samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Basel II principles require all banks to address all risks, such as credit risks, market risks, operational risks and others. The principles envisage that banks should have in place systems that would help identify, measure, monitor and make provisions for such risks. The domestic banks are aware of the importance that the application of the new standard should coincide with concentration on risk management in keeping with the best global practices by using the best technological solutions. Reviewing the topics of this Symposium and the quality of its speakers, I see that it broadly covers aspects and all types of applications of banking risk management as Basel II principles seek to highlight and address. In conclusion, I express my deep thanks to the audience and the organizers of this symposium, and we look forward to having positive contributions and outstanding papers, wishing you all success. Al Salumu Alaikum Warahmatu Allahi Wabarakatuh. IS Review 125/2006  1

This growth was mainly driven by expansions in the transport, storage and communications;  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  construction; community, social and personal services; financial institutions and insurance as well as manufacturing sectors. In line with the expansion in real GDP, per capita GDP has increased from 332 US Dollars in 2000, to 655 US Dollars in 2005 and 1,784 US Dollars in 2013. We are, however, alive to the fact that more growth is required in order to have a lasting dent on high poverty levels and even more important, there is need to do more to make growth more inclusive and equitably distributed among the citizens of our country. Distinguished Participants, to ensure sustainable economic growth, the Government has been pursuing appropriate macro-economic policies. To this effect, inflation has declined from the double digits of the early 2000s to single digit levels as recorded in recent years. Annual inflation slowed down to 7.1% in December 2013 from 7.3 in December 2012, although it was 1.1 percentage points above the end-year target of 6%. This outturn reflected higher non-food inflation which was moderated by lower food inflation. Higher non-food inflation was largely due to higher fuel prices, coupled with pass-through effects of the depreciation of the Kwacha against the US dollar. During the first four months of 2014 inflation rose to 7.3%, 7.6%, 7.7%, and 7.8% in January, February, March, and April, respectively.
To do this, supervisors need to continue to leverage our cross-firm, horizontal perspective to better understand how the industry is evolving and what it might mean for our objectives around safety and soundness of individual firms and the efficient provision of financial services for the economy as whole. 1 I would like to thank Nicola Cetorelli, Bev Hirtle, Michael Holscher, Anna Kovner, Paul Licari, Jackie McCormack,  Siobhan Sanders, Joao Santos, Katherine TilghmanHill, and James Vickery for helpful discussions and analytical work. 2 See Getting It Right: Factors for Tailoring Supervision and Regulation of Large Financial Institutions, Randal K.  Quarles, July 18, 2018. 3 See Lessons from the Financial Crisis, William C. Dudley, November 6, 2017, for reviews from a regulatory  perspective; Early Observations on Improving the Effectiveness of Post-Crisis Regulation, Randal K. Quarles, January 19, 2018. 4  Federal Reserve Board, Consolidated Supervision Framework for Large Financial Institutions, December 17, 2012. 5 The latest CCAR results can be found at www.federalreserve.gov/supervisionreg/ccar.htm.

Three reasons for delay, and four reasons for hope So why have these two major European projects struggled to get off the ground fully six years after they were launched? After a strong initial impulse which quickly gave birth to an effective first pillar – supervision –, the Banking Union has been on hold for several years due to lengthy and not very productive discussions, in particular on the third pillar (deposit insurance scheme). When it comes to the CMU, its first action plan back in September 2015 had already identified a number of improvements that are still valid today; its main weakness was not in its content but in the lack of implementation. Let me start with three bad reasons for that. A first explanation would be that Europe only moves forward in times of crisis. This is partly true: the Banking Union and the CMU are two examples of 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  initiatives taken in the aftermath of the financial and sovereign debt crises. Yet we should not wait complacently until the next crisis to act; it is precisely because we are not in an acute crisis situation that we should move forward now. Second, both initiatives can be described as arid and technical. This is not an issue in itself; we are accustomed to complex topics. But here we may have created a maze of technical and interconnected sub-topics, and lost sight of their original political purpose.
12  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Chart 13:  Chart 14:  Corporate financial surplus(a)  Percentage of firms with interest payments greater than profits(a)(b)  Per cent 10  United Kingdom United States Euro area  Per cent 60  Firms with turnover > £ million  8  Firms with turnover < £ million  6  Real estate firms with turnover > £ million  50  4 2 + 0 2  40  4  20  30  6 10  8 10 00  02  04  06  08  10  Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream, ECB and Bank calculations. (a) Per cent of GDP except Euro area which is as a per cent of GVA. 0 90  92  94  96  98  00  02  04  06  08  Sources: Bureau Van Dijk and Bank calculations. (a) Percentage of companies in each category with interest payments greater than their profits before interest. (b) Data include firms reporting turnover, profit and interest paid. These firms may not be representative of the population. Total sample size varies over time, ranging from around 14,000 in 1990 to over 90,000 in 2000. Changes in the composition of the data set may reduce comparability over time. Subsidiaries, as identified from company structures, are excluded. Company accounts are assigned to calendar years according to the statement date.

