samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
In this WG, key players will reflect on ways to provide access to private data while maintaining and promoting ethical principles. In fact, I consider there is a need to break the quasi-monopoly which some big techcompanies have on personal data, something which requires a co-ordinated international effort. The European data strategy announced by the European Commission a few months ago, aimed at public/private-sector collaboration in data-sharing, is a good example in this respect. It is also important to recall the usefulness of statistical information for public opinion. Central banks’ information is quite often of a very technical nature. But, at the same time, some variables –such as interest rates- have a strong impact on household finances and SMEs, whereas information about recent developments on key economic and financial variables are also very relevant for public opinion. Therefore, accessible (transparent, clear) statistics are also needed. 6  In our case, we are continuously striving to improve how statistics are conveyed to society and to adapt our communication to different types of users. A couple of years ago we conducted a survey of the users of our statistical information. The results offered a useful guidance about some key issues. Following the input from this survey, we have in recent years tried to exploit new technologies to display data, including more charts, interactive menus, dashboards, etc. And just a few days ago we launched an application which will allow users to have our statistical information readily available on their mobile devices.

The structural reforms, that we are badly in need of, must be implemented as rapidly as possible if we want Europe to be up to its historical challenges. The Chinese say “It is later than you think” has never been so true. In any case, history itself does not wait for us. And when I look back, over the last twenty years, it seems to me that an unfortunately well-founded criticism could be that we have constantly under-assessed the rapidity of the stream of history: the rapidity of the deterioration of the situation in the USSR, the rapidity of the collapse itself, the rapidity of the enlargement process, the depth, the strength and the intensity of the “desire of Europe” which is spreading in the countries in transition. Second word: stability. Economic and financial stability, in a period of excessive volatility and of wide boom-bust episode, financial and real stability appear to be a very precious asset. Over the last twenty years, we have constructed a new world: technology has permitted instantaneous communication and incredibly powerful real-time computation. Globalization has created new cultural, conceptual, commercial and financial links between all economies including previously centrally planned systems; together technology and globalization are progressively driving us to a unified planet of universal rules and regulations, code of conduct and practices, market procedures and market instruments, accounting standards, etc.
And in the last year, we have seen emerging approaches to supervision that aim to address culture, conduct, and governance. In particular, the central bank of the NetherlandsDe Nederlandsche Bank-has pioneered new techniques for the supervision of corporate governance, especially for assessing the group dynamics of boards and senior management.11 Culture also features prominently in criminal enforcement. The U.S. Department of Justice requires its prosecutors to determine “the pervasiveness of wrongdoing” at a corporation before seeking an indictment. According to its prosecutors’ manual, “[T]he most important [factor in making this determination] is the role and conduct of management. Although acts of even low-level employees may result in criminal liability, a corporation is directed by its management and management is responsible for a corporate culture in which criminal conduct is either discouraged or tacitly encouraged.”12 Individuals, including senior managers, also face criminal liability for their conduct. Recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice places greater emphasis on individual culpability.13 And the recent convictions of two traders for rigging LIBOR, one of whom served as the Global Head of Liquidity and Finance at a major bank, may send a powerful message to bankers about the consequences of their misconduct.14 The new acceptance of culture as an important area of focus was evident at a workshop that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York hosted on November 5.

In this respect, the Bank looks forward to a code of conduct for the industry to be established and implemented by the industry this year. The code of conduct should comprise a set of key principles and guidance for proper business practices that instil greater market discipline and confidence, and to create a culture of healthy competition within the industry. This should be complemented by a process that ensures that individuals responsible for managing money services business operations have the relevant knowledge and experience to meet the minimum professional standards set by the industry, and are able to offer quality services to the public. In relation to this, the association should consider implementing a certification or qualification process, for example, by conducting entrance examinations for its members sometime in the future. We also expect the association to play a proactive role to improve the image of the industry players and weed out the black sheep within the industry, through the effective implementation and enforcement of the code of conduct, and by working with the relevant authorities to help combat illicit transfers of funds and unauthorised activities. Secondly, the association will also serve as the central platform to drive and implement development initiatives to enhance the capacity of the industry.
The great efforts of other public sector organisations, led by the Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary and Malta Enterprise, to radically streamline business enabling procedures across the board, are critical if we are to succeed to radically upgrade the business environment. I insist on the word “radical” because only a radical upgrade (an upgrade from the very roots of the system) will make a difference. We need to enhance competition. It is essential to ensure that consumers and businesses can acquire the goods and services they need at fair prices. Within the banking system, we believe that there remains scope for payment services charges to respond to more  Page 7 of 8  competition and for further pass-through of the current low interest rates to customers, although it is encouraging that we have seen reductions in recent months. Fast economic growth does not come without some pain and costs. Infrastructure  development has not kept up the pace and translates into practical problems. There are no easy solutions to such problems. Building infrastructure takes time and adopting urban development policies is inevitably complex, especially in a very small island where every space is somebody’s back yard. At an international level, as an extremely open economy, we need to take a resolute stand against policies that close borders to trade and to international flows. As a small open economy we need to defend open borders and globalisation.

