samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Through these changes, the New York Fed is seeking to expand and diversify the pool of firms eligible to apply for primary dealer status, while also recognizing that a certain scale of activity is needed in order to be able to meet the many business obligations to which primary dealers must commit, in supporting the operations of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. These changes offer the opportunity to increase capacity and further support competitive pricing for the Fed’s open market operations. Going forward, the New York Fed will periodically review its counterparty policy. Turning to monetary policy, at the conclusion of its September policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced that it would begin to reduce the size of the Federal Reserve’s securities portfolio.2 Over the past month, the Fed took the first steps in a multiyear effort to bring the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet to its longer-run size, by not reinvesting a portion of the securities repayments it received. In the remainder of my prepared remarks today, I will offer my views on this policy from a financial markets perspective, drawing on a fuller set of remarks I delivered last month, which can be found on the New York Fed’s website.3 1/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  The message I’d like to leave you with today is one of confidence.

Contributing factors to the current situation in repo market Let me now review some medium to long-term trends contributing to the current situation in the repo market, affecting both the supply and demand of collateral. It should first be noted that the repo market has seen a reduction in its role for funding, also due to the excess liquidity injected and the securities absorption implied by APP. On the supply side, the availability of high-quality collateral is inevitably pro-cyclical. From a pure economic view point, the financial crisis, its length, rising debt levels and rating downgrades to sovereigns reduced the amount of available assets that are considered ‘safe’, particularly for non-banks (although regulators treat all sovereigns as risk-free). This is most easily visible in the current clustering of GC collateral rates by country of issuer, which was largely absent prior to the crisis. On the demand side, the evolution of prudential regulation has affected the repo market. A number of features, which have in principle been known since the reform of Basel III in 2010, are still being phased in and directly affect banks’ participation in the repo markets, particularly the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) and the net stable funding ratio (NSFR). A third measure – the leverage ratio – is now subject to reporting requirements, but there is not as yet an agreed international regulatory standard. The LCR requires banks to hold sufficient high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) to cover projected net cash outflows.
Svein Gjedrem: Current monetary policy issues in Norway  Speech by Mr Svein Gjedrem, Governor of Norges Bank, at the General Meeting of ACI Norway, held in Tromsø, on 19 August 2000. *  *  *  Introduction I would like to start by expressing my thanks for being given the opportunity to give this presentation of monetary policy in Norway. I will start my presentation with a brief review of the basis for monetary policy, and will go on to mention some of the considerations and reasoning behind Norges Bank’s recent setting of interest rates. Finally, I will turn to certain structural features of particular importance to developments in the capital account balance which can shed light on the relationship between the setting of interest rates in Norway and international interest rate developments. The basis for monetary policy The chart shows movements in the krone exchange rate between 1980 and the present. There have been three major crossroads since 1986. Chart 1 Krone exchange rate  •  Following the last devaluation in May 1986, the Norwegian authorities decided to introduce a fixed exchange rate system for the krone. The monetary policy authorities bound themselves to the mast. Under this system, the interest rate was to be set solely with the aim of maintaining exchange rate stability within narrow margins. At the same time, the krone was supported through extensive exchange-market interventions. The fixed exchange rate system led to a gradual slowing of price inflation.

The quantity and quality of capital ensure the competitiveness of the economy, which creates the conditions for reaching an optimal macroeconomic equilibrium.  The segregation between freedom and responsibility at the level of firms seriously undermines the foundation of the market economy and creates deep social disparities. 3/4   Besides a strong capital base, a fully functional market economy needs strong financial and payment discipline. Without these, financial instability would likely appear. * *  *   And, I would like to conclude by expressing, on behalf of the National Bank of Romania, our appreciation to all the participants for attending the seminar and to the IMF for their constant support in organizing such useful debates.  As the purpose of the seminar is to discuss current financial stability challenges and to exchange knowledge in dealing with such challenges, I believe that the objective has been achieved during these two days event.  Finally, taking into account: first, the issues I have mentioned above; second, the direct and strong correlation between the capital and the real economy and third, the fact that the distinguished participants who will take part in the next year seminar can offer the possibility to share experience among countries and institutions, I would like to suggest that the 2020 event topic to be “The capital in the real economy as a cornerstone of the financial stability”. 4/4
In this sense, I believe the emotional relationship of citizens to the euro has become stronger. Question: What, in your view, is the greatest achievement of the first ten years of the euro? Answer: For me, the greatest success is the fact that, after having promised the citizens that the euro would be equal, in terms of stability and the maintenance of value, to the previously most solid currencies, including the Deutsche Mark, we have fulfilled this promise effectively. Question: And what is the greatest challenge for the next ten years? Answer: There are a number of challenges that face us. The first is to maintain the level of credibility and confidence that the euro has gained during the first ten years. And in addition to all the other challenges that an important central bank in the industrialised world has to deal with, I would stress two challenges that are entirely specific to the ECB. First, the fact that we are ourselves actively contributing to achieving the single market with a single currency and, second, that we must prepare in the best possible fashion for a successful enlargement of the euro area. Question: In addition to price stability, the stability of the financial markets has become the focus of attention in the context of the current crisis. Would it be sensible for the ECB to have an explicit mandate to safeguard the stability of the financial markets? Answer: Our primary mandate, to ensure price stability, is a very important prerequisite for financial stability.

