samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
Let me note, in passing, that those problems unfortunately were not specific to the Euro area. Public debt jumped by around 30% of GDP in UK and in US. Structural deficits in those countries stand at similar or higher levels than those in most parts of the Euro area. Overall, the crisis has put into light major deficiencies in the implementation of fiscal discipline and, more generally, in the economic governance of the Euro area. It is indeed demanding to operate a single currency with multiple fiscal and structural national policies. Given the insufficient of market discipline, the founders of the Euro had seen the problem and put in place the Growth and Stability Pact. The principles were sound. The framework was adequate. The implementation has been extremely weak. Bluntly speaking, peer pressure failed to ensure consistent and rigorous respect of the principles which had been agreed upon. It was, and remains necessary to make a “quantum leap” in economic governance. What did we do ? The governments are now trying to address those deficiencies. Significant progress has been made over the past year. At the national level, all Member States have embarked upon credible public finance consolidation plans that are already bearing fruit. At the EU level, a new framework has been agreed upon. The first pillar is a strengthening of the SGP with a much stronger preventive arm. Surveillance over budgetary policies has been reinforced with a more effective prevention/correction of excessive deficits.

This is an essential element of robustness and, for outside investors, provides a strong guarantee of long term solvency. Its aggregate fiscal balance (with a 2010 deficit at 6,3% of GDP) is the most favorable of all advanced economies ( US is at 10,5%, UK at 9,6% and Japan at 7,7%). The same holds true for public debt which stands at 92% of GDP similar to 93% in the US versus 200% in Japan. But, of course, markets, and analysts do not look always at the euro area as a whole. Because fiscal policies remain national, they tend to assess separately the situation of public finances in each individual country. While most analysts would acknowledge the magnitude of the efforts undertaken, some tend to take a very pessimistic view about future outcomes. As I understand it, that pessimism can be articulated around two lines of argument. First, the amplitude of fiscal consolidation will negatively affect growth for a very long time making it impossible to service debt and leading unavoidably to some kind of restructuring. And second, this economic stagnation will trigger strong political reaction which, ultimately, would put the very existence of the euro area at risk. In short, the whole reasoning is based on the euro area, and more specifically, its periphery, being unable to return to normal growth anytime in the foreseeable future. This is a very dramatic assumption and it matters a lot because, as we all know, the dynamics of debt are extremely sensitive to forecasts about future growth.
Thomas C Baxter: Compliance – some thoughts about reaching the next level Remarks by Mr Thomas C Baxter, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the Fordham Journal of Corporate Counsel & Financial Law Symposium, Fordham Law School, New York City, 9 February 2015. *  *  *  These remarks are personal and do not necessarily represent the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, or any component of the Federal Reserve System. Introduction Let me begin by thanking Professor Sean Griffith, the director of the Corporate Law Center, and Robert Lyons, editor of the Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law, for inviting me to participate in this symposium about corporate compliance and corporate governance. Let me also thank Fordham Law School for hosting the symposium. I would also like to recognize a colleague who is with us today. He is Martin Grant, who is the New York Fed’s chief ethics and compliance officer. I have had the privilege of working with Martin for the last 25 years, and much of what I have learned about compliance I have learned from him. In the space sometimes labeled compliance, we have come a very long way in a relatively short time. In about 20 years, compliance has transformed from a nice idea to an important component of most major corporations. This is especially true in the highly regulated industries, including the industry where I have made my career, financial services.