Following an exceptional increase of 6.2% last year, real GDP expanded at a more than respectable average annual rate of just over 4% during the first half of 2016. The expansion in output is being driven by domestic demand, especially by strong growth in private consumption and investment. Exports of services are also performing well, indeed significantly better than the export of goods. Growth is being driven by private market services, encompassing a mix of traditional and new sectors, including tourism and distribution, aviation and professional services. The  utilities, which were formerly loss-making, have now returned to profit, reflecting the use of cheaper energy sources and efficiency gains. Manufacturing is holding its own, with pockets of success and others that continue to face strong competitive pressures. At the same time, following vigorous growth last year, growth in value-added in construction has eased. Growth in output depends upon and feeds into a dynamic labour market. According to administrative records, which are available up to April 2016, annual employment growth consistently exceeded 4% in recent quarters. The Labour Force Survey paints a similar picture, with employment gains averaging around 3% during the first half of the year. More recently, registered unemployment has continued to fall to record low levels over the summer. Notwithstanding such a dynamic economic performance, price pressures remain contained, with inflation fluctuating in a narrow range around 1% since the beginning of the year.
Over recent years, central banks and economic research have paid increasing attention to these issues. Indeed, the experience in Japan over the past two decades underscores how harmful bursts in asset price bubbles can be for macroeconomic stability, and how difficult it is for policy-makers to mitigate these costs. Indeed, there are quite a number of historical episodes when a collapse in asset prices triggered sustained deflationary trends and problems of financial instability. When discussing asset prices and monetary policy, four questions come to mind: •  First, is it possible to identify the emergence of an asset price bubble in the markets? And if so, how? •  Second, assuming that a bubble has been identified, what can policy-makers do about it? What are their choices and dilemmas? •  Third, what is the concrete situation in equity and housing markets in the euro area at present? •  Finally, what role do asset prices play in the ECB’s monetary policy and what challenges could they pose? How to identify a bubble? Answering the first question is both easy and tricky at the same time: I think, we can all agree that it is very difficult to identify bubbles, not least since we need to distinguish asset price changes that are justified by changes in fundamentals, such as technological advances or changes in risk preferences, from those that are due to misalignments or “irrational exuberance” - to quote a prominent central bank colleague.

Pressures increase from regulated entities, which complain about regulatory uncertainty, and from policy-makers, who are keen to foster economic recovery and growth after 8 years of low economic performances almost a lost decade! Keeping the momentum relates to three objectives: –  complete the regulatory agenda, in particular regarding what is named now as “market-based finance”, so as to effectively and comprehensively strengthen the financial system and remove regulatory uncertainty;  –  make sure that the regulatory spectrum expands well beyond the sole banking sector so as to avoid unfair level playing field, regulatory arbitrage and a paradoxical outcome that is favoring and encouraging those who are still “in the shadows.” On top of that, keeping pace with the creativity of all players is no small challenge. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  –  devoting adequate resources and designing the proper organization of supervision which needs to be intrusive. 2  Preserving diversity  While the objective of expanding the scope of regulation beyond the banking sector may require applying similar – though not identical- regulation to similar asset classes or risks, irrespective of the legal status of the intermediary bearing them, it must also be acknowledged that business models, accounting frameworks, liability structures, time horizons of decisions may differ across sectors and entities. In that respect, it can be argued that that “one size does not necessarily fit all” and that one should preserve and ensure diversity.
This was why MAS introduced the Financial Advisers Act, or FAA, ten years ago. The FAA was a landmark regulatory reform, providing for consistency in the regulation of persons engaged in advisory activities:   across sectors: in insurance companies, banks, stockbrokers, and financial advisory firms; and    across products: life insurance, securities, futures, and unit trusts. Two years before the FA Act, an industry-led committee, the Committee for the Efficient Distribution of Life Insurance, or CEDLI, made far-reaching recommendations on minimum standards for the advisory process, and the competency of insurance agents. The FAA and CEDLI together helped transform the landscape for financial advisory services in Singapore. They have contributed to greater consistency and better quality in the advisory services provided on both life insurance and investment products. Disclosure practices have also improved. Life insurance coverage and financial investments among Singaporeans have grown over the last decade.   Life insurance as a percentage of the total assets of Singaporeans has nearly doubled from about 4% in 2000 to 7% in 2011.   Financial investments as a percentage of the total assets of Singaporeans has increased from about 14% in 2000 to 17% in 2011. But there are important gaps to fill. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  We need to do better We have a large protection gap. The average Singaporean is still grossly underinsured.

