samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
This brief description of the legislative framework might lead one to suppose that the UK system is primarily statutory - yet the securities side is often described, at least by comparison with the US system, as one of self-regulation. Indeed, some argue that it is excessively self-regulating and, therefore, unreasonably lax. We would reject that last charge. And, in practice, the distinction between statutory and self-regulation is not black and white. The UK system has elements of both. Prudential supervision of insurance firms is carried out directly by a government ministry, which is unambiguously Government regulation. Banking supervision is carried out by the Bank of England. Constitutionally, this is not ‘Government’ regulation, but rather regulation by a public body which is authorised by specific Act of Parliament. Certainly no one describes what we do as self-regulation, even though the Bank of England is a bank. On the investment side, the picture is more complicated. The Government has delegated its powers to the Securities and Investments Board. The SIB’s governing board includes people who are active in financial services, but they are appointed by the Treasury and the Bank of England (indeed I am one of them) and are required to act in the public interest. Again, this does not look like self-regulation. However, the various front-line regulators are called, in the Act itself, ‘self regulating organisations’ (SROs). Their boards include a high proportion of active practitioners, elected by the industry to represent its views. Practitioners are also heavily involved in policy discussions, rule-making and enforcement functions.

François Villeroy de Galhau: Ensuring confidence in the currency Introduction by Mr François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France, at the conference on "Recent monetary policy developments", Paris, 4 May 2017. * * * Our currency, the euro, is at the centre of debates that are particularly important to French citizens. The Banque de France is independent from politics, but in keeping with our mandate within the French Republic to ensure confidence in the currency, it is my role to provide certain clarifications. I hear proposals for a dual currency with the return of a national currency in parallel to a European currency. I must say that such suggestions would put confidence in the currency in danger. No advanced economy has this type of parallel circulation. Where two currencies exist (or have existed) and can be used to make payments, one always inspires less confidence than the other. Generally, it is the “national” currency that suffers – the only one accessible to households, particularly poorer households, and to SMEs. The currency therefore quickly loses its value, leading to excessive price increases and a negative impact on purchasing power. If we were to consider returning to the ECU, it is important to remember that it has not existed for 18 years and was not a real currency: the ECU was a unit of account that could not be used by either individuals or companies to make payments.
The stock market slump has persisted for almost three years now. In the past few weeks, though, all major stock markets have at least witnessed some upward corrections. 2  BIS Review 73/2002  The long-term expectation that higher yields can be achieved only by taking higher risks has not proven true over a relatively long period of time. Unlike shares, low-risk bonds have generated attractive yields during this phase. This experience together with the fact that numerous, notably institutional investors have lost part of their risk capability might, in many instances, result in equity weightings remaining low in the foreseeable future. This change of behaviour will limit the stock markets' growth potential for the time being. At present, the price/earnings ratios of the major stock markets are close to the average of the past 15 years. This indicator suggests that, despite the price losses suffered, shares are not yet particularly low-priced. However, compared with the very low yield level of bonds, which are the most important investment alternative, shares do seem quite inexpensive. Does the stock market slump have any adverse effects on economic development? This seems certain for several reasons. For the corporate sector, it has become more expensive to raise capital, which undermines investment activity. Although direct shareholding is less common in Switzerland than, for example, in the United States, the asset losses incurred discourage private consumption. In many cases, the deteriorated financial position of pension funds necessitates an increase in contributions and/or a decrease in existing premium reductions.

To meet their delivery obligations in Swiss francs, the five banks draw on intraday liquidity, which the SNB offers through interest-free repo transactions. Since November, direct system participants have been able not only to use CLS services for their own purposes but also to offer these services to other banks. With this so-called third party business expanding and further direct participants and currencies joining the system next year, more and more payments will be settled through CLS. Currently, about 35,000 transactions in the amount of approximately USD 400 billion are settled in CLS every day. All parties involved are very satisfied with the system's mode of operation. By eliminating the settlement risk, CLS has made a significant contribution to the stability of the international financial infrastructure. 4  BIS Review 73/2002
For instance, a factor that impeded the FX market development in the 1990s was the settlement risk. In response to that, the banks that were the most active on the FX market created CLS – a new settlement system that operates based on the payment versus payment principle. 4 The new, supranational system has significantly reduced the credit risk and liquidity risk of FX operations, and thus increased banks’ activity on the FX market. At present, 15 currencies are settled in the CLS Bank. The system has also lowered costs incurred by the banks, as it helped decrease the number of payment instructions and the value of funds transferred in local payment systems. 5 In view of the fast progressing globalization of financial markets, it seems reasonable to raise the question whether the world has benefited from the globalization of financial markets, or whether it has become more risky. The effects of globalization of financial markets are diverse. The openness of economies and free capital flows induce investors to deposit their funds where they can generate the highest rate of return, which prompts financial institutions to execute transactions on new, poorly developed and non-liquid markets. It favours the increase in the liquidity of financial markets 6 and the decrease in the cost of transactions. Globalization has a significant impact on the lower cost of capital acquisition by enterprises. They increasingly often use forms of raising capital alternative to the bank loan, especially the issue of securities on the financial markets.