In the United States, the “Volcker rule” has been introduced. This prohibits US-operating banks from undertaking proprietary trading and restricts private equity activity. The rule was tabled in October 2011 and became law in July 2012. Banks have two years to comply. In the United Kingdom, the proposals of the “Vickers Commission” include placing a ringfence around retail banking activities, supported by higher levels of capital. The final version of these proposals was tabled in September 2011 and legislation to enact them is planned by 2015. Banks will have until 2019 to comply. Most recently in Europe, the “Liikanen plan” was announced in October 2012. It proposes that the investment banking activities of universal banks be placed in a separate entity from the remainder of the banking group. There are at present no plans to legislate these proposals. As with the other reform strands, it is remarkable how quickly radical structural reform proposals are finding their way onto the statute book. And although different in detail, these proposals share a common motivation: separation of certain investment and commercial banking activities. In theory, such a separation delivers financial stability benefits of two distinct types (Boot and Ratnovski (2012)). First, separation reduces the risk of cross-contamination. Riskier investment banking activities, when they go wrong, can pollute and dilute the financial resources of the retail bank. This potentially inflicts losses (or fear of losses) on depositors. It may also constrain banks’ ability to make loans to the real economy when it might most need them.
They will either adjust themselves to the allEuropean standards or are likely to continue operating also transactions of local or specific character, which will not be eligible for processing via the all-European standards. Ladies and Gentlemen, despite turmoil on the global financial markets, the financial market in Poland is developing very fast. However, there are probably serious challenges in the pipeline, related to developments on some markets and to the changing architecture of the financial system in Europe. We have to face those challenges so that future generations of Poles can benefit from the ever better functioning of the financial market in Poland over the decades to come. References Bernanke B., Asset price “bubbles” and Monetary Policy speech before the New York Charter of National Association for Business Economics, 15 October 2002. Bernanke B., Reflections on the Yield Curve and Monetary Policy, Remarks by Chairman B. Bernanke Before the Economic Club of New York, 20 March 2006. Bernanke B., Gertler M., Monetary Policy and Asset Price Volatility, [in] New Challenges for Monetary Policy, a symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Jackson Hole, Wyoming 26-29 August 1999. Bernanke B., Gertler M. Should central banks respond to movements in asset prices?, American Economic Review, May 2001. Blinder A., Reis R., Understanding the Greenspan standard, [in] The Greenspan Era: Lessons for the Future, a symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Jackson Hole, Wyoming 25-27 August 2005.

For instance, for banks, it is important to allow for the fact that  2  BIS Review 101/2009  the size of an institution is already taken into account in the prudential ratios, since capital requirements are proportionate to exposures. It is also important to bear in mind that the diversification of business lines, which goes hand in hand with a certain size of institution, may be a factor of resilience that should not be discouraged. This is an important and delicate task that has been entrusted to the FSB. 2. Developing multilateral surveillance  I will now turn to collective surveillance. Let me start with the following simple observation: the crisis did not emerge from where we were expecting. Our warning systems, both at the national and regional levels, let us down. Above all, we did not have an overall, across-theboard view of the vulnerabilities. We omitted to take into account the interactions between global economic imbalances, international financial stability and national regulation and supervision. The crisis took us by surprise because it broke out at the heart of the system, i.e. in the US financial sector. Unlike other recent financial crises and in particular the Asian crisis at the end of the 1990s, contagion spread from the industrialised countries to the rest of the world. Surveillance instruments, in particular those of the IMF, were chiefly designed to detect a balance of payments crisis, whereas this crisis first affected the financial systems. We were prepared for a foreign exchange crisis, i.e.
Smart regulation for a smart financial centre First and foremost, a smart financial centre must be a safe financial centre. Technology can be a double-edged sword. If not managed well, it can potentially lead to a variety of risks in the financial industry: •  financial crime and illicit transactions;  •  loss of data or compromise of confidentiality;  •  glitches that damage reputation, disrupt business, or worse, cause systemic crisis. The first priority on our journey towards a Smart Financial Centre is therefore to continually strengthen the industry’s cyber security. As more financial services are delivered over the Internet, the frequency, scale, and complexity of cyber attacks on FIs have increased globally. Hackers and cyber criminals are constantly probing IT systems for weaknesses to exploit. There are two reasons for concern: •  First, the connectedness among FIs mean that a serious cyber breach in one institution can potentially escalate into a more systemic problem. •  Second, repeated cyber breaches could diminish public confidence in online financial services and reduce people’s willingness to use FinTech in general. MAS and the financial industry in Singapore take cyber security seriously.