This impulse is, at the moment, far from having been fully transmitted to the economy. That being said, as I always stress, we are never pre-committed and we always do what is necessary to solidly anchor inflationary expectations in the medium term. 4  BIS Review 1/2009
This dynamic process, which started in 2001 and has reached a certain point today – though it still has a long way to go – is the process that will reveal the potential of our economy and determine its place in the world. Since that time only five years have passed. This is a short span of time for an economy that needs structural changes and whose policies are formulated towards to this end, in order to implement reforms, achieve results and ensure the sustainability of such results. Yet, the achievements attained in macroeconomic aggregates have been even beyond the program forecasts. CPI inflation declined to single digit figures after 35 years, from 68.5 percent as of end-2001. While inflation was in decline, high growth rates were achieved. Annual growth in GNP, which was realized as 3.9 percent on average between 1970 - 2001, became 7.8 percent between 2002 - 2005. The ratio of public net debt stock to GNP, which had led to concerns about the sustainability of public debt, decreased to 55.8 percent as of 2005, from 90.5 percent. With the contribution of all these favorable developments in economic aggregates, the Turkish economy has continued to integrate with the world and Turkey’s foreign trade volume has expanded by nearly 170 percent since 2001, reaching USD 196 billion on an annual basis, by April 2006. The main factors that lie behind this rapid change that is clearly observed in the macroeconomic aggregates are; confidence, stability and the enhancement of predictability.

The ongoing rigidity in prices of the services group and the volatilities in prices of agricultural products due to weather conditions are being closely monitored for the achievability of inflation targets. After dwelling on the latest developments in inflation and the interest rate policy of our bank, I would like to present the general outlook of the floating exchange rate regime and the exchange rate policy. The floating exchange rate regime applied under formal inflation targeting is the main element of our policies as it has been during the past five years. When the legal framework for setting the exchange rate regime is analyzed, we see that the exchange rate regime is set with the Government, while the design and application of the exchange rate policy to be conducted in the framework of the regime is under the authority and responsibility of the Central Bank. The essence of the floating exchange rate regime is that the value of the Turkish lira against foreign currencies is formed under market conditions and according to developments in supply and demand conditions. In this respect, the Central Bank conducts two kinds of transactions in markets: Firstly, the Central Bank purchases foreign exchange to build up reserves. These purchases are made via FX purchase auctions. In 2006, the daily purchase amount for these auctions including options is USD 60 million. These auctions were suspended on May 16, 2006 due to market conditions and the decline in FX supply. When the conditions for these auctions mature, they will be resumed.
Against this backdrop, as economic and supervisory authorities, we must step up monitoring of the risks to financial stability and continue to adopt measures to mitigate them; naturally, we must be prepared to take forceful action should such risks materialise. Today I will outline the recent developments in the main risks in this area, based on the analysis of the effect of the crisis on the different agents in the economy (non-financial corporations, households, the real estate and financial sectors, and general government), and the most appropriate economic policy measures for addressing them. The impact of the crisis on the financial situation of firms Spanish firms faced this shock in a more favourable financial position than that before the global financial crisis. Specifically, they had substantially reduced their debt levels in recent years, to below the European average in late 2019, and had the support of higher liquidity buffers. Moreover, the sectoral distribution of activities was more balanced than in the runup to the previous crisis. 2  That said, despite the overall better position, there were certain segments of the Spanish corporate sector in a vulnerable position at the outset of this crisis. The scale of the shock triggered by the pandemic is also most significant and long-lasting, prompting a sharp decline in income for a large number of firms.

