samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Some individual parts of the regulatory rulebook - such as the use of internal ratings-based risk weights - also remain complex. The new regulatory architecture has also introduced measures which are likely to make for a greater degree of regulatory discretion. The authorities in the US, UK and euro area have moved to annual stress-testing exercises in which the stress scenario, modelling framework, success criteria and regulatory response are each subject to significant degrees of regulatory discretion. Regulators internationally are also now setting a CCyB requirement, which is also set in a largely discretionary fashion. 16  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  16  In short, the new regulatory framework involves a larger number of regulatory constraints, many of which are individually complex, operating with a greater degree of regulatory discretion than in the past. Some have questioned whether this system may be too complex (for example, Admati and Hellwig (2011)). And some of the recent debate on regulatory reform in the US also raises those same concerns (US Department of the Treasury (2017)). There are several different dimensions to regulatory complexity. Much has already been written on the complexity of individual rules or regulatory constraints and the associated potential for regulatory arbitrage (Haldane and Madouros (2012), Aikman et al (2014), Behn, Haselmann, and Vig (2016)). The Basel Committee’s Task Force on Simplicity and Transparency are looking into these questions at a practical level. We do not explore those issues further here.

40  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  40  Chart 2: Government debt to GDP ratio in the Great Recession and Great Depression US  UK Change in government debt to GDP ratio from start of crisis (percentage points)  Change in government debt to GDP ratio from start of crisis (percentage points) 40  60  35  50  30  40  25  30  20  20  15  10  10  0  5  -10 -20  0 0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  0  10  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  Years from start of crisis  Years from start of crisis  Great Depression (Year 0 = 1929)  Great Depression (Year 0 = 1929) Great Recession (Year 0 = 2007)  Great Recession (Year 0 = 2007)  Germany  France  Change in government debt to GDP ratio from start of crisis (percentage points)  Change in government debt to GDP ratio from start of crisis (percentage points) 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 -2 -4  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  Years from start of crisis  Years from start of crisis  Great Depression (Year 0 = 1929)  Great Depression (Year 0 = 1929)  Great Recession (Year 0 = 2007)  Great Recession (Year 0 = 2007)  10  Sources: Bank of England ‘Millennium of Data’ (2017), IMF Historical Public Debt Database and Bank calculations.
The development of the venture capital industry, a better framework for SME financing and the provision of micro financing continue to be important priorities to ensure that credit is made available to all segments of the economy, as well as to support the growth of new areas and industries. Increased focus on developing these financing modes has been supported with higher public sector budget allocations for the venture capital industry and for specific development financial institutions to channel micro-credit to small micro-enterprises. Priority has also been accorded to investment in information and communications technology by the banking sector. With the completion of the consolidation exercise, domestic banking institutions have actively embarked on upgrading their systems, including in product delivery, risk management and information systems. The adoption of technology in the Malaysian banking system has predominantly been to automate business processes. However, more recently technology has been used as a tool to assess and drive business performance. With competition in the market becoming increasingly intense, the ability to understand the drivers of performance and the ability to make prompt response is vital to remain competitive. Business delivery channels and business processes have also been reviewed to enhance efficiency levels and service quality to the customers. Many have formed strategic alliances with partners to enrich their value proposition to their customers through cross-selling of products and services. Indeed, the Malaysian banking industry has now become more consumer-centric.