•  FIs are expected to: –  implement controls and measures to preserve the confidentiality of sensitive data  –  maintain the integrity and availability of their systems  –  conduct regular vulnerability assessments and penetration tests to evaluate the robustness of their cyber defences  •  MAS conducts regular onsite inspections of key FIs’ technology risk management processes and controls to check that they meet these requirements. •  FIs have also established Cyber Security Operations Centres to enhance their cyber surveillance and gather cyber intelligence. BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  But cyber threats will not go away. Like a cat and mouse game, both hackers and cyber defenders have been enhancing their tools and techniques along with advances in technology as well as in response to one another. •  As part of this evolution, a new wave of next-generation cyber security solutions is emerging, in areas such as trusted computing, security analytics, threat intelligence, active breach detection, and intrusion deception. •  The financial industry needs to keep abreast of these developments. While seeking to ensure cyber security, MAS’s regulatory approach towards fostering innovation and the adoption of new technologies will take three forms. First, innovation owned by FIs. In matters of innovation, time to market is critical. FIs are free to launch new ideas without first seeking MAS’ endorsement, as long as they are satisfied with their own due diligence.
Along with the Central Bank, the Committee is composed of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, the Capital Markets Board of Turkey, the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund and the Undersecretariat of Treasury. In the international arena, Turkey became a member of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in 2009. It will take part in G20 Troika in 2014 and assume the Annual Presidency of the G20 in 2015. Moreover, Turkey’s representative from the Undersecretariat of Treasury will join the FSB Steering Committee during the 2014–2016 period when Turkey will be in G20 Troika. Moreover, Turkey became a member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS) in 2009. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey will take part in the FSB Steering Committee during the period 2013–2015 when Turkey will be chairing the FSB Regional Consultative Group for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). As part of the governance reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a New Constituency was established with the countries Turkey, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Belarus and Kosovo. According to this agreement, the Executive Director position will rotate among Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Turkey. This is perhaps a symbolic but, in my personal view, a very significant step in the right direction regarding the future of the Turkish-Austrian relations. Distinguished Guests, At this point, I would like to exemplify increasing commercial and economic relations between Austria and Turkey.

Our export to Austria was 1.1 billion USD and import from Austria was 1.6 billion USD at the end of 2012. These numbers are quite small compared to the potential. On the financing side, however, there is good news. Austria is the leading country in foreign direct investment flows to Turkey for the period after 2008 with 7 billion USD in total. Direct investments are mainly focused on the energy sector. There are currently 643 Austrian firms operating in Turkey. Distinguished Guests, The European Union is a success story regarding peace and cooperation among nations with rather bitter historical memories. No wonder the European Union obtained the Nobel Peace Prize in year 2012. Despite all the debates and a high degree of uncertainty regarding the new economic governance structure in the EU, I sincerely believe Turkey’s closer cooperation with Austria will bring invaluable outcomes in line with the European spirit. To conclude, I would like to express my view that the future of the commercial, financial and economic relations between Austria and Turkey looks more promising than ever. Today’s joint meeting and the opening ceremony of the Exhibition “Contemporary Turkish Painting and Printmaking in the Republican Era” are small, symbolic, yet quite significant steps to mark the start of this new and healthy trend. Thank you very much for your attention. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3
In closing, let me re-dedicate on behalf of my colleagues at the MAS, our commitment to our mission:   to secure for Singaporeans a low rate of inflation;    to preserve the purchasing power of our official foreign reserves;    to keep our financial sector safe and sound amidst crisis and change; and    to grow Singapore as a vibrant and trusted financial centre. In this, we look forward to your continued support. Thank you. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3

The results achieved indicate that in this difficult macroeconomic environment the banking system has not only preserved its reliability, but has continued to perform its economic role of financial intermediary. Another positive trend is especially worth noting, prompted by this Forum. Banks are not focusing only on coping with current issues and obstacles. Regardless of the difficulties, banks are putting much thought and effort into developing and implementing new business solutions and products based on the opportunities offered by the information and communications technologies. New solutions are sought not only in the area of good management of risks and business processes, but also in developing new services and sales channels. I would not allow myself to give examples from the experience of one or another bank. The Forum will provide plenty of opportunities to find this out for yourselves. I will use as illustration of my words the payment infrastructure. The connectivity achieved by the operator of the main retail payment systems in this country in the past year, presently makes available to the Bulgarian banks the so-called SEPA connectivity to several thousand banks in the European Union. This, on its own part, provides new opportunities for providing reliable and high-quality services to ultimate customers. As part of my congratulatory address on the occasion of the opening of this Forum, I will allow myself to pose a question, namely the question of the connection between the information and communications technologies management and sales management, or to put it more broadly – marketing.
Individual lenders fail to take into account that their behaviour has an impact on the ability of other market participants to bear debt. This applies, for example, when investors are increasingly exposed to the same risks and invest in the same markets. For instance, let us assume that a large number of companies or households simultaneously take out loans to purchase real estate. This situation creates systemic risk because a negative surprise on the real estate market can lead to many of these investors incurring losses at the same time, forcing them to sell off their assets so that they can continue meeting their loan 15  On ‘Black Monday’, 19 October 1987, the Dow Jones index plunged by more than 20%. As a result, equity markets around the world came under heavy pressure. Page 8/16  commitments. This can generate a self-reinforcing spiral of falling real estate prices, more borrowers who can no longer service their debts, and thus greater pressure to sell. Distorted expectations  Moreover, the behaviour of economic agents during a credit boom is not always entirely rational. This brings us to the third factor that can contribute to excesses on the credit market – distorted expectations (cf. slide 12). A glance at the history of financial crises shows: The longer an economic upturn persists, and the higher asset prices rise at the same time, the more over-optimistic economic agents are about future growth.