Public demand has also stimulated the economy. Chart: Relative labour costs The Norwegian krone has depreciated markedly in the wake of the fall in oil prices and is now approximately 15 percent weaker than two years ago. The depreciation has led to a marked improvement in Norwegian firms’ cost competitiveness. The main responsibility for developments in relative wages lies with the social partners. If the improvement in competitiveness is to be sustained, Norwegian labour costs must develop more in line with the labour costs of our trading partners. This will make it easier to build up a larger non-oil tradable sector. The krone depreciation has helped start the restructuring process in the Norwegian economy. After a decade of higher growth in imports than mainland exports, export growth has recently outpaced import growth. The tourism industry is one of a number of industries experiencing an upswing. Many export firms have announced plans to increase investments in 2016, which will provide opportunities for an increase in production and market shares. Chart: Unemployment Employment in Norway has been high for many years. Compared with other countries, unemployment has been low. In the competition for labour resources, oil production and oil service companies have drawn the longest straw. The situation has now changed. Unemployment has increased over the past year. Regions with close links to the oil industry, 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  which have benefitted from the oil boom for many years, are being hit hard. Although employment continued to rise last year, employment growth has slowed.
Davíð Oddsson: Review of the Icelandic economy Address by Mr Davíð Oddsson, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland, at the Bank’s annual meeting, Reykjavik, 31 March 2006. *  *  *  Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen: On behalf of the Board of Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland I welcome you all to the 45th annual meeting since the Central Bank was established on April 7, 1961. The Bank’s financial statements for the year 2005 have been ratified today by the Prime Minister. The Bank’s annual report has also been published. It includes a report on the Bank’s performance and a summary of how it has implemented its mandatory role. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board devoted part of his address to Birgir Ísleifur Gunnarsson, the former Chairman of the Board of Governors. The present Governors endorse his words wholeheartedly. In this context I would like to draw attention to two points that the former Chairman of the Board of Governors mentioned at the last annual meeting. One concerned the Bank’s forecast for inflation and the current account deficit. At that time the Bank forecast that the current account deficit would be equivalent to 12% of GDP in 2005 and inflation would be 2½% by today. Now it is clear that developments have been less favourable than was forecast and hoped. The current account deficit ended up at 16.6% of GDP and inflation is currently 4.5%.

In the light of the prevailing uncertainties, it is essential that the bank lending channel continues to function well. To sum up, a cross-check of the outcome of the economic analysis with the signals coming from the monetary analysis confirmed the need to preserve an appropriate degree of monetary accommodation in order to secure a return of inflation rates towards levels that are below, but close to, 2% without undue delay. Monetary policy is focused on maintaining price stability over the medium term and its accommodative stance supports economic activity. As emphasised repeatedly by the Governing Council, and as again strongly echoed in both European and international policy discussions, in order to reap the full benefits from our monetary policy measures, other policy areas must contribute much more decisively, both at the national and at the European level. The implementation of structural reforms needs to be substantially stepped up to reduce structural unemployment and boost potential output growth in the euro area. Structural reforms are necessary in all euro area countries, although specific reform needs differ across the individual economies. The focus should be on actions to raise productivity and improve the business environment, including the provision of an adequate public infrastructure, which are vital to increase investment and boost job creation. The enhancement of current investment initiatives, including the extension of the Juncker plan, progress on the capital markets union and reforms that will improve the resolution of non-performing loans will also contribute positively to this objective.
Second, given the deterioration in the labor market, households would also have a strong “precautionary demand” for saving to help buffer their consumption in the event of a job loss. Finally, homeowners might react to falling house prices by increasing their saving rate in order to rebuild the capacity to make a down payment on a future tradeup house. In more extreme cases where house price declines have put owners in a negative equity position where the value of the house is now less than the balance on the mortgage, homeowners may increase their saving rate to have the capacity to pay off their mortgage to avoid a costly foreclosure. At the same time that the real economy was contracting there was an on-going crisis in financial markets. The balance sheets of banks and securities firms were under severe strain and liquidity was drying up. A good barometer for problems in the financial sector is the price for credit default swap (CDS) contracts for financial firms (Chart 9). These CDS prices started to rise in 2007 as news of losses for subprime mortgages began to hit markets. There was a  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  jump in CDS prices in March 2008 when Bear Sterns was taken over by JPMorgan Chase. For a brief period over the summer of 2008, CDS prices retreated.