Since 1973, international trade has been growing on average by 11% per annum (from 22% of the GDP in 1973 to over 40% of the GDP in 2002), whereas the capital flows 1 increased from 7% of the global GDP in 1973 up to over 20% of the GDP in 2002. 1  Capital flows are defined here as a total of the FDI, portfolio investments and other investments recognized in the financial account of the balance of payments statement, exclusive of changes in receivables and liabilities of monetary authorities and the central government.
1:141-63 Phelps, E., (1967) “Phillips Curves, Expectations of Inflation, and Optimal Unemployment Over Time”, Economica 34 August: 254-81  BIS Review 103/1998  – 11 –  Phillips, A. W., (1958) “The Relationship between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wage Rates in the United Kingdom, 1861–1957”, Economica 25 November: 283-99 Rogerson, R., (1997) “ Theory Ahead of Language in the Economics of Unemployment”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 11, No. 1, 73–92 Tobin, J., (1980) “Stabilisation Policy Ten Years After” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, No. 1:19–71 *  *  *  BIS Review 103/1998

When the Swedish currency depreciated, the borrowers could not repay the higher loan values because their revenue stream was in local currency. The banks believed themselves to be hedged against the foreign exchange risk since they were funded in the currency of the loans given, but they failed to see the corresponding increased credit risk. Other risks were less prominent in the Swedish crisis but, in my opinion, will be of increasing importance to banks all over the world. Among those are operational risks. Several recent financial debacles, such as the Baring crisis, were due to operational risk. Even though the Y2K problem was successfully managed, the huge computer systems of banks could cause large losses if technical or other failures occur. Another risk, which in my mind will become increasingly important, may be called “strategic risk”. The financial market in most countries is highly competitive. In order to survive and prosper, banks must take bold decisions on new activities, new establishments, mergers, technological investments and so on. Decisions like these have to be taken, but should they go wrong, banks may suffer large losses and may even go bankrupt. To handle these and other risks, internal controls and internal audit systems are becoming increasingly important. The huge mass of information in modern banking makes it impossible for supervisors to monitor individual transactions.
To help you better understand the various methods, we will have a brief demonstration to illustrate these methods towards the end of the press conference. A series of promotional activities will be launched by the banking industry and individual banks from June 2005 onward to help customers to fully understand this security measure. Mr He will highlight the key features of the consumer education programme to you. Two-factor authentication strengthens the security controls of Internet banking and protects bank customers from Internet banking frauds. We are confident that with the joint efforts of the banking sector, bank customers, the Police and the HKMA, Internet banking will continue to flourish under a safe and sound environment in Hong Kong. BIS Review 44/2005  1

