samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Dear participants, We recognised the efforts made by the Government aimed at enhancing a broad spectrum of skills in the country through such institutions as TEVETA. What is required is a more Targeted intervention in order to improve labour market opportunities for individuals by helping them obtain necessary skills and facilitating labour market transitions. Countries that have been most successful in skills development did so by sustaining implementation of coordinated policies linking education systems, skills formation, employment and decent work. These countries include India, Costa Rica, and South Korea. They made quality education broadly available and introduced mechanisms to match supply to the current demand for skills, often by means of linking training providers and employers at sector and local levels. They helped workers and enterprises adjust to change and used skills strategically as a core element of industrial, technology and trade policies to move from lower to higher productivity activities and facilitate investment in new industries. Involving workers and the private sector was a main feature of this approach. Zambia can learn a lot from some of these countries. Effective training systems in conjunction with the private sector should facilitate demand-driven training in sectors and locations with high job growth potential, avoiding bottlenecks and improving employability. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Expanding accessibility to quality training is a powerful instrument for empowerment and inclusion of the youth and disadvantaged groups: women, rural dwellers and persons with disabilities.

Kevin Stiroh: Opening remarks - Community Bankers Conference Opening remarks by Mr Kevin Stiroh, Executive Vice President of the Financial Institution Supervision Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the Community Bankers Conference, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York City, 4 April 2019. * * * As prepared for delivery Welcome to the 17th Annual Community Bankers Conference. We are very glad that so many of you from community banks in the Second District joined us today for our conference about what’s “On the Horizon for Community Banks.” I am also pleased to welcome my colleagues from other regulatory agencies, including Doreen Eberley from the FDIC, who is our keynote speaker. Before proceeding, let me emphasize that my remarks are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System.1 It has been more than 10 years since the financial crisis, and over that time we have seen the industry change in material ways. Ten years ago there were 7,479 community banks nationwide. Today that number is 5,320, a 29% decline. Some of this decline was due to failure, and some through consolidation or acquisition. Your financial institutions remain today as a result of prudent risk management practices, resiliency, and the ability to successfully weather those stormy years. Today, the data show, on average, strong metrics for the balance sheets of community banks in the Second District.
A middle ground between a single currency or single monetary standard such as Bretton Woods, and fully floating exchange rates, would be intervention bands and controlled exchange rates between, for instance, the euro and the dollar. However, this would partly suffer from the same problems as a fully fixed regime. Furthermore, we would encounter the same dilemma that characterised all semi-fixed, or fixed but adjustable exchange rate arrangements, which failed so miserably over the past ten years. The list is long, from Sweden’s and the ERM countries’ crisis at the beginning of the 1990s, to the crises in Mexico, Asia, Russia and Brazil during the subsequent decade. All displayed some similar characteristics, which a controlled exchange rate between the dollar and euro would also be unable to escape. At some point in time, the market becomes aware that the political gains of avoiding painful real adjustments are probably less than the costs and loss of prestige associated with an exchange rate adjustment. Once the market realises this, speculation follows and the costs of defending the exchange rate mount, at the same as the potential loss of prestige from adjustment diminishes. In the end, an exchange rate adjustment becomes economically unavoidable and politically acceptable regardless of whether politicians wanted it. Of course, such a spiral is not possible with a single currency where adjustments must occur without devaluation and where speculation of this kind is impossible. Do not these arguments lead us to conclude that China too should let its currency float?

