samchain/econo-pairs-v1 huggingface dataset:
More likely and prudently, they will pursue incremental improvements to strengthen the structure and remedy the flaws which have been uncovered. We must find ways to make bubbles and crashes less likely and make countries less vulnerable to such mishaps when they occur. While we can strengthen the global financial system, we can never eliminate bubbles and crashes completely. Manias, panics and crashes are inherent to capitalism dating back to the tulip mania and South Sea Bubble of the 17th century and probably before. In theory, investors make independent decisions which collectively result in a stable and efficient market outcome. In reality, uncertainty due to incomplete information and a basic human instinct to herd can prove destabilising and disastrous. For small open economies, the best defence against an uncertain and sometimes dangerous environment is to pursue prudent macroeconomic policies, strengthen their financial systems and improve their governance framework. Sound domestic policies and institutions cannot eliminate panic and contagion. But they can cushion the adverse effects and make the economies more resilient to the financial shocks when they occur. Thank you. 7  BIS Review 93/1999

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is in this regard that the Bank of Zambia and Professor Collier with the support of the UK Department for International Development partnered to hold this international symposium whose objectives include: (i)  enhancing understanding of advantages of central bank independence among central bankers, Government, banks, non-bank financial institutions, the business community, academics and other stakeholders;  (ii)  drawing lessons and sharing experiences of central bank independence in developed, emerging and developing countries;  (iii)  appreciating the political, economic and legal aspects of operationalising greater independence for central banks; and  (iv)  exploring ways of enhancing fiscal and monetary coordination. Ladies and Gentlemen, the selection of papers to be presented and discussed at this Symposium will provide a platform for sharing ideas required for practical solutions aimed at improving the Bank’s service delivery. As we tackle issues of inflation, exchange rates, and other key macroeconomic indicators, let us use this forum to outline some of the past developments and challenges that lie ahead of us as we aim to taking Zambia’s financial sector to higher heights. Lastly, let me say that while we can all learn from what other central banks have done, each country should establish the legal framework for its central bank, and allow for its evolution, in ways which best fit that country’s own history and institutions. I have no doubt that the symposium will be thought-provoking and highly participatory.
The Initiative includes studies on issues such as new securitised debt instruments, issuance of debt by international financial institutions, regional credit guarantees and enhancement facilities, and the establishment of local and regional credit-rating and credit-enhancement agencies. Another initiative, known as the Asian Bond Fund project, represents collective efforts of the Executives' Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks, or EMEAP, to broaden and deepen the bond markets in the region. The ABF project will bring about many benefits. First, it introduces and promotes new fixed-income products to the Asian markets. Secondly, it helps improve market infrastructure. Thirdly, the initiative has helped accelerate tax and regulatory reforms in both the regional and domestic markets. The Bank, with its mission as the region's development bank, is well positioned to assist emerging market economies in Asia to cope with the challenges of globalisation. In the past year, the Bank has contributed to the issuance of local currency-denominated bonds in India, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. The Bank is also providing valuable support to the Asian Bond Markets Initiative through the former Regional Economic Monitoring Unit, which is now known as the Office of Regional Economic Integration. Mr President, your decision to expand this Office and dedicate it to regional cooperation matters is most timely and welcome, as a well defined agenda for the Bank on regional cooperation will enhance financial stability by strengthening regional surveillance and cooperation. Despite these efforts, developments, and - dare we say it - successes, there are many challenges lying ahead of us.