On the other hand, given the high level of capacity utilisation and movements in the exchange rate, there is a danger that higher production costs will increasingly be passed on to prices. Should economic momentum remain unchanged or should movements in the Swiss franc result in a further relaxation of monetary conditions, further increases in the interest rate are likely in the months ahead. Economic outlook The international environment has a strong impact on economic developments in Switzerland. According to the IMF forecasts, the global economy is poised to grow at a sustained rate of approximately 5% in 2007. While the economic activity in the United States has been satisfactory, it is a little less dynamic than expected. By contrast, the economic situation in Europe is clearly healthier than we had expected. This encouraging development has had a favourable impact on our economy. Economic activity in Switzerland continued to be dynamic in the first months of the year. In the first quarter, gross domestic product (GDP) was up by 3.2% saar, exceeding the long-term average growth rate by a significant amount. The strong economic performance assisted the recovery of the labour market. Employment was up in industry as well as in the construction and service areas. As a result, unemployment figures dropped further and the unemployment rate fell below the level of 3%. Demand indicators were still trending upwards, which should result in a renewed drop in unemployment in the months ahead.
In short, banks will need to either go digital or risk being sidelined. Failure to meet changing consumer expectations can have serious implications for banks. The recent history of the mobile phone industry is a case in point. In 1997, 60% of the mobile phone market belonged to the specialist mobile phone producers like Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson. Today, that same market share has been captured by Samsung, Apple and Huawei. Not only are the current market leaders three entirely different firms but they are essentially electronics and computer companies, unlike the past firms that specialized in manufacturing mobile phones.12 The incumbent mobile phone companies of the 90s failed to recognize the evolving needs of their customers. Ultimately, their complacency saw them being pushed to the fringes of a market they once dominated. Something similar could happen to the banking industry. Unless it pays attention to and serves the changing needs of its customers, it might be sidelined by telecom companies or technology firms as primary providers of financial services. Take the example of Ant Financial, WeChat Pay and M-pesa, which are firms that were launched by technology and telecom companies. All three have enjoyed tremendous growth to become the largest providers of financial services in their respective markets. By leveraging technology and adopting a customer-centric approach, they have surpassed the largest banks in their markets.

The central bank mandate of financial stability is less clearly defined particularly in circumstances in which the supervisory function does not reside in the central bank. The majority of central banks in emerging economies in Asia, however, has the responsibility of the supervisory function although for three of the region’s major economies – Japan, China and Korea, this function resides in a separate agency. Even for central banks that has the responsibility of the supervisory function, the specific outcomes to be achieved are less clearly defined compared to the mandate for price stability. In Malaysia, our new Central Bank Act of 2009 has defined this mandate in terms of the risks to financial stability – that is,  BIS Review 155/2010  1  the risk of the disruption to financial intermediation, the risk of disruption to the orderly functioning of financial markets and the risk of loss of confidence in the financial system. Common to most central banks in emerging economies is the mandate to develop the financial system. Given the stage of development of financial systems in emerging economies, this is an important mandate not only to enhance the financial intermediation process in the economy but also for the purposes of facilitating the mandate of monetary and financial stability. This mandate has involved institutional building, financial market development and the strengthening of the financial infrastructure including that of the payment systems and the legislative framework.
As a central bank, we have to be prepared for all contingencies. And likewise, the financial sector should prepare for the worst: a no-deal Brexit. At the same time, I hope, of course, that Europe and the United Kingdom will find an agreement allowing for a transition period that gives everyone time to prepare for an orderly Brexit. I would like to end with a personal question. The ECB needs a new President next year. Would that be a job for you? No one can “apply” to become the ECB President. It’s in the hands of Heads of States and governments, and that discussion has not started. 3/3  BIS central bankers' speeches

21  There are currently three countries that use, or plan to use, a leverage ratio, namely the United States, Canada and Switzerland. Switzerland has introduced a leverage ratio for its two large, internationally active banks, which will take effect in 2013. 22  Pressure on banks to reduce leverage has been apparent from discussions in various international fora, such as the G20, which has called for the introduction of leverage ratios, in addition to risk-based capital ratios, in order to prevent banks from arbitraging capital requirements. 36  BIS Review 10/2010  With improving conditions in the economy and financial markets, supportive measures by governments and central banks have progressively less “raison d’être”. The withdrawal of these measures must occur in a timely fashion; being too early or too late could have unwanted implications for the speed at which the new steady state can be reached. In particular, too brisk a phasing-out could lead to a dramatic process of de-leveraging, jeopardising the economic recovery. On the other hand, it is essential to prevent the banking system from relying on support measures for too long, i.e. becoming “addicted” to them. The intermediation role of the central banks during the crisis, if drawn out for too long, may reduce incentives for banks to return to actively operating in the money market. Such a scenario may also weaken incentives to restructure banks’ balance sheets. Credit flows to households and firms represent an indicator of financing conditions and of the prospects of a recovery in economic activity.
Chilean exports performed well during 2018, partly reflecting an increase in volume exports from all economic sectors in general. Worth noting were shipments manufacturing products, which reached their highest nominal growth since 2011, supported also by the favorable evolution of the international prices of many of these products (figure 7). IV. International scenario  Internationally, there has been a more marked slowdown in growth in the main economies. The data was particularly weak in the Eurozone, with a significant adjustment of trade inside and outside the region in the fourth quarter of 2018. In China, growth went from 6.8% in the first quarter, to 6.4% in the fourth. Moreover, concerns about how intense this global deceleration may become have been exacerbated. Different shortterm activity indicators underperformed the market forecast: the outlook for firms in the manufacturing sector (PMI) has deteriorated, manufacturing output has slowed or even contracted in several economies and international trade has weakened (figure 8). Preoccupation over the weakening of the economies, together with lower inflationary pressures and high financial volatility, resulted in an increase in monetary and/or fiscal stimuli in several countries. In the US, the Federal Reserve took a considerable turn in its monetary policy stance, showing itself open to maintaining its  4  expansionary orientation for some time longer, in contrast to the tighter signals emitted up to the third quarter. This led to a significant decline in US long-term interest rates. which has even translated into reversal of the US yield curve (figure 9).