Mohd Razif bin Abd Kadir: Malaysia’s life insurance industry Speech by Mr Mohd Razif bin Abd Kadir, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the official launch of Axa Affin Life Insurance Berhad, Kuala Lumpur, 30 January 2007. *  *  *  It is indeed an honour to be here this morning to witness the launching of Axa Affin Life Insurance Berhad. The launch of Axa Affin Life Insurance Berhad today marks an important development where two players from different financial industries, i.e. Affin Holding Bhd and Axa Asia Pacific Holding Ltd., forge a strategic alliance to attain synergy for mutual business advantage. I wish to congratulate both companies on this momentous event. Ladies and gentlemen, The financial landscape had undergone tremendous transformation in the last decade. The life insurance industry continues to sustain strong performance amidst challenges in a competitive environment. The evolution in the financial landscape saw a shift in customers' preference, emergence of more complex products and increasing diversity in delivery channels. The growing acceptance by the insuring public for financial protection in the form of insurance coverage has gained prominence especially for investment linked products which currently commands a market share of more than 40% of new business. This period also witnessed the growing importance of bancassurance as a channel for marketing life insurance products. The life business written via the bancassurance channel currently accounts for almost 50% of the new business written in the life insurance sector.
Last month, the HKMA launched a dedicated webpage on our website to provide more comprehensive information related to bank account opening and maintenance. At the same time, we have set up a dedicated email account to facilitate the public and business community to provide feedback directly to the HKMA. The HKMA webpage contains information about account opening and maintenance procedures, documentation and information requirements for opening banking accounts, and contact details of banks. Furthermore, our webpage also provides information on what banks should not do, and useful tips for reference of customers whose account opening applications have been rejected. There is also a “What’s New” section to provide an update of banks’ recent initiatives regarding account opening and maintenance. The feedback we received through the email account is handled by a dedicated team at the HKMA. 6. Some of you might have already browsed through our dedicated webpage and noted that 1/2  BIS central bankers' speeches  some banks have acted on your comments that a dedicated hotline would help improve customer experience. Indeed, some unpleasant experience might have been caused by mis-communication or even just a language issue, and a dedicated hotline resourced with properly trained front-line staff would be helpful. 7. In our outreach to Chambers in recent months, we have also received comments that it is not user-friendly for business persons overseas to make several trips to Hong Kong for opening a bank account. We fully agree with that.

Turning to the future, the big question is what a world of digital currencies like stablecoins and CBDCs would mean for the implementation of monetary policy. How will central banks anticipate and adapt to the changing landscape brought on by the possibility of digital currencies? There is much more to discuss about these important considerations in a fast-changing world. As central bankers, it's critical that we remain focused on carrying out our responsibilities, while keeping pace with the world around us. And that's what brings us here today. This workshop is an important part of learning and understanding the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead so that we can be prepared for and successful in the future. Thank you all for participating in what will surely be thought-provoking and constructive discussions. 1  President's Working Group on Financial Markets, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Report on Stablecoins, November 2021. 2  Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Overnight Reverse Repurchase Agreement Facility, January 3, 2018.
In order to successfully maintain price stability, we constantly have to make all the reasons underlying our decisions transparent to the public. 1  2  Source: http://www.ecb.int/stats/payments/payments/html/04_table2.en.html  BIS Review 59/2004  The announcement of the monetary policy strategy in October 1998, before the introduction of the euro, was a milestone in this regard. It clearly stated the ECB's understanding of its objective and the framework used to guide policy decisions. In addition, the Governing Council's assessment of the economic situation and the risks to price stability are regularly published and monetary policy decisions are explained in a press conference that I and the Vice President give immediately after each monthly meeting in which monetary policy is discussed ; in this respect, the ECB has been very bold in its communication policy, as the usual practice of central banks in 1999 was to release their diagnosis about 6 to 8 weeks after the meeting of their decision making body; by providing a comprehensive explanation of its decisions almost in real time, the ECB has certainly set new standards of transparency in the world of central banking. We are convinced that transparency is a prerequisite for accountability and enhances the understanding among the markets of how the central bank conducts its monetary policy, thereby promoting predictability and supporting substantially policy effectiveness.

And this, coupled with the challenges that lie ahead, has led us to look at ways in which corporate governance among the banks might be further enhanced. If I could sum up our objective, it would be to try to reassert the role of the board of directors in banks. While the day-to-day running of banks should certainly be left in the hands of the management, the board must play a leadership role in approving the objectives, strategy and business plans of the bank, monitoring the performance of management and ensuring that the internal control and risk management systems of the bank are effective. The board must also make sure that the bank conducts its affairs with integrity and in accordance with high ethical standards. The board is part of the system of checks and balances that ensures that neither large shareholders nor management abuse their power and that decisions are taken with the bank’s best interests in mind. If the board does not play its full part, a vacuum in leadership will be created. This vacuum may be filled by the shareholders becoming directly involved in running the bank’s affairs, or by the executive management acting more or less in isolation. In either case, the board of directors is bypassed and checks and balances are lost. The HKMA has recently issued for consultation a draft guideline for banks and other authorized institutions which sets out what the HKMA expects of them in relation to corporate governance. The guideline aims to establish minimum standards.
This was a clear break with the earlier arrangement where the management was closer to that of a conventional company with a managing director and a board that exercised control and took the overriding decisions. I should like to conclude with some remarks on the challenges this change involved. As regards monetary policy, it was not all that difficult. In the light of experience from the German, British and American central banks, for example, we had drawn up proposals for working procedures which we have largely adhered to. Our internal process is very open and the staff are deeply involved. The minutes of the Executive Board's monetary policy discussions are published, which dispels any sense of mystery. At the same time, a better foundation is hopefully provided for a discussion of monetary policy in society in general. The matter of internal control has been trickier. One alternative would be to treat the Executive Board as a board of directors; that, however, would have meant working with as many as 18 chief executives in the form of the heads of department. Another possibility would be to see ourselves as chief executives but that, too, has its pros and cons; few organisations have six chief executives, presumably for very good reasons. Perhaps the closest parallel is the board of a group with a number of subsidiaries. In practice we have adopted a variety of approaches.

