitate and sometimes encourage increased borrowing, which is then presented as “optimising” their liability structure. But balance sheets are weakening and difficulties could appear in the event of a turnaround in the business cycle.
David Carse: Anti-money laundering and the role of supervision Speech by Mr David Carse, Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, at the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers, Hong Kong, 23 August 2002. *  *  *  Ladies and Gentlemen,  Introduction I welcome the opportunity to talk to the Institute on the subject of the fight against money laundering and the role that supervision plays in this. This is a good time to speak on this subject since we are currently reviewing our 1997 anti-money laundering guideline in the light of the latest developments in this area. I will use this speech to highlight some of the issues that we are addressing. It is also a useful occasion for me to remind the bankers gathered here today how important it is to combat money laundering. This should really go without saying and I do not intend to dwell on it too much. The key message is that authorized institutions (“AIs”) should view anti-money laundering systems as an essential means of self-preservation - and not as a nuisance or an unnecessary expense that is imposed upon them. The events of 9/11 have heightened the international concern about money laundering. There is less and less patience with jurisdictions, and their banks, that do not comply with the international standards laid down by bodies like the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”). The FATF has begun to “name and shame” jurisdictions that it regards as non-cooperative countries and territories (“NCCTs”) in tackling money laundering.

Such NCCTs will be subject to sanctions if they do not come into line. Moreover, banks from NCCTs are caught under the newly enacted US Patriot Act. Such banks, and any others regarded as higher risk from a money laundering perspective, will be subject to increased scrutiny by their US correspondent banks and the US authorities. At worst, higher risk foreign banks could eventually find themselves shut out of the US payments system. Hong Kong has a good reputation internationally as a financial centre that takes seriously the need to combat money laundering. I am sure that you will agree that we all have a vested interest in keeping it that way - which means that we need to keep in line with international standards as they evolve. The role of the HKMA The role of the HKMA in this is to work with the other relevant authorities in Hong Kong - the Commissioner for Narcotics, the law enforcers and other regulators - to ensure that we have an effective framework to deter, detect and report cases of money laundering. Our particular responsibility relates to AIs. It is our job to verify that AIs have adequate policies, procedures and controls in place to enable them to: •  identify suspicious customers and transactions;  •  report suspicious transactions to the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (“JFIU”); and  •  assist the law enforcement authorities through providing an audit trail.
Thus, how much one pushes on the short-term interest rate lever depends, in part, on how financial market conditions respond to such adjustments. Imagine driving a car where the connection between the gas pedal and the engine speed was variable and uncertain. The driver would have to constantly monitor and adjust the pressure on the gas pedal to achieve the desired speed. Similarly, we will have to monitor and adjust short-term interest rates to achieve financial market conditions consistent with achieving our labor market and inflation objectives. All else equal, less responsiveness implies larger interest rate adjustments and vice versa. Quickly, let me give two examples that illustrate how variable this linkage can be. First, during the 2004–07 period, the FOMC tightened monetary policy nearly continuously, raising the federal funds rate from 1 percent to 5.25 percent in 17 steps. However, during this period, 10-year Treasury note yields did not rise much, credit spreads generally narrowed and U.S. equity price indices moved higher. Moreover, the availability of mortgage credit eased, rather than tightened. As a result, financial market conditions did not tighten. As a result, financial conditions remained quite loose, despite the large increase in the federal funds rate. With the benefit of hindsight, it seems that either monetary policy should have been tightened more aggressively or macroprudential measures should have been implemented in order to tighten credit conditions in the overheated housing sector.

At the same time, and particularly taking into account the relatively high level of business confidence in the euro area, private sector domestic demand should increasingly contribute to growth, supported by the accommodative monetary policy stance and the measures adopted to restore the functioning of the financial system. However, the recovery in activity is expected to be dampened by the process of balance sheet adjustment in various sectors. In the Governing Council’s assessment, the risks to this economic outlook are still slightly tilted to the downside, with uncertainty remaining elevated. On the one hand, global trade may continue to grow more rapidly than expected, thereby supporting euro area exports. Moreover, strong business confidence could provide more support to domestic economic activity in the euro area than is currently expected. On the other hand, downside risks relate to the tensions in some segments of the financial markets and their potential spillover to the euro area real economy. Further downside risks relate to renewed increases in oil and other  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  commodity prices, protectionist pressures and the possibility of a disorderly correction of global imbalances. With regard to price developments, euro area annual HICP inflation was 2.2% in December, according to Eurostat’s flash estimate, after 1.9% in November. This was somewhat higher than expected and largely reflects higher energy prices. Looking ahead to the next few months, inflation rates could temporarily increase further.
Fraziali Ismail: COVID-19 and climate responsibility, commitment, and collaboration  change,  collective  Closing remarks by Mr Fraziali Ismail, Assistant Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at Malaysia Showcase during Climate Week NYC 2020, New York City, 17 September 2020. * * * From time to time, we chance upon heart-warming stories of how seemingly small and random acts of kindness, result in something miraculous. I am talking about stories like Jadav Payeng, an environmental activist and forest worker from India, who planted a tree almost every single day for 40 years. Jadav was only 16 when he started working with the district’s social forestry division in a tree plantation drive. Upon completion of the 5-year project, Jadav chose to stay and continued on his quest to save his island. This led him to single-handedly create a real man-made forest, the Molai Forest, which houses several species of animals and thousands of trees that is now almost as big as New York’s Central Park. We also marvel at Afroz Shaz, who began picking up trash on Versova Beach in Mumbai, and inspired thousands of volunteers to join the cause. Versova’s dramatic transformation from filthy to fabulous went viral in India, with praises to Afroz and the volunteers for helping to restore the beach that was previously polluted by 15 years of piled up rubbish.