But in absolute terms, the cost of risks amounts to EUR 63 bn for the top 4 US banks, as opposed to only EUR 58 bn for the 11 largest European banks. –  •  Solvency ratios have significantly improved in Europe, banks have retained earnings and increased capital through various ways (new equity issues, dividends paid in new shares);  •  With Tier 1 ratios comprised between 10% and almost 18% for the main European banks, they are equivalent to the range of 11%–16% of American banks. •  Regarding now the core Tier 1 ratios, which is the measure displayed by banks for the markets, they are also pretty equivalent. Again, with ratios ranging between 8.5% and 15.3%, the main European banks are as solid as US banks (with ratios between 8.4% and 13.3%). Secondly, the differences in the leverage ratios levels mainly result from accounting discrepancies that can lead to particularly misleading comparisons: •  If we observe the leverage multiples, it is true that the figures displayed by US banks (between 10% and 14%) are lower than those of most of European banks. For the latter, the range is much wider (between 15% and 25%). •  But we all know that the measurement of the leverage ratios is significantly impacted by different accounting treatments, the main differences between IFRS and US GAAP arising from the netting of derivatives and repos. •  The example of Deutsche Bank is a case in point to illustrate this impact.
Now, at the end of this exposition, it might be useful for me to tell you what is the assessment that the European Systemic Risk Board has expressed after its last meeting only two days ago:  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  Since its previous meeting on 22 June 2011, risks to the stability of the EU financial system have increased considerably. Key risks stem from potential further adverse feedback effects between sovereign risks, funding vulnerabilities with the EU banking sector, and a weakening growth outlook both at the global and the EU level. Over the past few months, sovereign stress had moved from smaller economies to some of the larger EU countries. Signs of stress are evident in many European government bond markets, while the high volatility in equity markets indicates that tensions have spread across capital markets around the world. The situation has been aggravated by the progressive drying-up of bank funding markets, and availability of US dollar funding to EU banks had also decreased significantly. In that context, central banks have decided on coordinated US dollar liquidity-providing operations with longer maturities. The high interconnectedness in the EU financial system has led to a rapidly rising risk of significant contagion. This is threatening financial stability in the EU as a whole and adversely impacts the real economy in Europe and beyond. Looking ahead, decisive and swift action is required from all authorities.

It comes at an appropriate time because four years after the crisis, global imbalances remain unsustainably high. The sum of the current account balance (in absolute terms) of the major economies are projected to remain close to 2.5% of world GDP in the next few years. This is less than their pre-crisis peak (over 3% of world GDP), but still twice as high as in the early 1990s, before the acceleration in financial and real globalization. It is now of foremost importance to implement the Framework effectively, and to fully live up to the expectations that the G20 process raised internationally. The G20 Cannes Summit will provide a litmus test. Multilateral surveillance of domestic policies of systemic countries to ensure their orientation towards medium term stability and sustainability is being strengthened in the IMF as well. The recently conducted first round of IMF spillover reports, the Consolidated Multilateral Surveillance Report to the IMFC and the current triennial review of IMF surveillance can be seen as useful steps towards a broader and more comprehensive framework. 3. Strengthening governance in the euro area  The need to strengthen discipline is understood strongly on our side of the Atlantic, so that the euro area can do its part in contributing to global stability. The earlier economic governance framework has proved to be insufficiently binding while lacking appropriate comprehensiveness.
But experiments conducted by both private firms and central banks must still prove that DLT can offer more benefits than existing technologies. Indeed, the potential advantages of DLT can also be obtained in other ways. Fast payment systems – such as the Eurosystem’s TIPS – prove that 24/7 instant payments do not require DLT. And questions about who can access central bank money for wholesale transactions, or which types of assets should be settled against central bank money, are unrelated to the technology used. Furthermore, automated and conditional payments can also be initiated through application programming interfaces (APIs). [7] Notably, there are initiatives that seek to improve wholesale transactions using conventional technologies. For example, interlinking existing systems could improve the efficiency of cross-currency transactions. [8] Where similar objectives could be achieved both with and without DLT, the costs and merits of each option should be compared before moving in either direction. And we need to consider the potential drawbacks of DLT. For example, the consensus mechanisms that some DLT networks use to validate transactions are inefficient, both from an environmental point of view – as they require large amounts of energy – and in terms of transaction speed and scalability. These concerns are most evident for permissionless[9] DLTs, such as bitcoin. Some permissioned DLTs are less energy-intensive but may still compare unfavourably to centralised infrastructures. Importantly, the governance of major DLT technologies and  networks is dominated by actors who are either unknown or based outside Europe, which raises concerns about strategic autonomy.