Norman Chan: Hong Kong's development as the premier banking hub in Asia Opening remarks by Mr Norman T L Chan, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, at the HKMA Conference for Independent Non-Executive Directors (INEDs), Hong Kong, 16 March 2017. * * * Fellow INEDs, Ladies and Gentlemen, 1. Good morning and a very warm welcome to all of you to the inaugural Annual Conference of INEDs of banks in Hong Kong! Today is a very special day for us because it is the first time in Hong Kong’s banking history that we have gathered in one place over 100 INEDs, which represents 82% of the total INED population of 123. 2. Today is also special because it marks an important milestone of the development of Hong Kong as the premier banking hub in Asia. 3. In case you do not know already, the size of Hong Kong’s banking sector, as measured in the amount of banking assets, has exceeded $ trillion by end of 2016. This equals to 8 times of Hong Kong’s GDP, which is a powerful manifestation of Hong Kong’s position as an international banking centre. Having said that, one of the things that we have learnt from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008: Big is not necessarily Beautiful. The bitter lessons of some of the aspiring financial centres such as Ireland and Iceland are clear and brutal reminder of the risks of pursuing fast expansion of the financial sector without giving proper attention to supervision and governance.
A number of international financial centres have recognised Islamic finance as an integral part of their financial markets in order to complete the suite of financial products and services available, and are therefore actively developing this segment. This trend is envisaged to stretch the New Silk Road from Asia and Middle East and extend to the West and to other parts of the world. Further opportunities: the Sukuk market Among the more significant developments in Islamic finance in the recent period has been the development of the Sukuk market. Although the size of the Sukuk market is modest by global standards, the Sukuk market has experienced remarkable growth, increasing at an average annual rate of growth of 40 percent. This growth is spurred in part by the growing funding requirements in emerging market economies, in particular, in Asia and the Middle East in which there has been increased investment activity. There has also been significant demand for the Sukuk spurred by the high levels of surplus savings and reserves in Asia and in the Middle East. This strong demand has also has been reinforced by the strong financial flows in the international financial system that is in search of higher returns and greater diversification of risks. It has been estimated however that about 80 percent of the sukuks issued have been subscribed by conventional international investors.

These sukuk issues have attracted foreign investors, thereby strengthening our inter-linkages with other international financial markets. Profits or income received by non-residents for investments in ringgit and non-ringgit Islamic securities issued in Malaysia are also exempted from withholding tax. In addition, the Government has granted tax neutrality measures to accommodate the sukuk issuance. To further enhance Malaysia's international financial linkages with other parts of the world, the domestic Islamic banking sector was liberalised further in 2004 with the issuance of new licenses to foreign Islamic financial institutions. In addition, the allowed foreign shareholding in Islamic financial institutions was raised to 49 percent of the total equity in existing Islamic  4  BIS Review 121/2007  financial institutions. New licenses are also extended to entities to conduct Islamic banking business and takaful and retakaful business in international currencies. These institutions, which may have up to 100% foreign equity ownership, are given operational flexibility to be established as a branch or subsidiary and enjoy a tax holiday for 10 years under the Income Tax Act. Concluding remarks The foundations for the sustainable global development of Islamic finance have now been put in place. Going forward, three key elements will be important in sustaining the current momentum. These include the investment in research and development and hence promote innovation, the development of the pool of talent, and the greater use of technology in Islamic finance. Islamic finance as an emerging form of financial intermediation would require tremendous investment in research and development to promote innovation.
But, by anchoring inflation expectations on the target, it can alter the transmission mechanism by reducing the persistence of inflationary shocks. And it does so without pretending to commit to a rule that is incredible because it is not expected to last. The implications of an inflation target for central bank communications are natural enough. First, the clarity of the inflation target focuses attention on the case for price stability which must be made continuously. Second, each forecast must be accompanied by an explanation of the current thinking behind the MPC’s views; in essence the “model” underlying the MPC’s thinking is changing all the time. Third, there is no point trying to communicate a time-invariant policy reaction function when that does not exist. The regular commentary on its thinking published in its Minutes and Inflation Reports is part of a process by which the MPC communicates with the general public. A reputation for communicating openly and honestly about the range of possible outcomes matters, because it makes it more likely that people will continue to listen. What are the main challenges for inflation targeting in the future? The most immediate stems from its very success. Although it is now widely accepted that there is no long-run trade off between inflation and output, the ability of monetary policy to affect output in the short run means that there is, in principle, a permanent trade off between the volatility of inflation and the volatility of output, which might be represented by the line AA in chart 6.

