Feature
The IFF China Report 2021
Insight and perspectives from the world's leaders, premier policy-makers and financiers
CBDC: the case for ‘wait and see’
Despite growing interest, some central banks are staying out of the digital currency game
Central Banking FinTech & RegTech Global Awards 2021
In March 2021, Central Banking launched its fourth annual FinTech & RegTech Global Awards to showcase some of the groundbreaking projects undertaken in the community. The results are revealed in the awards articles published in this special winners’…
‘Run it hot’: the risks and rewards of a new policy era
Covid-19 has added impetus to an emerging intellectual shift in policy-making. But central banks face unresolved issues – on expectations, on fiscal policy, and on the capacity of the economy to ‘run hot’
The Belt and Road Initiative 2021 Survey – The impact of Covid‑19 on the BRI
The fourth annual Belt and Road Initiative survey reveals that the Covid‑19 pandemic has disrupted many projects despite China remaining committed to financing the initiative, which is expected to support future economic growth and environmental…
Should the Fed’s Fima facility be made permanent?
The emergency repo facility reassures reserve managers about access to dollar cash during a breakdown in the US Treasuries market
Cash infrastructure as public good – implications for the cash cycle
Efforts are under way in the Eurosystem to safeguard cash infrastructure as a ‘public good’ even as transaction volumes have fallen significantly. How can policy-makers strike the right balance?
The evolving ‘strategy function’ in central banks
Some institutions participating in a survey of 27 central banks still struggle to fully harness an effective ‘strategy function’, according to the ECB’s Jean-Charles Sevet and Alejandro de la Cuesta
Is the ECB implementing yield curve control?
The eurozone has adopted a hybrid system – lying somewhere between the Fed’s QE and the BoJ’s yield curve control – that targets wider financing conditions
Regulating big tech and non-bank financial services in the digital era
Big tech incursions into financial services in China and elsewhere demonstrate the potential benefits of adopting a digital-bank or holding-company approach to financial regulation
A rebuttal of Philip Turner’s criticism of the BIS ‘house view’
Robert Pringle critiques the key findings raised in Philip Turner’s occasional paper, ‘The new monetary policy revolution: advice and dissent’
Specialised lending initiative: Clearstream
Clearstream supports eurozone central bank asset purchase programmes by returning liquidity to the market through securities lending while helping Asian and American central banks secure access to this market
Central bank of the year: The Federal Reserve System
Overwhelming Fed interventions in March 2020 forestalled a damaging global financial crisis, as policy overhaul prompts introspection in Europe and Japan
Risk manager: National Bank of Georgia
Liquidity stress tests provided confidence to ease daily thresholds, and offer exchange rate, internal market and financial system support, without forcing the liquidation of illiquid reserves
Treasury systems initiative: Refinitiv
The firm’s data-driven approach is helping central banks stay ahead of fast-moving markets
Initiative of the year: Saudi Central Bank’s business continuity programme
Advanced planning has allowed Sama employees and systems to continue operating critical functions despite the Covid-19 lockdowns
Risk management technology: Ion Treasury
The US firm has championed Libor transition services, and supported reserve managers manage positions during the coronavirus shock
Economics in central banking: ‘Patterns in invoicing currency in global trade’, Emine Boz, Camila Casas, Georgios Georgiadis, Gita Gopinath, Helena Le Mezo, Arnaud Mehl and Tra Nguyen
An extensive data-gathering exercise allowed the authors to shed new light on critical aspects of policy-making in a globalised world, while clearing a path for other researchers to follow
Currency services: Crane Currency
The firm supported the needs of clients throughout the pandemic, while continuing to innovate with the launch of micro-optic security features
Financial market infrastructure services: Bloomberg
Bloomberg’s responsive deployment of new liquidity capabilities helped emerging-market central banks cope with pandemic market disruption
Payments and market infrastructure development – wholesale: Reserve Bank of New Zealand
New Zealand’s central bank has embraced major payments infrastructure changes to reduce risk and future-proof the country’s payments landscape
Payment services: ACI Worldwide
ACI has emerged as an important provider of real-time digital payments software, helping banks and small companies connect to core central bank infrastructure
Currency initiative: The ECB and US Federal Reserve’s CDI2 standards
The issuers of the world’s two most international currencies have created an important new technical standard to support more efficient cash management
Currency services initiative: CCL Secure
The banknote substrate provider is making a concerted effort to reduce its environmental impact by optimising production processes and building a recycling plant in Mexico