This potential is further supported by a survey conducted in 2004 which I believe remains relevant. The survey revealed that customers, despite the availability of banks' virtual network, prefer to visit branches to conduct their dealings; there is a high level of confidence and trust generally placed by the public in banks; and the strong preference among consumers for insurance products with a high savings content that enhances the complementary elements of insurance and banking products. This development provides significant competitive advantages for financial institutions and insurance companies which have partnered and adopted an integrated approach to market their financial products by leveraging significantly on the banking network. With close to 3200 bank branches located throughout the country, the banks' customer base constitutes a significant market potential. Furthermore, the insurance and takaful penetration ratio is currently only at 44% of the Malaysian population. In this regard, there is huge potential that is left remaining untapped. Despite the tremendous benefits that can be reaped from bancassurance, this opportunity, however, has not yet been fully harnessed. To date, an estimate of only less than 8% of Malaysian banking customers have relationships that include insurance products and services. Even though growth of bancassurance registered an encouraging trend, it is only driven by a small number of banking groups.
Let me focus in the minutes I have at my disposal on several economic issues. Our debate is so more important for it takes place at a time of some economic slowdown all over Europe and of an erosion of multilateralism, of spreading trade conflicts. The prospect of a hard Brexit is very annoying for all of us and I still very much hope that such a denouement would be avoided. Likewise, it is high time to strike a deal on the Multiannual Financial Framework so that the great challenges the Union is facing (protection of borders, cyber fare, climate change, conflicts in near and more remote neighborhoods, etc.) find proper conciliation with the need to preserve the cohesion of the Union and avoid further fragmentation. I also trust that EU leaders will find the right balance to address key institutional and policy related weaknesses of the Euro area. I mention this, for Romania, like other Non-member States, is bound by EU accession treaties to join the single currency area eventually. And hopefully, this will happen in the not too distant future. In this regard I wish to mention that two major documents on Romania’s path to the Euro area (an analytical report and a Plan of action) have been recently completed and have been subjected to the scrutiny and approval of the political parties and the Parliament. I was one of the vice-chairs of the National Commission which guided the completion of the two documents.

Ardo Hansson: Celebrating the tenth anniversary of Estonia’s accession to NATO and EU Opening speech for Europe Day by Mr Ardo Hansson, Governor of the Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank), at the Seminar on the impact of the European Union on Estonia, Eesti Pank, Tallinn, 9 May 2014. *  *  *  Today we are celebrating Europe Day. We have just passed the tenth anniversary of Estonia’s accession to the European Union, though the move towards Europe had started when the country regained its independence and linked the Estonian kroon to the German mark. To people in Estonia, being part of Europe means democracy, freedom, security and well-being. Closer integration with the European Union has been driven by the desire to ensure that these benefits are maintained. These core European values remain more in the background in our everyday life as we take them for granted, but events in Ukraine have given a sharp reminder of their importance. Accession to the EU has increased Estonia’s influence on the world. Estonia’s voice is heard better in Europe than ever before and Estonia is involved in setting the joint economic policy of Europe and the euro area. This gives us the power to affect processes ourselves, and the responsibility to do our work as well as possible and to answer for the results. As the central bank of the Republic of Estonia and a member of the Eurosystem, Eesti Pank has also contributed to the sustainable development and increased prosperity of the Estonian economy.
Navigating the economy through the Covid crisis Speech given by Dave Ramsden, Deputy Governor for Markets & Banking  The Strand Group, King’s Business School 14 July 2021  With thanks to Tom Smith and Michael Yoganayagam for their assistance in preparing these remarks, and to numerous colleagues, including Saba Alam, Andrew Bailey, Nick Bate, Max English, Greg Kidd, Andrew Hauser, Maggie Illingworth, Sarah Illingworth, Sean Maloney, Alex Rattan, Andrea Rosen, Michael Saunders, Fergal Shortall and Silvana Tenreyro, for their many helpful contributions. 1  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/speeches and @BoE_PressOffice  Introduction It’s very good to be back speaking at this 51st Strand Group event and in my role as a Visiting Professor at King’s. This is the third Strand Group event I’ve spoken at but my first time speaking to you virtually. I’ve been involved in forecasting throughout my career, both in my current role as a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member and in my previous civil service career at HM Treasury.1 Outside of work I’m also a keen mountain walker – most recently being lucky enough to spend some time on the Isle of Skye – and it’s hard not to see parallels between the two activities. Forecasts act as a map for policymakers of where the economy is heading, showing what adjustments to the current path are needed to avoid impending hazards and ensure they safely reach their policy objectives.

