Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in China, central bankers and policymakers have kept a very sharp eye on the health of the global economy. In some cases, Covid-19 has been compared to SARS in 2003, which some economists estimate cost the global economy $45 billion. At that time China only represented 8% […]
02
Mar
Mar
In the wake of the Great Financial Crisis, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) argued for counter-cyclical capital buffers and published operational guidelines (BCBS 2010) for regulators. The cornerstone of the BCBS proposal was the use of cyclical movements in the credit-to-GDP ratio gap to trigger increases in the capital required to be held […]
Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy
Unchartered Vulnerabilities: Corporate Leveraged Loans and Collateralised Loan Obligations
24
Feb
Feb
In the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008-09, accommodative monetary policy, mainly through unconventional means, provided liquidity support which eased financial conditions in the crisis-hit economies of the U.S. and Europe. But the low interest rate environment has encouraged greater risk-taking among corporates and non-bank financial institutions resulting in a build-up of corporate […]
15
Jan
Jan
On Wednesday, November 27, 2019 I experienced a scary spear-phishing cyber attack. Emotionally I was humiliated. I felt extremely vulnerable and violated. I felt helpless and deeply incapacitated. What is a spear-phishing attack? According to www.kaspersky.com, spear phishing is an email or electronic communication scam targeted towards a specific individual, organization or business. The purpose […]
23
Dec
Dec
A recent paper argues that despite the revisions to the Basel capital framework (Basel III/IV), the fundamental flaw in the underlying methodology used for calculating the amount of capital a bank should hold remains, and that the true risks the bank may be subject to continue to go undetected. Entitled “ELPR: A New Approach to […]
Financial Stability, Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy, Supervision
The Beginning of the End for the Dollar?
03
Sep
Sep
The weakening of the dollar and the end of its dominance of the global financial system has alternately been predicted and appealed for over many years. Yet the fact that this is now being publicly called for by a member of the establishment, indeed by no less than the Governor of the Bank of England […]
15
Jul
Jul
This year’s SEACEN Centre Policy Summit in Kuala Lumpur in mid-June was on the very salient topic of “Central Bank Leadership in Combating Cyber Risk.”
01
Jul
Jul
Once policy-makers accept climate change as a prudential risk, several options are open to them, from
climate-related stress testing to promoting low-carbon financing.
25
Jun
Jun
So, the white paper on Libra has finally been released, and it’s capturing headlines all around the world. The introduction to the concept paper states that the document is an outline for a new decentralised blockchain, a low volatility cryptocurrency and a smart contract platform that all create a new opportunity for responsible financial services […]
Technology has given birth to a new era in banking that brings efficiency gains for financial institutions, improved access to services by consumers and fosters financial inclusion. In the field of payments, services are increasingly instant, 24/7 and globally available. Non-bank participants, meanwhile, are disrupting traditional intermediation. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are just two of the innovations promising to revolutionise financial services.