The choice of a horizon over which to bring inflation back to target is equivalent to choosing a point on this volatility trade off. The striking change, however, is the remarkable improvement in the trade-off that followed the introduction of inflation targeting, as can be seen in chart 6. The volatility of both inflation and output growth were much lower than in earlier periods. Part of the improvement may lie in the pattern of shocks over the past decade, although the world economy has hardly contributed to that stability. So the challenge ahead is that if a shock, larger than we have experienced recently but not large relative to historical experience, were to move inflation significantly away from target, then inflation expectations might become dislodged from the target. The behaviour of expectations and so the economy as a whole would change. So far there is little sign that the shocks we have experienced have detached inflation expectations from the target, and that is a source of comfort. But the MPC will continue to pay particular attention to the evidence on inflation expectations. Many of the problems of the past resulted from the failure to take action before expectations had started to drift upwards, and the cost of that inaction proved to be high.
The recent IMF report that I mentioned earlier noted the strong performance of Malta’s financial sector but also stressed the importance of strengthening the resilience of the sector. 8  BIS central bankers’ speeches  The elevated levels of credit and concentration risks call for stronger financial buffers, through higher provisioning and retention of profits. Such measures would strengthen the banks’ ability to absorb potential shocks and would also allow them to prepare themselves for compliance with stricter Basel III regulatory requirements. On the positive side, credit risk is being mitigated by prudent credit standards and cautious lending behaviour on the part of the banks. On the funding side, the resilience displayed by the banking system in the face of adverse international conditions is explained by the business model that has been a traditional characteristic of domestic banks, which rely strongly on retail deposits. Another indication of the overall prudent bias of the Maltese domestic banks is evident in the first chart presented earlier, which shows that leverage ratios of Maltese banks are considerably lower than in euro area in general. While the euro area average has declined on account of widespread deleveraging, the ratio remains significantly higher than the Maltese ratio, which has been quite stable. A further indication of the traditional funding model is the loan to deposit ratio, as shown in Chart 8, which is significantly low when compared with the major economies. This business model has served the domestic banking sector well.

Government finances were quite healthy, with low public debt and a low deficit to GDP ratio. The turning point came with the collapse of the housing market starting in 2007. A drop in banks’ share prices led to a deposit run on the banks. The scale of the problem snowballed after the Irish government guaranteed all the obligations of the largest banks. This transformed the house price crash into a sovereign debt crisis, with the evaporation of the markets’ confidence in Ireland’s ability to honour its obligations. Irish borrowing costs rose abruptly, requiring an EU/IMF bailout. 4  4  Ioannis Sarmas, ibid. BIS central bankers’ speeches  Strengthening governance As I have already mentioned, the ECB played an important role in the policy response to the crisis. In addition to the conventional interest rate tool, the ECB introduced a number of nonstandard measures (such as the three-year LTROs that I mentioned earlier, and a reduction in the required reserve ratio) to facilitate the transmission of monetary policy to the economy. The events of the last few years have provided important lessons for the construction of a whole new approach to European economic governance. The aim is to go beyond the shortterm responses, such as the Greek bailouts, and tackle the problem before the situation has become critical. To provide better support where necessary, the European Financial Stability Fund will be replaced by the European Stability Mechanism, which will be a permanent rescue fund with added firepower and a stronger mandate.
William C Dudley: The national and regional economy Remarks by Mr William C Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, New Jersey, 6 April 2015. *  *  *  Jason Bram, Chelsea Cruz, Tony Davis, Jonathan McCarthy, James Orr, Richard Peach, Paolo Pesenti and Joseph Tracy assisted in preparing these remarks. I am very pleased to be here at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and to have this opportunity to speak with the members of the Business Partners Roundtable. In my remarks, I will provide an update to my national outlook for 2015, as well as discuss economic developments in New Jersey. I will also briefly touch on how monetary policy might evolve should my economic outlook be largely realized over the next year. My meeting with you today is part of our continuing efforts to understand what is going on at the grassroots level of our economy. We plan these trips so I can meet with a diverse array of stakeholders in the region. This allows me to get a comprehensive picture of economic conditions in the region and a fuller understanding of the major issues and concerns. This is our first regional trip for 2015 and the third time we have visited northern New Jersey in the past four years.