This can be said of both the financial market infrastructure and the two-tier financial system as a whole. In safeguarding this stability, we should nonetheless remain open to new developments. The SNB will continue to keep a close watch on developments to ensure that we are always able to assess their potential impact on the financial system in good time. Flexible and safe solutions often evolve from cooperation between market participants, regulators and central banks. So let us shape the digital future together. Thank you for your attention. Page 8/8  The financial markets in changing times Changes today and tomorrow: the digital future Andréa M. Maechler, Member of the Governing Board  Zurich, 5 April 2018  *  1 5 April 2018  **  Money Market Event | Andréa M. Maechler | © Swiss National Bank  Sources: Coinmarketcap.com; Bloomberg; FED; World Gold Council.
The protection gap in Asia is set to widen for the following three reasons: a. First, the frequency and severity of natural catastrophes is increasing. According to UN data, the number of natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific has increased from an annual average of 44 disasters in the 1970s to 146 in the 2000s. b. Second, the wealth and value of assets at risk have also increased. Strong economic growth in Asia and growing urbanisation has led to the rise of small highly-populated megacities, many of which lie along areas that are exposed to natural perils. c. Third, insurance penetration is still low in Asia. Just over 8% 3 of natural catastrophe losses are insured in Asia as compared to 40% in developed regions. 9 ILS, together with other risk management solutions including reinsurance and government pools, have significant scope to play a larger role in reducing the financial impact of natural disasters. Globally, UK, Spain and France have already established natural catastrophe schemes that tap on a combination of traditional and alternative capital. 10 There are positive signs of change, with ASEAN making a push to address its rising exposures to natural catastrophe. Let me provide some examples of recent developments: a. ASEAN has commenced a holistic approach to disaster risk management through the ASEAN Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance (ADRFI) Programme. The Programme will strengthen ASEAN’s disaster risk management capabilities through: i. Improving data required for assessing disaster risk exposure and financing solutions. ii. Enhancing knowledge on disaster financing solutions through capacity building. iii.

I would like today to express the views and expectations of the Eurosystem on the SEPA project. But let me first take a brief look at past achievements. The 2006 SEPA Summit focused mainly on building up all relevant stakeholders’ commitment to SEPA. Last year, the President of the ECB and myself underlined the opportunities which financial integration in general and SEPA in particular could bring to the economy. We also concluded that much more had to be done to reap these benefits. I specifically called for a closer involvement and dialogue with all stakeholders. Since then a lot of progress has been made and I am glad to see that, in general, the SEPA project is well on track. The basic SEPA components for euro payments have been developed, such as the SEPA credit transfer and the SEPA direct debit, as has the regulatory framework under the Payment Services Directive. Each national community has set up a forum for stakeholders to discuss the upcoming changes related to SEPA, and a European forum has been established. It is also impressive to see that many banks have made substantial preparations in order to launch the SEPA credit transfer in January 2008. It is expected that over 80% of banks representing the majority of credit transfer transactions (over 90%) will be operationally ready. The banks will demonstrate their commitment to SEPA at a signing event at the end of today. Financial integration is also progressing well in other fields.
Building from Malaysia’s leading position as an international Islamic finance centre, efforts to promote the sustainable growth of Islamic finance supported by a dynamic ecosystem will create opportunities for high income employment. At the same time, ASEAN integration remains high on Bank Negara Malaysia’s agenda. Meeting the e-payment targets that Bank Negara has set is also vital to enhance our economic efficiency, competitiveness and productivity. And we will continue to direct efforts at ensuring that all Malaysians can participate effectively in the financial system. Bank Negara will also continue to work with the Government on a range of economic priorities to sustain the Malaysian economy on a steady growth path. This includes the continued support and development of SMEs, and improvement in access to affordable housing. An area that demands greater attention and coordination going forward is the ‘sharing economy’. We have already seen how the likes of Uber and AirBnB have changed the business model of the transport and hotel sectors, and enhanced the earning potential for asset owners, lower costs for users, and drive innovation and service quality improvements among incumbent providers. They can also bring important benefits for the environment through the reduction of wastage and control of over-consumption. Similar innovative trends are also emerging within the banking and finance sector. To reap the benefits of technological advancements,  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  the Bank will work closely with relevant agencies and innovators in this space on new ways of delivering new products and services.