Of equal importance is our resolve to build their capacity to become effective agents of change in facilitating transition towards a low-carbon economy. A common language to categorise economic activities to help facilitate financial flows towards activities that would support the transition to a lower carbon economy, is therefore paramount. For this purpose, the Bank issued the Climate Change and Principles-Based Taxonomy Discussion Paper in December 2019. The taxonomy is now undergoing further refinements, and a pilot implementation for selected financial institutions will commence this month. Collaboration On to my final C, “collaboration”. In his quest to clean up Versova beach, Afroz Shaz would not have been as successful had he acted alone. He had help from organisations and volunteers from over 12 countries. The Versova Beach clean-up was one of the largest citizen initiatives the world has even seen. In the same vein, the Bank values contribution and collaboration with various stakeholders. This includes the financial industry in planning an orderly transition towards a more climate-resilient economy. The Joint Committee on Climate Change (or “JC3”) was set up in September 2019 as a platform for financial regulators and financial institutions in Malaysia 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  to work together to deepen our understanding on climate risks and develop tools to effectively respond to those risks. The JC3 is chaired by the Bank and Securities Commission Malaysia, with Bursa Malaysia and 19 financial institutions as members.
It could amplify the moral hazard problem: if the bank wins, its shareholders - as well as its traders under their bonus packages - pocket the profit, and if it loses, the regulator/tax-payer ends up with the bill. A penalty would not act as a deterrent to a bank prepared to gamble its capital because that bank would not be affected by such a penalty when it was ‘down and out’. Furthermore, regulators could over time become less familiar with banks’ risk management systems, which might make them less effective in a crisis. Early supervisory intervention is more difficult if supervisors only become aware of problems ex-post, after the limit has been breached. It may be possible to devise an approach to pre-commitment which avoids these potential handicaps. But for the time being our attitude remains somewhat hesitant. Finally, a discussion about rules is not complete without touching on the question of a ‘level playing field’; an odd analogy, I think, since in field sports there is no such thing. If there were, why would teams change ends at half time? (In American football, of course, teams change ends three times - and in baseball they resolve the problem by running round in circles.) When banks and securities houses do similar business it seems only fair to apply similar capital rules. But while this is true at the margin, when we look at the total business of banks and securities houses, the picture is still vastly different.

BIS Review 21/1997  -7-  HM Treasury  Insurance Supervisor  Insurance Companies  Consolidated Securities and Investments Supervisor(s)  Investment Firms, Markets and Exchanges  Bank of England  Banks  This last is not a trivial point, since the cost and disruption caused by reorganisation would be considerable, and higher in proportion to the degree of change. The process would inevitably generate uncertainty among firms and the public, and make the regulatory system more difficult to manage in the meantime. This argues for building on the present arrangements, if at all possible, rather than beginning again with an entirely new structure that could take years to settle down. Furthermore, what matters to the financial system, and to the public, is that regulators are effective. Effectiveness necessitates good communication, consolidated supervision and close co-operation to maintain protection across the piece. Whether structural change (including bringing functions together under one umbrella) would improve communication and co-operation and so increase effectiveness, is a key question, and the answer is far from clear. We have been making considerable efforts recently to enhance communication between different supervisors in the UK. That has involved, as you would expect, the usual paraphernalia of Memoranda of Understanding. But, in addition, we have sought to achieve cross-membership of some of our most important institutions. For example, Sir Andrew Large, the Chairman of the Securities and Investments Board, has become a member of the Bank of England’s Board of Banking Supervision and, reciprocally, I have joined the SIB.
The diversity project Speech given by Andrew G Haldane, Chief Economist, Bank of England  Opening remarks given at the Investment Association Launch of the Diversity Project Tuesday 8 November 2016  1  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/default.aspx  1  Let me start by congratulating Helena for launching the Diversity Project. It is a great initiative. The UK’s financial services industry is a world-leader in a great many respects – and long may that remain the case. Yet when it comes to issues of diversity it is often a laggard. For example, recent work by PWC has shown that the gender balance in Financial Services diminishes sharply with seniority. Despite women making up 60% of all employees, only 25% make it to middle-management and only 19% to more senior roles. 2  This is deeply disappointing. But it also presents the industry with a real opportunity to make some great strides forward. I hope the Diversity Project under Helena’s leadership, and the announcement of Jayne-Anne as the Government’s new Women in Finance Champion can help seize that opportunity and propel financial services into a leadership role on diversity too. When I asked a colleague what I should talk about today, she said I needed to have a personal story. That was an immediate challenge. As a white, middle aged, middle class, man working for an Establishment institution, I am not exactly part of a disadvantaged minority. Or am I? Diversity, like beauty, is much more than skin deep.

Conclusion Ladies and Gentlemen In conclusion, prospects for Asia continue to remain positive. Asia can expect to continue to remain the fastest growing region in the world. The economic and financial sectors in the region have now strengthened significantly and are better positioned to mobilize the region’s surplus capital to provide  BIS Review 43/2003  5  broader, deeper and more liquid sources of financing to facilitate the region’s growth. The new emerging trends in the region point to increased economic and financial integration. This is reinforced by greater regional co-operation. All this would result in an Asia that is a more mutually-reinforcing region of growth. In the process, the Asian region would emerge as a stronger engine of growth which in turn can facilitate more balanced growth in the world economy. 6  BIS Review 43/2003