samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Companies should think carefully where they wish to position themselves in the long term and have a clear plan on how to get there. There might be companies that may aspire to grow and be major providers in their own lines of business. There might also be companies that want to position themselves as a complete solution providers or becoming principals with large agent networks. And then, there are companies that have been very successful as agents, building strong partnerships with their principals while keeping operating costs low. In fact, our engagements with the industry reveal that many agents are doing better than before in terms of business flows and profits. The regulatory framework in Malaysia is specifically tailored to accommodate all these options, supported by operating guidelines that is efficient and proportionate to risk. A company that takes on more risk and business responsibility must be prepared to meet the higher requirements that reflect the scope and levels of complexity of the business, including  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  the kind of management team that needs to be in place, the board’s profile and level of engagement and their ability to provide strategic leadership to the company. Companies also need to consider changes to processes as well, as investments in critical systems is important to support operations over the long term. Most importantly, there must be a clear strategy of execution and an honest assessment of the company’s ability to implement such a plan.

The industry needs to reduce the level of foreign employment which remains relatively high at present at more than 10% of the industry total workforce. We will therefore be engaging with companies to reduce the level of foreign employment to no more than 5% by the end of this year and to less than 3% by the end of 2016. Accreditation for compliance officers In the area of talent development, the industry should take the next step of introducing professional certification and accreditation programmes for relevant key personnel. This initiative will signal the strong commitment by the industry players to uphold their professional standards consistent with the Code of Conduct, and sends a clear message that this industry takes, professionalism seriously. The global scrutiny on measures aimed at countering money laundering and terrorism financing risks has heightened. The importance of having in place strong AML/CFT (antimoney laundering and counter terrorism financing), to safeguards against such risks is given. Immediate attention to developing and providing an accreditation programme for the compliance officers becomes critical. I am optimistic that an accreditation programme for compliance officers can be introduced by the industry by the end of the year. An accreditation program will also tie in well with plans being considered by the Bank to introduce an approval framework for compliance officers for the industry. This program should enable companies to appoint compliance officers who have the necessary skills and knowledge of regulatory requirements to perform their role effectively.
The retrenchment of companies was also evident in the labour market as firms laid off employees, reduced working hours and bore down on earnings. Wage freezes became commonplace. Similarly, households pulled back sharply on their spending and increased their savings. This retrenchment by households was partially driven by the slowing in earnings growth and the fall in asset prices. But it was amplified by the pronounced rise in fears of unemployment and the increased uncertainty about the economic outlook. BIS Review 159/2009  1  Risk of vicious downward spiral The fall in households’ and firms’ confidence proved mutually reinforcing and, to some extent, self-fulfilling: both households and firms expected conditions to weaken sharply and both cut back on spending. The contraction in consumer expenditure helped to validate firms’ concerns about future demand. Likewise, the falls in employment and squeeze on incomes reinforced households’ fears about future earnings prospects. And the worsening economic environment in turn exacerbated the weakness of the banking system. As the quality of banks’ loan books deteriorated, the supply of bank credit tightened even further. Individually, this pulling back on the part of households, firms and banks made sense. But, collectively, it threatened a vicious downward spiral: the fact that each part of the economy was retrenching at the same time risked a collapse of aggregate spending in the economy. In turn, this raised the spectre of price deflation and all its associated ills. Policy response In such situations, it falls to policy to break the ensuing vicious cycle.