In particular, mashing together diverse data sets offers the possibility of new types of insights. New software algorithms crunch the enlarged Big Data sets to make more reliable predictions on repayment and hence improve performance of loan portfolios. •  For example, a lender to small businesses requires access to the company’s bank and credit card accounts, to constantly monitor the company’s cash flow and hence ability to repay the loan. Application programming interfaces Despite the greater availability of data and the possibilities for harnessing this data opened by technology, financial institutions continue to face challenges on the data front. •  More data means more cost. •  While technology has significantly reduced the unit costs of data gathering, it has ironically also raised the potential total cost of data by opening more possibilities for data mining and analysis. One way to improve access to data without raising costs significantly would be for the industry to pool relevant data together. •  The benefits of aggregating data across the industry can be seen from our experience with the credit bureau, which has allowed banks to make better credit underwriting decisions. •  However, concerns over confidentiality and market sensitivity have held back data sharing among financial institutions and restricted public access to data. One effective way to achieve seamless data sharing is through the publication of open Application Programming Interfaces, or APIs, by financial institutions for data submission.
This is a simple point, but quite often overlooked, that is during the meeting, the Chairman should always try to create an atmosphere conducive for independent participation of all Board members. It is also much more effective if the positions of Chairman and CEO are not held by one and the same person. If one individual performs both roles simultaneously, then other Board members cannot fully perform their duties of providing a check-and-balance. This is inevitable in the context of our culture which tries to avoid being disrespectful to others. Moreover, if the CEO acts as Chairman, he can easily influence the agenda and delay bringing certain issues to the attention of the Board. Eighth, on the appointment of an independent director, an independent director should not conduct any business relating to banking operations. By doing so, it may give rise to the problem of conflict of interests. An independent director should be one who is willing to stake out an independent view honestly. However, to expect a suitable individual to have no business background or business connection at all may be somewhat too ambitious. Such requirement will screen out individuals with understanding of banking businesses to assume the duty of bank directors. The requirement about business affiliation is merely a broad and general guideline. All in all, I want to focus on certain qualities which are more imperative to achieving good governance.

This year should mark the historic new chapter for the nation’s payment system, where we would see the transfer of the  BIS Review 25/2006  1  payments operation function from the Bank of Thailand to the private sector. This would provide greater flexibility for the system to adapt to the fast changing modern payments system development. Moreover, the recent announcement by the Thai Bankers Association of a major reform in the price structure of various payment media, including cheques, provides an important milestone towards a more efficient payment services. The move reflects a pricing based on the cost of various means of payments which would quickly eliminate inefficiency and costs to commercial banks. Another major achievement that calls for celebration is the significant reduction in the NPL last year. Thai banks have succeeded in bringing NPL down from 556,998 million baht, or 11.82 percent of total loans at the end of 2004, to 461,439 million baht, or 9.05 percent of total loans at the end of last year. In all, the NPL was brought down by a net amount of 95,559 million baht, the largest such decline since 2001, as a consequence of the recovery of the economy and improvement in business conditions. I am confident that this year will see an even more decline in NPL than last year. Moreover, the Financial Institution Development Fund has just completed the merging of Bangkok Asset Management Company, or BAM, with Asset Management Corporation or AMC.
Denis Beau: For a contribution from our FinTech ecosystem to a more efficient and stable financial system Speech by Mr Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of France, at the Fintech R:evolution 2020, Paris, 15 October 2020. * * * Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to take part in this 5th edition of Fintech R:evolution and I would like to warmly thank the France Fintech association and its chairman Alain Clot for their invitation to speak today. This event, organised against the backdrop of the ongoing health crisis, is proof of the drive, determination and adaptability not only of the organising association, France FinTech, but also of the entire innovative French ecosystem of the financial sector, which is now represented here as widely as possible. The French FinTech ecosystem, like any ecosystem made up of start-ups, is fragile but it is promising and, I believe, vital to the financial sector. The economic crisis associated with the health crisis highlights these contrasting characteristics: on the one hand, start-ups may be weakened or innovative projects delayed by the economic situation; and on the other hand, the health crisis has accelerated the adoption of new digital habits by the entire population. More generally, 2020 has only served to underscore the challenges facing the financial ecosystem as a whole as a result of the digitisation of our economy.