We cannot answer all of these questions in a year – so an early priority, with your help, will be to identify the most pertinent areas to focus on. The third theme of the blueprint is access. Access to a settlement account in RTGS is currently open to any bank, building society, broker-dealer or CCP that holds a Bank of England reserves account or any financial market infrastructure whose participation is judged by the Bank to be enhancing to financial stability. 11 Compared with similar systems in other major jurisdictions, access to RTGS is relatively highly “tiered”: almost 90% of the roughly 400 licensed banks and smaller banks choose to settle indirectly through a correspondent bank. In order to enhance financial stability by reducing dependencies between large banks and smaller banks, the Bank of England and CHAPS Co undertook a de-tiering initiative which has resulted in a greater number of banks having direct access to RTGS. There is a question about whether we should go further and encourage or require a much larger number of banks to become direct members of major UK payment systems and have an RTGS settlement account, in order to spread the settlement risk benefits of RTGS more widely. The emergence of a new breed of on-bank payments service providers, regulated by the FCA, has extended that debate further, since it is currently a requirement of a number of retail systems – in particular FPS and Bacs – that direct participants should have a settlement account at the Bank.
Assume, again for simplicity, that males also have higher levels of educational attainment than females. This means that, for compositional reasons, we would also expect males to earn more than females. , is  and  The gap between male and female wages, (2) where  and  are vectors of explanatory variables evaluated at their means for males and  females, respectively. The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition allows us to split up the overall gap into the part that is attributable to (i) differences in x's (the so-called “accounted for” component capturing compositional differences) and (ii) differences in the β's (the “unaccounted for” component reflecting the greater impact of a given factor on males versus females). In other words, the wage gap between the two groups can be expressed as: ∆  (3) where  ∆  and ∆  ∆  In this way, we can split the gender pay gap into a part that can be accounted for by females having different characteristics (x's) than males, and a part resulting from females being treated differentially to males given those characteristics (β's). This expression can be further rewritten as (4), which compares the regressions coefficients to their hypothetical value in a world of no labour market discrimination. ∗  ∆  (4)  where  ∆  ∗  and  ∗  22  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  22  We use an extensive list of factors or characteristics, x, to help explain pay gaps.

It is indispensable that households with minimum income to access and benefit the basic banking products, such as current accounts. The Bank of Albania, through legal and institutional changes has provided the possibility that households benefit these basic financial products at a low or no cost at all. As a result, cheaper and swifter alternatives, which compete with the existing financial products, will be available. At the same time, companies that will enter into these new markets will have better possibilities of profit. Education is the sole costs to know and benefit from these products. In this regard, the Bank of Albania remains the main actor for the spread and implementation of the national financial education and inclusion strategies. In this framework, the Bank of Albania is working with national and international important partners, the World Bank and EBRD. Their long experience shows that the correction and reduction of social and economic disparities is a difficult commitment, which takes time. Nevertheless, enhancing financial literacy, by spreading knowledges such are: budget drafting; its effective management; knowing risks and avoiding wrong investments; may affect the mitigation of wounds that these turbulences brings into the life of poor people, and of course to everyone; to the whole society and population and the financial situation that the moment brings about. Turning back to the launching of the Global Money Week 2022, I am glad to see the ever increasing interest of youths, their teachers and professors in our educational activities.
Conclusions In the pursuit of financial stability, the importance of resilience can hardly be overstated: a persistent disruption to people’s ability to make and receive payments would cause great damage to the UK economy, so Parliament and others rightly hold the Bank and the wider  6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  financial community to the highest standards of stability. It is sometimes claimed that this relentless focus on stability makes central banks the enemies of innovation, and defenders of the status quo. I believe that is a fallacy. Innovation and stability can go hand in hand, as some of the history of payment systems has shown. The innovation of meeting in the Five Bells every lunchtime reduced the risk that Walk Clerks would lose track of their notes and coins while trooping from one bank to another around the streets of the City of London. The move to a central ledger at the Bank of England removed the need for notes and coins to be exchanged between banks at all. The advent of RTGS removed the risk that a bank would fail before it made a promised payment. More recent reforms have reduced liquidity risk in RTGS and extended access and hours of service. Our challenge will be to navigate a path that redesigns RTGS in such a way that its resilience is further enhanced, while at the same time enabling innovation for the public good. Thank you.

Our aim is that by the end of 2016 we will have agreed a blueprint for high-value sterling settlement in the years ahead, with technological development of that blueprint beginning in 2017. To reach that deadline, there is a great deal to do – and we cannot do it on our own. In the first part of 2016 we will be seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders, both in the industry and outside it, to help define the questions and ensure we have identified the right options. We will be looking overseas to learn what we can from similar exercises conducted in other jurisdictions. Later in the year we expect to consult formally and in public on a focussed set of alternative ways forward. Throughout that process, we will need your help and guidance – to ensure we understand how the future payments landscape is likely to develop, to identify the needs of market participants, and to provide practical guidance and assistance. At a time when firms face many competing initiatives, we understand the importance of minimising uncertainty, and providing rigorous costings for what we propose. Throughout the year and beyond, we will work closely with the industry, our supervisory colleagues at the Bank of England, the Payment Systems Regulator and its Payments Strategy Forum, HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority to develop a blueprint with the broadest possible buy-in.