These companies – not necessarily financial in origin – which extensively harness information about their customers using new technologies, may drastically alter the operating environment of traditional banks. The banks’ strategy faced with these challenges must inevitably involve investing heavily in this type of technology to make the most of their data. This, also, will enable them to refocus their lending business on higher-margin segments while maintaining the risk they have assumed within reasonable limits. They should also continue to strive to make efficiency  “Euro area banking sector resilient to stress caused by coronavirus, ECB analysis shows”, ECB press release of 28 July 2020. 8 The benchmark central scenario envisages an increase in infections over the next few quarters and the application of the corresponding containment measures until a medical solution is available; based on these assumptions euro area real GDP is projected to decline by 8.7% in 2020 and rebound by 5.2% in 2021 and by 3.3% in 2022. Under the adverse scenario, which envisages a vigorous rise in infections and stricter containment measures, real GDP would decline by 12.6% in 2020 and would grow by 3.3% in 2021 and by 3.8% in 2022. 7  9  See P. Hernández de Cos (2020).
Christian Noyer: A central banker’s personal perspective on hedge funds Introductory speech by Mr Christian Noyer, Governor of the Bank of France, at Conference on hedge funds, Washington DC, 15 April 2007. *  *  *  Thank you all for coming. It's a pleasure and a privilege to have you all here to day. Special thanks to the IMF and John Lipsky for organizing this event for us and with us. The purpose of our meeting is to present the special issue of our Financial Stability Review on hedge funds. So I want to say a few words on why we embarked on such a project and how we did it. As you noticed, this issue of our Review is mostly based on external contributions. Some authors are with me to day and I also want to thank them. We are very happy that we could assemble such an eminent roster of contributors. Let me say from the outset that we did not intend to reach a conclusion at this stage. The international community is working on this issue, in particular in the framework of the FSF. The main question is: how can we best reconcile keeping the positive inputs of this activity for financial markets functioning and innovation, while keeping the risks that may be generated for financial stability to a minimum. This is why there is a debate on hedge funds, which we think, is legitimate.

On the other hand, financial market participants and public authorities responsible for financial stability require information to monitor the risks related to the hedge fund sector. On those remarks, I leave the floor to the panelists, and first to Jaime Caruana, who has kindly accepted to kick start the panel. 2  BIS Review 42/2007
However, a basic understanding of the concept of Islamic banking should provide a basis for determining an appropriate regulatory framework for Islamic banking. Of particular importance to Zambia is an arrangement where borrowers can borrow without paying interest. Lending rates are very high in this country, thus making borrowing for capital investments prohibitive. This is one issue we have been grappling with for a long time. Therefore, an arrangement where borrowers can access funds for investments without paying interest, offered by Islamic Banking is worth exploring. Mr. Chairman, over the past two years, we have noted with delight that financial institutions in Zambia are beginning to rise to the challenge by broadening the scope of their financial services beyond the traditional customers to include previously unbanked segments of society. Ladies and gentlemen, the need to foster an enabling environment cannot be overemphasized. In this regard, the Bank of Zambia will continue to ensure stable macroeconomic policies and development of appropriate financial sector regulations that will facilitate financial inclusion. Ladies and Gentlemen, the introduction of Islamic banking would come with its own challenges. For us at Bank of Zambia, this entails further strengthening of our supervisory capacity. We would welcome this challenge and hope to rise to the occasion by providing adequate supervisory infrastructure and an environment for conducting good business.