The economy was already closely integrated with the EU through trade and finance; it had close similarities with the euro area in the sectoral composition of output and employment, as well as in terms of business cycle synchronisation; and it also enjoyed a relatively high level of development (the price level and per capita GDP both stood at around 70% of the euro area average). Furthermore, the large euro area countries had long been among Malta’s most important trading partners and sources of foreign direct investment. As for the Maastricht criteria, the only serious doubts centered on the fiscal criteria. As noted previously, exchange rate stability was never an issue and the strong presence of the euro in Malta’s currency basket had also fostered convergence in interest rates. In fact, the interest rate criterion had been met long before EU accession. Fulfilling the inflation criterion was not considered an obstacle either, as the inflation rate had been generally below the EU reference value, and the upward risks were largely related to the impact of the VAT increase planned for January 2004. Although inflation continued to exceed the EU limit for most of the period from the second half of 2004 until the autumn of 2006, this mainly reflected the introduction of measures aimed at aligning energy and fuel prices more closely with market rates at a time of spiralling oil prices. Malta is totally dependent on oil, not only for electricity generation but also for water production.
The supervisors should focus on interbank credit and liquidity risks and system-wide risks that can arise in cross border fund transfer processes and multi-currency transactions and take action to mitigate such risks. In general, consumer protection concerns may be an important consideration if relationships are not well-defined and imperfections in the operational environment provide opportunities for intermediaries and service providers to benefit from inefficiencies relating to customer transfers. Central banks in the SAARC region should also concentrate on the legal and regulatory aspects of common clearing and settlement mechanisms. The fundamental purpose of rules governing payment relationships in a market is to define clearly the rights and obligations of each party to a payment transaction, be it domestic or cross border. This includes the payer, payee and banking intermediaries. In this regard, the SAARC region needs comprehensive governing laws which (a) provide certainty and predictability with respect to the rights and duties of parties to a payment transaction; (b) ensure that payments are made efficiently, at low cost, and with adequate security; (c) minimize credit, liquidity and systemic risks; and (d) support commercial transactions in the region. Of special concern is that payment laws should provide clarity as to how credit exposures arising in connection with payments are resolved when a counterparty fails to perform or other types of losses are incurred. All of the above potential sources of trouble in the payment system, i.e.

We need to assess these systems against some benchmarks or international norms which would help to increase efficiency, safety and the integrity at national and regional level. In doing so, it may also be useful to look at the benchmarks set by the regional initiatives such as CEMLA, SADEC, CIS, API or other advanced payment systems. Third, the framework need not aim to introduce or formalize too extravagant payment mechanisms for the SAARC countries at this stage, but it should focus on the need to elevate the national payment systems of member countries to a level capable of facilitating present and future trade and investment flows and mitigating risks in cross border transactions. This task can be facilitated by setting up National Payment Councils (NPCs) in their own countries and complying with common standards, harmonization policies and international best practice. Fourth, the framework should broadly include the following: • •  • •  A time targeted vision acceptable to all members. A clear mission accompanied by a statement of the roles and commitment and responsibilities of all members. Policy objectives necessary to facilitate the present and future trade and investment flows within the region. Funding sources, budgetary allocations and an appropriate subscription formula. Guiding principles for mitigating risks and reaping benefits. 7. Road map and way forward  •  If SAARC central bank representatives consent to establish a SAARC regional payment initiative, it will be necessary to appoint an apex body which is capable of taking the reforms forward.