Europe
ECB to run cyber attack stress test for eurozone banks
Eurozone banks have seen major increase in hacking after Russian invasion of Ukraine, Panetta says
Banknote themes in motion
Antti Heinonen asks whether the world is about to witness a revolution in banknote images
Lane sees tentative signs of easing in underlying inflation
ECB officials stress need to keep tightening monetary policy in the months ahead
OK regulator? How AI became respectable for AML controls
Dutch court case pressures supervisors to accept new tech; explainability the key challenge
EME fintech teams have wider mandates
Few chief fintech officers recruited by central banks
Bundesbank reports first loss in over 40 years
Decision not to pay a dividend comes after ECB reported losses last week
Agent-based models shed light on CBDC dynamics
Take-up could be as high as 25% of total money, but depends on design choices, IMF research finds
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
Marks (and sizes and colours) of distinction
Many central banks make an effort to make cash accessible to blind and partially sighted users
Cloud used for business continuity and advancing computation
Most institutions rely on third parties for services
IMF allows five regional banks to hold SDRs
Development banks in Europe and the Americas are now “prescribed holders”
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
Improving payments efficiency drives wholesale CBDC work
Advanced economy institutions lead efforts
Stability under the 2% inflation standard is a chimera
An inflexible standard of value that lets the market decide how much money to produce would be superior, write Brendan Brown and Robert Pringle
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
Payment innovation is top priority for fintech research
CBDCs and suptech are also leading focus areas for development
Half of central bank respondents have a fintech strategy
Most strategies cover the external payments ecosystem and internal fintech development
Inflation in Baltics set to remain highest in euro area
Charts highlight divergence between eurozone members