I would also like to stress here that the two points for attention I have just mentioned do not, in my view, overshadow any of the following: the many other initiatives announced in the action plan, the work to facilitate remote access and promote an interoperable digital identity, the provisions on cybersecurity, or the forthcoming discussions on artificial intelligence or data sharing in financial services - open finance after open banking. The message that I think is important today is the following: the stakes of this action plan on the financial sector are high and it will have a major impact on the innovative ecosystems of the French and European financial sectors. That is why the Banque de France and the ACPRwill be particularly attentive, in the coming weeks and months, to your feedback, suggestions and 3/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  questions on this “digital finance package", which is closely in line with the rationale of the ecosystem that I have just outlined. In other words, we have the opportunity to demonstrate today that the discussions held in recent years between the Banque de France, the different players in the innovative financial ecosystem and other supervisory authorities, the relationships of trust established between us, the complementary expertise, the shared experiments and knowledge, have a concrete and tangible effect: that of further strengthening the dynamics of an ecosystem that is destined to count in the future of the European financial sector. * Thank you for your attention. 4/4  BIS central bankers' speeches
However, substantial cross-country differences persist in this area, with unemployment levels ranging from below 4% in Germany to 20% in Greece. The favourable financing conditions associated with the extraordinary monetary policy measures implemented by the Eurosystem have no doubt been one of the essential determinants behind the economic recovery transforming into a vigorous expansion. To illustrate this, the estimates made by the Banco de España suggest that the monetary policy measures contribute to accounting for practically half the euro area economy’s observed nominal growth since mid-2014. Adding to this is the greater buoyancy of world trade, which recouped growth rates not observed in the five previous years. This result reflects the favourable cyclical juncture at which many advanced and emerging economies now stand, but also a true recovery in the sensitivity of trade to global growth, despite the protectionist threats that have emerged and that may put a brake on this fundamental engine for economies as open as the European ones are. The strength of exports has contributed notably to sustaining the greater buoyancy of the aforementioned investment. Another factor contributing to the expansion has been the headway in the ongoing deleveraging that households and firms have had to undertake. Currently, in the area as a whole, household and corporate debt is drawing closer to observed pre-crisis levels, with a greater correction in the more vulnerable countries being discernible. Fiscal policy, too, retains at present a more neutral stance, following the public finances consolidation process pursued.