As the graph shows, inflation in the first quarter developed as predicted by us (blue curve). The dashed red curve represents the new forecast. This is based on a steady three-month Libor of 0.5%. The forecast begins in the second quarter of the current year and ends in the first quarter of 2007. In order to analyse the inflation prospects, it is useful to differentiate three phases. I shall begin with the short-term inflation prospects. In particular, I shall discuss the role of oil prices. Then I will present our outlook for the economy, which affects the medium-term inflation forecast. Finally, I shall talk about the long-term inflation prospects. For this, an analysis of monetary developments is helpful. The development of oil prices In the short term, i.e. for a period of approximately one year, monetary policy can hardly steer price developments. Price levels are largely determined by monetary policy decisions made in the past. Inflation may, however, be temporarily influenced by events that are not attributable to monetary policy. We are currently experiencing such an event in the form of higher oil prices. Price increases for oil products have contributed significantly to the rise in annual inflation measured by the national consumer price index (CPI) from 0.5% in April to 0.9% in May. The increase in the oil price is also the main reason why our inflation forecast exceeds the March forecast until the first quarter of 2005 despite the higher interest rate level.
The establishment of the complaints unit by insurers and takaful operators is expected to promote a more pro-active approach in the management of complaints. Such consumer complaints also provide valuable information regarding any shortcoming in the products and services. Responding to consumer complaints also promotes customer goodwill. Certainly, as consumer awareness and financial literacy increases with the implementation of this Consumer Education Programme, it is essential for financial service providers to recognise the opportunity to build customer loyalty and increase customer retention through this mechanism. Ladies and Gentlemen, The advent of new technology and other market innovations will bring new challenges and possibilities for businesses and consumers. We can expect that this pace of change in the financial services industry will continue to increase. In striving to adjust to these changes, we should not underestimate the significant improvements in financial and business practices that can be achieved by empowering consumers through education. BIS Review 38/2003  3  As we continue on this drive to raise the standards of individual economic and financial well-being through consumer education, the broad involvement of all parties involved in every stage of the programme’s implementation is vital to encourage expanded linkages between business and consumer education on an ongoing basis. Our success in this important endeavour will have a significant bearing on how well prepared our society is to meet the challenges of an increasingly dynamic and complex financial environment.

The Consumer Education Programme seeks to provide relevant information to consumers about insurance products, their costs and benefits, processes and documentation involved in the insurance cycle, and more importantly, the rights and responsibilities of the various parties to an insurance contract. It is also to promote greater awareness among consumers about the means and avenues for redress in the event of dispute or dissatisfaction with any insurance product or service. This Consumer Education Programme for the insurance sector will extend over a 10-year horizon and will be undertaken on several levels under a step-by-step approach to reach out to the various target groups. Similar to the Consumer Education Programme for banking, the insurance education programme has been given the acronym: “InsuranceInfo” (or “InfoInsurans” in Bahasa Malaysia). Over time, it is envisaged that the acronym and the programme will become readily recognizable in the public domain. In its first year, the Consumer Education Programme will focus on the wide dissemination of information in 12 priority areas that have been identified. These include issues on the fundamentals of insurance and takaful products and services, highlighting the important terms and conditions, rights and obligations under a policy contract as well as the redress avenues available, and the common insurance and takaful products. With participation from the insurance associations, Bank Negara Malaysia has produced 12 booklets that set out the important information for consumers in these areas.