However, you may have noticed that there was a split vote amongst the Committee last month, and that I voted to maintain the scale of the asset purchase programme at £ billion. 4  BIS Review 159/2009  It is important not to make too much of this difference. I fully recognised the potential benefits of a more expansionary policy given the downside risks to the economy. However, I was also wary of the potential risks of such a policy. My main concern reflected the considerable uncertainty about the degree of spare capacity in the economy and the behaviour of inflation when output is growing at above trend rates. These uncertainties are always present, but come to the fore in situations like the current environment in which there is a very substantial degree of economic slack. In order to keep inflation on track to hit the inflation target this slack needs to be eliminated. However, given the uncertainties about the precise margin of spare capacity and the behaviour of inflation as this spare capacity is being closed, my preference was to aim to grow the economy a little less rapidly. I was also concerned that further substantial injections of liquidity might result in unwarranted increases in some asset prices. I should stress that I do not think there is any strong evidence to suggest that any of the increases in asset prices seen to date are out of line with the improving economic outlook and the desired impact of our asset purchase programme.
The bill states that banks will have an obligation to accept cash from customers and make deposits available to customers in the form of cash. This is a further specification of banks’ responsibility for cash handling. The bill also gives banks the freedom to choose how services are to be organised, as long as they are able to meet customer demand. Conclusion Let me sum up: The Norwegian payment system is efficient and up-to-date. It gives the nation a competitive advantage over many other countries. The owners must have management systems that enable them to have sound control of operations. The owners’ responsibility also includes backup solutions. This responsibility does not change if all or parts of operations are managed by others. Payments can become cheaper, faster and more user-friendly than they are at present. Banks should price payments so that they achieve acceptable earnings and promote profitable investments. This will also serve the interest of customers. It is of benefit to us, as a society, that banks and other operators are now investing in secure and forward-looking solutions. The aim must be to remain at the forefront of international developments. There is growing urgency to put in place new solutions. In this respect, the system owners – the banks – have collective interests that go beyond pure private financial considerations of the individual bank. Thank you for your attention. 6  BIS central bankers’ speeches

That is, once markets and credit risk agencies price climate risks properly, the amount of collateralised borrowing counterparties can obtain from the ECB will be adjusted accordingly. We have also joined the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System. ECB staff are contributing in all three work streams. My presence here today emphasises that we take our membership seriously. The Network will play an important role in coordinating work among central banks and in defining and promoting best practices. Finally, we are also supporting work on sustainable finance-related topics at the level of the G20. Central bank asset portfolios differ in their ability to support sustainable investment The second step relates to incorporating these best practices into our own activities. Most central banks typically own and manage three different types of asset portfolios: one dedicated to pension funds, a second related to the central bank’s own funds, and a third covering foreign exchange reserves. More recently, some central banks, including the ECB, have also built up separate monetary policy portfolios, resulting from the need to preserve price stability when the room for manoeuvre with conventional policy instruments had become constrained. Not all of these portfolios are, however, equally suited to promoting green finance. For our pension fund portfolio, we have already taken concrete steps. The broad investment universe and longer-term investment horizon allow us to pursue a sustainable investment policy based on selective exclusion and proxy voting guidelines.
Behavioural, cultural and ethical norms, are likely as a consequence, to assume more importance in defining the boundaries within which management will make such judgements. As institutions become larger and more complex, boards themselves must also have the ability and confidence to assess the nature of the risks to the financial institution’s strategic plan and business direction. This will entail behavioural and cultural changes within the boardroom that will involve changes to the board dynamics and the ability to effectively harness the collective knowledge and expertise of the board. It will involve the courage to break away from the status quos that promotes “group think” over diversity. Developments in supervisory approaches will also reinforce this trend. The bar on corporate governance continues to be raised through more intensive supervision that focuses on board effectiveness. Supervisors are increasingly looking for evidence of a mix of technical and strategic competencies on the board that will support meaningful engagements both within the board, and between the board and management. Assessments are also made on whether boards function in a manner that promotes independence of judgement, and the extent to which boards are able to define the acceptable risk appetite for the institution and to oversee its translation into appropriate policies and behavioural norms. Following the Asian financial crisis, strengthening the governance of financial institutions was a key priority which culminated in a number of regulatory reforms that established the framework of governance practices that exist today.