However, we are still far from attaining the employment levels prior to 2008. The second notable feature is that our recovery, which has been intense and prolonged, is proving compatible with the correction of the imbalances that emerged in the years running up to the crisis; in particular, it is proving compatible with the maintenance of a substantially positive external balance. 4/6  In 2017 we posted a current account balance of around 2% of GDP, a figure not far removed from that observed in the four preceding years. Admittedly, transitory or temporary factors – such as low oil prices and low interest rates, for instance – have exerted an influence on this surplus; but largely it is due to gains in external competitiveness and also to the reduction in the economy’s financing costs, a development in which the Eurosystem’s monetary policy has played a crucial role, as have the structural reforms made since 2011. Outlook On the latest Banco de España projections, which we published last December, the current upturn may be prolonged over the coming years with significant growth in activity and employment, albeit at lower rates than those observed in the last three years. This moderation in the increase in activity would be firstly attributable to the lesser momentum of demand-side policies. Specifically, we expect the impulse derived from fiscal and monetary policy to be lower, as well as lower growth of private consumption compared with that in recent years.
While actions taken by governments and financial authorities have helped to stem the sharp deterioration, the road to full economic recovery is likely to be bumpy. While the crisis is painful, there are several silver linings. This Summit, with its theme of “The Future of Islamic Financial Services” provides a timely opportunity for us to reflect on the shortcomings in economic and financial models, and in our supervisory approaches. By drawing the right lessons, we can build the foundation for a better future. Allow me to share some reflections on the future shape of economic linkages and financial services, as well as the supervisory approach. Economic linkages First, the crisis shows that while the idea of the “de-coupling” of Asian economies from the rest of the world was premature, the structural trend of a dynamic Asia remains. I should clarify that in this speech, my reference to Asia includes the Middle East. Even for 2009, while the World Bank has trimmed its growth forecasts for Asia, 1 this remains the faster growing region in the world. 2 When global growth resumes, developed economies will remain important markets. But the significant deleveraging and the repair of balance sheets are likely to dampen growth prospects for some time. Asia has entered this crisis with less baggage. But this crisis will  1  World Bank East Asia and Pacific Update, “Battling the Forces of Global Recession”, April 2009.

But even if this were the case, it would not automatically lead to the conclusion that macroprudential tools are significantly more effective. Some of the tools are new, some have been around for a while but used partly for other purposes. The practical experiences gained so far are thus fairly limited and it is difficult to draw any conclusions from them. It is therefore natural that a number of questions should be raised as to how effective macroprudential policy will be in practice and whether it may need support from monetary policy.15 Uncomfortable measures may be difficult to implement One question concerns their feasibility – will measures be taken in time, or even at all? Some of the macroprudential policy measures have a direct impact on households’ finances, similar to fiscal policy measures. They can be perceived to create relatively major changes in the  14  As Narayana Kocherlakota, the President of the US Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, has put it, monetary policy needs to deal with the “residual risk” that remains. See Kocherlakota (2013, 2014). 15  Critical discussions on the effectiveness of macroprudential policy tools and the implications for monetary policy can be found, for instance, in White (2009, 2013), Mishkin (2011), Borio (2011a), Blanchard, Dell’Ariccia and Mauro (2013), IMF (2013) and Davies (2014). BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  economic playing-field and thus risk obtaining little acceptance from households, which could make it difficult to implement such measures.
For instance, •  Shareholders – through the active and informed exercise of shareholder rights;  •  Depositors and other customers – by not conducting business with banks that are operated in an unsound manner;  •  Auditors – through a well-established and qualified audit profession, audit standards and communications to boards of directors, senior management and supervisors;  •  Banking industry associations – through initiatives related to voluntary industry principles and agreement on and publication of sound practices;  •  Professional risk advisory firms and consultancies – through assisting banks in implementing sound Corporate Governance practices;  •  Governments – through laws, regulations, enforcement and an effective judicial framework;  •  Credit rating agencies – through review and assessment of the impact of Corporate Governance practices on a bank’s risk profile;  •  Securities regulators, stock exchanges and other self-regulatory organizations – through disclosure and listing requirements; and  •  Employees – through communication of concerns regarding illegal or unethical practices or other Corporate Governance weaknesses. In a broader sense, mandating the banks and financial institutions to adhere to full disclosures of their operations would not only allow the markets, investors, depositors and others to keep a close watch on the financial institutions, but also provide an opportunity for other regulators also to be closely involved in supervising these institutions. For example, listed banks and financial institutions are not only under the supervisory arm of the Central Banks, but also the Securities & Exchange Commissions.

However, the Basel Committee goes further and describes the role of supervisors in Corporate Governance by adding new parameters as well. These are: •  Supervisors should provide guidance to banks on sound Corporate Governance and the proactive practices that should be in place. •  Supervisors should consider Corporate Governance as one element of depositor protection. •  Supervisors should determine whether the bank has adopted and effectively implemented sound Corporate Governance policies and practices. •  Supervisors should assess the quality of banks’ audit and control functions. •  Supervisors should evaluate the effects of the bank’s group structure. •  Supervisors should bring to the board of directors’ and management’s attention, problems that they detect through their supervisory efforts. According to Basel recommendations, Corporate Governance should be promoted by other stakeholders as well.