Thomas Jordan: Monetary policy and the business cycle Summary of a speech by Mr Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the 75th anniversary celebrations of the KOF Swiss Economic Institute, Zurich, 23 September 2013. The complete speech can be found in German on the Swiss National Bank’s website (www.snb.ch). *  *  *  Monetary policy contributes to the prosperity of an economy by ensuring price stability in the medium and long term. This makes it possible to put resources to more efficient use, from an economic point of view, and also promotes investment and, with it, long-term growth. Price stability also helps to avoid undesirable distribution effects. Households with lower incomes derive particular benefit from this. Monetary policy can be used to dampen cyclical fluctuations. However, it is not suitable for short-term fine-tuning of the economy. From the point of view of the business cycle, the goal of monetary policy must rather be the reduction of larger risks and the alleviation of extreme situations. An example of one such measure is the minimum exchange rate, which the Swiss National Bank (SNB) set on 6 September 2011 to halt the Swiss franc's upward trend, thus averting a deflationary spiral and warding off the danger of a serious economic crisis. Monetary policy decisions are always subject to uncertainty. It is therefore of key importance that the SNB has a sound decision-making basis.
The krone depreciation has helped start the restructuring process. After a decade of higher growth in imports than mainland exports, export growth is now outpacing import growth. The tourism industry is one of many industries experiencing an upswing. Many export firms have announced plans to increase investments in 2016, which will likely entail an increase in production and market shares. Oil service companies are also benefitting from the krone depreciation. So far, around 75 percent of the field development contracts for Johan Sverdrup have been won by Norwegian companies, a clearly higher share than in recent years 2. The effect of the sharp fall in demand from oil companies is nevertheless predominant in the oil service industry. Both the oil production industry and the oil service industry must now go through a process of restructuring. Costs at many stages appear to have followed oil prices upwards. High prices may have created a sense of complacency. The profits from petroleum activities have nevertheless been substantial. Most of the economic rent has flowed into government coffers via the special taxation of oil production. But wages in oil production and oil services have also been relatively high. The  2  Statoil (2015): Press release of 9 December 2015. BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  rise in input prices and investment in the petroleum industry have been significantly higher than for other industries. The excess costs have reduced the economic rent.

Ong Chong Tee: Strengthening trust in our capital market Keynote speech by Mr Ong Chong Tee, Deputy Managing Director (Financial Supervision) of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, at My Money Seminar, Singapore, 16 November 2019. * * * 1 Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It is my pleasure to join you in this afternoon’s My Money public seminar. My Money was an initiative back in 2009 of the national financial education programme MoneySense, in collaboration with the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), the Securities Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS), and the Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics. 2 The name of the programme itself, My Money, underscores the importance of taking personal responsibility for one’s own finances— be it spending, savings or investments. 3 This afternoon, I will focus my remarks around some issues related to the retail investor. A retail investor must know his or her own return objective and risk tolerance. He should understand the products that he is looking to invest in, and how these products can achieve his investment goals. 4 Other stakeholders also have an important part to play. These will include the banks, fund managers and other financial service providers that are involved in the creation, marketing and sale of financial products. Regulators like MAS and SGX RegCo are of course also integral in that they set the ground rules for participants in the marketplace.