A couple of years ago, partly in response to some academic debate on the subject, the HKMA did in fact examine the case for the Exchange Fund to write currency options. We concluded as follows: "… the writing of currency options by the HKMA appeared to be technically feasible and might be consistent with currency board principles if properly designed ….. In theory at least, the writing of currency options by a central bank could be a useful tool in helping to stabilise exchange markets under certain conditions …. However, … the theoretical benefits seemed to be outweighed by the disadvantages … [including] the complications that the writing of options would bring to the currency board system, and the possibility of negative perceptions that the HKMA was engaging in risky activities or lacked the means to support the currency board system in the spot 2 market." The feasibility and advisability of using derivatives as a monetary instrument are subjects which have been debated over the years by academics and policymakers, and a few countries have relevant experiences to tell. A number of points seem worth making. First, in most instances, if you are confident in your monetary policy you should probably be up front in supporting it by your actions. If you don't possess sufficient resources for that support, you should certainly think twice before leveraging yourself in derivatives, even if it can be demonstrated that such a strategy might, if successful, be profitable - for the potential downside could be considerable.
Finally, in the case of the leverage ratio and the NSFR it is too early to say whether the minimum requirements in Basel III are enough for Sweden or not. As yet, the Basel Committee has not decided on a quantitative requirement for the leverage ratio and it is therefore not possible to determine today how a Swedish requirement should relate to the international requirement. With regard to the NSFR, the Riksbank has recommended the major Swedish banks to extend the maturity of their funding in order to be able to reach the NSFR once it is in place. The revised proposal for the NSFR means that the reference point for this recommendation has moved somewhat. However, irrespective of the technical design of the NSFR, the large Swedish banks need to extend the maturity of their funding. What the appropriate levels for the Swedish banks’ leverage ratios and NSFRs are, and thus whether the Riksbank needs to work for the introduction of higher levels than those that will apply internationally, are questions that we will need to consider carefully and return to in the period ahead. The Basel regulations provide a good foundation, but more may be needed I hope that I have now succeeded in giving you a better insight into the work of the Basel Committee and my view of its importance to Sweden. The Committee has recently taken important steps towards finalising Basel III and hopefully a complete regulatory framework will be available at the end of 2014.

BIS central bankers’ speeches  5  But the structure of the Swedish banking system calls for greater safety margins Although the new regulatory framework will strengthen resilience in several ways there are structural vulnerabilities in the Swedish banking system that mean that the safety margins provided by the Basel III framework are not enough in all respects. As every country’s financial system and banking system are unique and have their own special characteristics and vulnerabilities, the basis of the Basel frameworks is that the regulations are minimum requirements. Countries that believe it is necessary to set stricter requirements can and should do so. In my opinion, the size and high degree of concentration of the Swedish banking sector, as well as the banks’ extensive dependence on both foreign and domestic market funding, create vulnerabilities that justify complementing the internationally-agreed frameworks. The high and growing indebtedness of the Swedish households poses further risks to the financial system. All-in-all, this justifies Sweden taking action sooner and having stricter regulations in certain respects. On the basis of several of these factors, the Riksbank has recommended, together with Finansinspektionen and the Ministry of Finance, that from 1 January next year the major Swedish banks should have CET 1 capital ratios of at least 12 per cent. This is significantly higher than the requirement in the Basel III framework. Several other countries with large banking systems have for similar reasons introduced or are discussing higher capital requirements for their banks. Two closely-related examples are Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
In its statement, the FOMC said that it may vary the pace of purchases as economic conditions evolve. As Chairman Bernanke stated in his press conference following the FOMC meeting, if the economic data over the next year turn out to be broadly consistent with the outlooks that the FOMC sees as most likely, which are roughly similar to the outlook I have already laid out, the FOMC anticipates that it would be appropriate to begin to moderate the pace of purchases later this year. Under such a scenario, subsequent reductions might occur in measured steps through the first half of next year, and an end to purchases around mid2014. Under this scenario, at the time that asset purchases came to an end, the unemployment rate likely would be near 7 percent and the economy’s momentum strengthening, supporting further robust job gains in the future. Here, a few points deserve emphasis. First, the FOMC’s policy depends on the progress we make towards our objectives. This means that the policy – including the pace of asset purchases – depends on the outlook rather than the calendar. The scenario I outlined above is only that – one possible outcome. Economic circumstances could diverge significantly from the FOMC’s expectations. If labor market conditions and the economy’s growth momentum were to be less favorable than in the FOMC’s outlook – and this is what has happened in recent years – I would expect that the asset purchases would continue at a higher pace for longer.