Should such a risk materialize and lead to a deterioration in price setting behavior, which in turn hampers the attainment of medium-term inflation targets, a tightening earlier than the one envisaged in the baseline scenario would be considered. Dear Guests, The CBT will continue to monitor fiscal policy developments closely while formulating monetary policy. Increasing public savings and maintaining the fiscal discipline are essential to control the current account deficit driven by the disparity between domestic and external demand. The medium-term perspective included in the revised Medium Term Program (MTP) is seen as an important step in this direction. Accordingly, our revised forecasts take the projections of public expenditures in the MTP as given, while tax adjustments are assumed to be consistent with inflation targets and automatic pricing mechanisms. Should the fiscal stance deviate significantly from this framework in a way to have adverse effects on the medium-term inflation outlook, a revision in the monetary policy stance may be considered. Monetary policy will continue to focus on achieving lasting price stability in the period ahead. Strengthening the commitment to fiscal discipline and the structural reform agenda would support the improvement of Turkey’s sovereign risk, and thus facilitate macroeconomic and price stability. In this respect, on closing my remarks, I would like to remind you once more that timely implementation of the structural reforms envisaged by the MTP and the European Union accession process remain to be of utmost importance. Thank you for your participation. BIS Review 159/2010  15
I would like to mention that joint work by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England to assess financial risks looked specifically at insurance contracts, and we believe the risks in this area to be manageable, provided we can properly guarantee the protection of policyholders. In the medium term, against the backdrop of the digital revolution, cyber security is a growing concern for all businesses. Insurers are of course among the main ones affected because they hold sensitive data. Your industry would certainly be well advised to draw on your experience with cyber-risk to build up your own cyber-insurance offering. I come last to climate risk, which occupies the longest time horizon of all, but which nevertheless requires tangible action to be taken right now. As today’s discussions have shown, the natural disaster insurance regime needs an overhaul and I know that reforms are coming in 2019. But this is also a very important area of investigation for supervisors because, over the long run, climate stability is a determining factor in financial stability. In June of this year, the ACPR published a study revealing that an estimated 10–20% of all securities held by French insurers are exposed to risk in relation to the transition to a low-carbon economy. The Banque de France and the ACPR have set up and are actively coordinating the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS).

I recommend giving it a read: the report itself is a treasure trove of data, and the results do you credit. The average solvency capital requirement (SCR) coverage ratio on the French market climbed from 222% in 2016 to 238% in 2017. What’s more, in the first quarter of 2018, the French insurance market overtook Germany and the United Kingdom to become Europe’s number-one market, with over EUR 35 billion in direct premiums written in non-life insurance and over EUR 2.100 trillion in technical provisions. It also leads in investment capacity: commanding total assets of EUR 2.7 trillion in September 2018, France’s insurance sector is far and away the largest institutional investor in Europe, accounting for over one-third of the total assets of euro area insurers. In comparison, France makes up 21% of euro area GDP. Insurers, then, are a crucial asset for France, and their critical role in financing the economy can and indeed must grow further. Corporate equity is vital to innovation and hence to a vibrant economy, but in mid-2018 equity was equivalent to just 77% of GDP in the euro area and 76% in France, compared with 124% in the United States. II. Tapping into regulatory opportunities. I would like to start this section off by noting that France’s introduction of a flat tax on capital income on 1 January has not had the slightest detrimental effect on life insurance, despite fears on this score within your industry.
The Bank of Albania is an active supporter of financial and economic integration, considering it as one of the most important pillars to release the potential of the economy and boost its resilience to shocks. 3. On the Memorandum All the above, underlines the great importance of our economic and financial cooperation with Turkey. This cooperation imposes even us – the policy makers – to intensify the exchange of information and opinions, and seek to promote the finding of common solutions to common challenges. In this spirit, the Bank of Albania and the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey are signing today this Memorandum of Cooperation, which may be well considered as the coronation of the insofar cooperation, as well as of our efforts to continue with drafting the relevant institutional framework for clarifying the operational cooperation protocols, in a series of central bank fields. This memorandum elevates the relations between our two countries to a new dimension. It confirms the will to elevate the level of cooperation and consolidate the ties between the two countries, providing for both institutions the necessary space for the intensification of mutual exchange of information and expertise in various fields of central banking, such as: supervision, financial stability, research, and financial education, and the regular dialogue at technical and political level. It is an important step for obtaining maximum benefits from the positive effects of integration and minimising the negative ones.

But the potential sophistication of today’s attackers, and the financial, reputational and legal risks they pose to central banks are far greater than a century ago. 8  The Bank of England Archives hold a number of letters between Cunliffe, Cokayne and Strong on this subject. 6  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  6  As Simon Potter has already said, that is why it is so important that, just as central banks co-operate to provide the services they need to another, they must also co-operate in raising the standards and controls applied to those services to the highest possible levels – because we are only as strong as our weakest link. Raising standards means:   Within our own organisations – having robust risk-based processes for assessing counterparties and transactions, in compliance with relevant law and guidance; for controlling the access, people and system risks in central banking processes; and for monitoring and responding to potential risks if and when they crystallise.   And, externally, it means sharing intelligence and promoting best practice; and complying and attesting promptly, and with candour, to relevant international standards. Making progress in both of these areas is vital if the expansion in access to central banks services of recent years is to be maintained. I want to end on a positive note. The international system is constantly evolving. Policy regimes come and go. And the importance of specific reserve currencies may rise and fall: the minnows of today can be the giants of tomorrow.