Articles by Central Banking staff
Countries vary on governor appointment powers
Poorer countries more likely to combine powers, while richer ones split responsibilities
People: January to March 2023
A round-up of central bankers in the news and on the move during the past three months
Central banks’ roles differ by national wealth
Few central banks have task of overseeing sovereign wealth funds
Most governments can change mandates without consulting central banks
Most jurisdictions’ central bank laws either limit or forbid monetary financing
Lifetime achievement: Stefan Ingves
Modest man from the Finnish ‘boonies’ has had a major impact on international central banking
FedNow set to launch in July
Onboarding to instant payment system begins in April, followed by production validation
Central banks differ over board term limits
Nearly half of responding central banks impose no term limits on board members
EME governors more likely to leave role early
Emerging market economy countries also less likely to limit number of terms governors can serve
Fed’s Bowman warns of need for crypto standards
Board of governors member says banks’ use of third-party service providers also increases risk
Fintech Benchmarks 2023 – executive summary
Most central banks continue work on CBDC, while payments innovation again tops research agenda
EME fintech teams have wider mandates
Few chief fintech officers recruited by central banks
Regulating fintech is biggest tech challenge, central banks say
Benefits include financial inclusion, cost reduction and service efficiency
Central banks split on machine learning, AI technologies
Respondents optimise features despite drags in data quality, skills gap and algorithmic challenges
Location, security and privacy are top cloud concerns
Richer economies more likely to domesticate and operate hybrid servers
Cloud used for business continuity and advancing computation
Most institutions rely on third parties for services
Retail CBDC work more common than wholesale
Most jurisdictions still lack a legal mandate to issue a CBDC
Central banks are bullish on environmental features of CBDC
A minority of respondents’ jurisdictions prohibit crypto assets
Economics Benchmarks 2022 – presentation
Economics specialist Daniel Hinge discusses year-on-year trends, forecasting choices and research
Improving payments efficiency drives wholesale CBDC work
Advanced economy institutions lead efforts
Richer nations more likely to have regtech strategy
Regtech tools commonly used for risk assessment
Innovation hubs more common in advanced economies
Sandboxes remain most popular fintech initiative
Two in five central banks report having a suptech strategy
Enhancing efficiency is a key driver
EME central banks more likely to license fintech firms
Most institutions choose activity-based approach over other licensing methods