Feature
Currency manager: Central Bank of Costa Rica
New banknotes and coins combine environmental protection, aesthetics and security
Payment services: CMA
The Swedish payments firm is well known as a provider of core infrastructure for central banks, and is now a key player in a new payment system linking the Arab world and beyond
Currency services: De La Rue
Printing doyen expanded capacity, functionality and market share amid corporate turnaround
Technology services – regulatory: Regnology
The regtech/suptech provider continues to innovate, securing major new contracts with central banks and regulators
Financial market infrastructure services: SIA
The Italian company impressed with its multi-year work on the ‘big-bang’ implementation of Canada’s new RTGS
Communications initiative: Bank of Jamaica
‘Centrally Speaking’ underpins not just education, but monetary policy
Outstanding contribution for capacity building: Peter Nicholl
Governor of Bosnia’s central bank helped rebuild an economy ravaged by civil war
Website: Central Bank of Eswatini
The southern African central bank has made significant improvements to its website service
Global markets: HSBC
The bank’s long-term commitment to clients and its wide range of expertise shone in 2021 as central banks navigated the aftermath of the Covid-19 shock
Collateral management services: Vermeg
The firm has added another G7 central bank to its list of clients, and is immersed in a major project to build the eurozone’s new collateral management system
Advisory services: Kroll
The US firm shed light on the ‘missing banknotes’ scandal in Liberia, and is now working with the central bank to overhaul its cash operations
ECB supervision and the state of the eurozone’s banks
ECB banking supervision has passed the first stage of the Covid-19 test. But many challenges remain, including banks’ internal governance and data processing, excessive leveraged lending in some segments, and a lack of progress towards a more competitive…
Risk manager: Bank of Portugal
The eurozone central bank has completed a multi-year project to develop its risk appetite framework.
Green initiative – regulatory: Banque de France and ACPR
The French central bank and prudential regulator created an innovative stress-test methodology
Green initiative – operational: Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
The ECCB installed its own solar farm in effort to become carbon-neutral
Governor of the year: Mario Marcel
Chile’s governor has expertly navigated a third currency crisis in two years, amid wider EM stress and political volatility, while bolstering the central bank’s capabilities
ESG portfolio services: Moody’s
The US company is offering new ways for central banks to assess and transition their ESG exposures
Asset manager: BNP Paribas Asset Management
The financial institution has helped clients to diversify their portfolios, boost returns and adopt ESG strategies during the second year of Covid-19
Digital money and central banks
Central banks must reflect on the monetary policy, regulatory and financial stability implications from crypto assets, stablecoins and CBDCs to stay relevant in the digital age of money
How supervisors can step up the AML fight
Marcus Pleyer, president of the Financial Action Task Force, says digital tools, stronger co‑operation and risk-based methods can give supervisors an edge. But threats are still proliferating
Regulators race to curb crypto asset money laundering
Crypto assets are increasingly used as vehicles for money laundering, but regulating them is not necessarily straightforward
Change at the Bundesbank: from Weidmann to Nagel?
Joachim Nagel’s appointment highlights the importance of politics at the apex of German central banking. Veteran central bank watcher Klaus C Engelen looks at the media reaction and asks if Buba/ECB discord is set to continue
Navigating the digital transformation at Deutsche Bundesbank – an update
Joachim Wuermeling explains how the Covid-19 pandemic and other developments have affected the German central bank’s digital transformation during the past two years