Headwinds in the aftermath of the financial crisis are still in evidence, particularly the diminished availability and tougher terms for residential mortgage credit. How fast the normalization process will proceed depends mainly on two factors: how the economy evolves and how financial market conditions respond to movements in the federal funds rate. If financial market conditions do not tighten much in response to higher short-term interest rates, we might have to move more quickly. After all, the point of raising short-term interest rates is to exert some restraint on financial market conditions. In contrast, if financial conditions tighten unduly, then this will likely cause us to go much more slowly or even to pause for a while. At the end of the day, we will move short-term interest rates to generate the set of financial market conditions that we deem is most consistent with our employment and inflation objectives. How high will short-term rates ultimately need to go? I think this issue is very difficult to judge for a number of reasons. First, it depends on how financial market conditions evolve in response to our monetary policy adjustments. Second, it depends on other factors, such as real potential GDP growth, which, in turn, depends on the growth rates of the labor force and of productivity. My current thinking is that the long-run nominal federal funds rate consistent with 2 percent inflation is somewhat lower than in the past. My point estimate is 3½ percent, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on this.
Keeping consumers at the centre of change In embarking the journey of transformation, we must always keep the interests of consumers at the centre of change. This is absolutely essential. Life insurance services is a long term commitment and any loss of consumer confidence will set the industry back many years that would take many years to recover. With the coming into force of the Financial Services Act 2013 and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013, a number of important initiatives have been advanced in Malaysia to further strengthen the consumer protection framework. This includes clarifying of the duty of disclosure of policyholders and providing more equitable remedies for innocent non-disclosures. Plans to establish a Financial Ombudsman Scheme (FOS) are also well advanced with the Scheme expected to commence operations in the second half of 2015. The most important changes however, are going to be the ones that occur within individual institutions, to build a strong culture of ethical conduct that forms the value foundation on every aspect of an insurer’s business – from product design, to sales practices, claims management, consumer education and complaints handling. The Bank will play an important and more significant role in these various aspects. LIAM’s role to ensure the industry is focused on the right issues This evening, the industry celebrates 40 years of service by LIAM in support of the development of the life insurance industry.

With the changes that are reshaping the financial system, skills requirements in the financial industry will also change. Today new careers are also being created in more diverse areas including in areas of finance that have leveraged on technology such as in internet based services. Further challenges will arise from the intensification of competition for talent in a more borderless workplace. Given the importance of talent to performance greater attention needs to be accorded to talent development. There also continues to be an acute talent shortage of such skilled talent in our financial services industry. If left unresolved it will impede future growth and performance of the industry. This existing significant skills gap is already becoming a constraint on industry growth. Indicators from the AIF Skills Gap Index, which measures skills gaps within the workforce, point to a significant deficit in several skill sets that are considered important in the financial services industry. The creation of ACE represents an important step in efforts to provide a comprehensive and integrated solution for such skills and talent development for the industry. At the executive level, leadership, corporate governance and ethics are issues that have dominated attention in global finance given the need to recognise the importance of sustainable outcomes. There are high expectations of the financial industry to demonstrate responsible leadership that will also embrace a strong moral compass in its operations. Education and professional development have a key role in bringing to the forefront these important issues for the industry.
Arthur Yuen: 12th Annual AML & Anti-Financial Crime Conference Speech by Mr Arthur Yuen, Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) 12th Annual AML & AntiFinancial Crime Conference – APAC, 26 April 2021. * * *  What a difference three years makes 1. Good Morning, ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great pleasure for me to participate once again in the ACAMS APAC Conference, and my congratulations to the organisers for putting together such an interesting programme. 2. Since the last time I spoke here in 2018, life and the world have changed beyond recognition. In addition to its consequences for human health, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in far-reaching changes to the way financial services are delivered. Digital and online offerings have accelerated, while at the same time a multitude of opportunities has also opened up for those who would seek to abuse the global financial system. 3. For sure, we are focusing on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) issues over the next two days. At the same time, we must not lose sight of the core mandates that we have all been working very hard to deliver in this challenging period. And we have been broadly successful so far, by helping mitigate the economic disruption brought on by COVID-19 so that consumers and businesses can get through the pandemic and continue contributing to economic development. 4.

Hong Kong received a good FATF score card in 2019, but that only means that we are capable of doing more, sharing more, and contributing to better outcomes globally in a continuous manner. 19. Going forward, I believe that being adaptable in our implementation efforts will require changes in the way we do things. More specifically, while the pandemic continues to challenge all of us, I think it should be a catalyst for the wider adoption of latest technology, in the form of Regulatory Technology (Regtech), as well as more efficient and effective AML/CFT measures. Those I believe are also the views of David Lewis, Executive Secretary of the FATF who also said “As AML professionals, we all need to take more risks and stop just ticking the boxes.” I think he is referring to the much needed adaptability in our implementation efforts. The guidance from the FATF is reassuring in this regard, and this leads to my second point. The AML/CFT Regtech adoption is a journey for banks and we should begin to drive more effective outcomes in better leveraging that process. 20. We have seen in the past two years an increasing trend for regulators globally to call for, and through their actions, enable more innovation and flexibility in combatting money laundering and financial crime. That I think is a very welcome development. 21.