The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) recognizes that the limited access to financial services and low number of products available to the different sectors of the economy has hindered the development potential of Zambia’s economy. There is need therefore, to revitalize the financial sector so that it meets the challenges of accelerated and sustained investments in key sectors of the economy. Recent developments in the financial sector world-wide offer some encouragement that working together could extend the range and reach of financial services that are available to our people. Still a lot remains to be done to extend financial services to the majority of our people and foster ongoing sustainability of our financial institutions. It is against this  BIS Review 131/2008  1  background that Bank of Zambia found it necessary to hold this Conference to deliberate on the topical concept of Islamic Banking under the theme “Building Partnerships for Development”. The main objectives of this conference are to get a general understanding of the operations of Islamic Banking and to share views on promoting partnership for development through Islamic Banking, draw lessons, and recommend strategies for implementing Islamic Banking in Zambia in order to improve access to financial services. The rapid growth of Islamic Banking raises a series of important questions, such as whether Islamic Banking should be regulated differently from conventional banking. Because modern Islamic Banking is relatively new to most countries rules for financial accounting, bank governance, and lending standards are continually evolving as business practices are refined.
There is not a single doubt in my mind that for transition to be successful countries need to open up, promote foreign direct investment as much as possible, extensively use foreign technical assistance, embrace transfers of knowledge, participate and benefit from globalization, and, last but not least, exploit to the maximum the beneficial role of international financial organizations in general and the EBRD in particular as this institution was created for us. All those elements are necessary. But, it is my strong belief that the ultimate test of a successful transition lies within us. Why? Simply because, it’s the people’s transition, isn’t it? Thank you very much for your attention. BIS Review 43/2000  8  Literature: Bronstone, A (1999): The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Manchester University Press, Manchester. Collier, P (1998): Social capital and poverty, The World Bank, Social Capital Initiative, WP No. 4 EBRD (1999): Transition Report, London. Fischer, S and R Sahay (2000): The Transition Economies After Ten Years of Transition. IMF Working Paper, February. Flanagan, R J (1998): Were communists good human capitalists? The case of the Czech Republic, Labour Economics, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 295-312. Frydl, E J (1999): The Length and Cost of Banking Crises: IMF Working Paper (WP/99/30). Fukuyama, F (2000): Social Capital and Civil Society. IMF Working Paper 00/74. Hillman, A L (1999): In Transit to the Promised Land: Ten Years in the Wilderness Without Moses. Fifth Dubrovnik Conference on Transition Economies, June 1999.

Stress testing consists of assessing the attributes of a portfolio, assessing the scenarios that are likely to occur and calculating the stress loss should a crisis come to pass. With a rigorous stress-testing programme, a bank can alter the composition of its portfolio, if preset stress loss limits are exceeded during stress tests, thereby limiting its losses should a stressful event actually occur. Stress tests are fairly common for market portfolios but are still not widely used to assess stress loss of credit portfolios, particularly, loan portfolios. We are releasing on our website today a consultative paper on credit portfolio stress testing. The paper will be further developed with your inputs before we release it as a formal MAS guideline. We invite you to send in your comments by May 2002. In the coming months, financial institutions in Singapore can also expect to receive the MAS risk management guidelines for market risk, credit risk and liquidity risk management. These guidelines will spell out the key principles for sound risk management which banks are encouraged to follow. Improvements made to risk management in order to comply with these risk management guidelines will help banks develop prudent and understandable policies, and improve their methods for measuring and managing firm-wide risks. These guidelines will incorporate comments from industry practitioners and other experts in the field of risk management. Next, there will be a significant addition to Singapore’s risk management infrastructure.