Key lessons of the analysis include that: 1.  flexibility is needed in both design and calibration of macroprudential tools;  2.  no single tool can combat all property risks;  3.  tools need to be appropriate to domestic circumstances; and  4.  domestic policies are more effective for both domestic and EU financial stability if their spillovers are managed. The ESRB has built a framework to assess and manage such spillovers, which should be agreed soon and be operationalised early next year. Its central feature is reciprocity – eliminating regulatory arbitrage to give domestic policy greater traction. It will be member led, but, importantly, backed by ESRB recommendations. Compliance will be on an “act or explain” basis but the presumption will be that many exposure-based measures (e.g. LTV, LTI and maturity) will be reciprocated. This is significant. The ESRB has been notified of macroprudential actions 69 times this year, and 173 times since the introduction of the CRR/CRD in 2014. Although many notices are procedural, they show the direction of travel. More countries are using macroprudential tools, creating an increasing need for a “clearing house” that is both comprehensive and timely. The ESRB will also evaluate the ways national macroprudential authorities might apply countercyclical capital buffers against financial exposures from countries outside the EEA – a tool given to the ESRB under Union law. That will further bolster collective resilience against the global financial cycle and spillovers from outside the Union.
But this would be a significant step towards improving the competitive foundations of the Spanish economy, a vital ingredient for any sustained recovery scenario. This is why it is essential to see through the liberalisation processes under way in the sector further to recent legislative initiatives and, in particular, to the transposition of the Community Directive on services. Diminished domestic demand has also exerted an influence on the reduction in the external deficit, on a scale difficult to imagine only two years back. As explained in the Annual Report, this correction is largely due to the reduction in the trade deficit as imports ground to a halt and, from this standpoint, it appears to be chiefly attributable to cyclical factors. It should be stressed, however, that goods exports have shown a strong capacity for recovery in recent months, as has trade in services. Both developments are promising and need to firm in the future if the nation’s net borrowing is to be permanently reduced and if growth is to pivot on an export sector that is stronger and less reliant on imports. Despite this progress, substantial adjustments have still to be made, and as promptly as possible, if they are not to act as a drag on the recovery. I refer in particular to the need to complete the absorption of excess capacity in the residential construction sector, to continue the financial restructuring of the private sector and to improve the Spanish economy’s competitive position.

We want to assess to what extent and under what conditions it could improve the efficiency and security of settlement of financial assets transactions, while preserving the fundamental role of central bank money in the smooth and safe execution of these transactions. The Banque de France also takes an active part in the work conducted by the Eurosystem under the aegis of the ECB in relation to a digital retail euro. The challenge is to assess whether and how a digital central bank euro is needed. As we do when analysing market developments, our analysis encompasses all the potential impacts of such innovation. We need to ensure that we 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  do not compromise more general public objectives such as monetary and financial stability, organise coexistence with other forms of public money and commercial banks, and promote innovation and efficiency in the financial system. Naturally, our experiment is not limited to questions of digital central bank money. As part of our observation on the development of crypto-assets, we plan to participate in market experiments to help define the role of supervisors in this ecosystem. I’ll stop there to give way to the two round tables of this webinar. The two themes chosen are: “Crypto-assets, risks and regulation” and “Crypto-assets, what will become a standard?”. They seem to me to be two very complementary ways of addressing the issues that I have highlighted. I am sure that the cross-section of American and European views will add to the debate.