International

Stablecoins: risks, potential and regulation

11/24/2020 BIS International

The technologies underlying money and payment systems are evolving rapidly. Both the emergence of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and rapid advances in traditional centralised systems are moving the technological horizon of money and payments. These trends are embodied in private "stablecoins": cryptocurrencies with values tied to fiat currencies or other assets. Stablecoins - in particular potential "global stablecoins" such as Facebook's Libra proposal - pose a range of challenges from the standpoint of financial authorities around the world.

Housing booms, reallocation and productivity

11/23/2020 BIS International

I establish that US public firms holding real estate have persistently lower levels of productivity than non-holders. Rising real estate values relax collateral constraints for companies that own real estate and allow them to expand production. Consequently, an increase in house prices reallocates capital and labor towards inefficient firms, with negative consequences for aggregate industry productivity.

Implications of Covid-19 for official statistics: a central banking perspective

11/20/2020 BIS International

Irving Fisher Committee Working Papers No 20, November 2020

Bargaining power and the Phillips curve: a micro-macro analysis

11/17/2020 BIS International

We use a general equilibrium model to show that a decrease in workers' bargaining power amplifies the relative contribution to the output gap of adjustments along the extensive margin of labour utilization.

Monetary policy response in emerging market economies: why was it different this time?

11/12/2020 BIS International

During the Covid-19-induced financial stress in March 2020, central banks in emerging market economies (EMEs) departed from their monetary policy playbook by cutting rates even in the face of sharp currency depreciations and massive capital outflows. Two factors were at play. First, the cyclical position of EMEs gave more room for easing of monetary policy, while structural changes improved the anchoring of inflation expectations and kept a lid on exchange rate pass-through.

An early stablecoin? The Bank of Amsterdam and the governance of money

11/10/2020 BIS International

This paper draws lessons on the central bank underpinnings of money from the rise and fall of the Bank of Amsterdam (1609-1820).

Inside the regulatory sandbox: effects on fintech funding

11/09/2020 BIS International

Policymakers around the world are adopting regulatory sandboxes as a tool for spurring innovation in the financial sector while keeping alert to emerging risks. Using unique data for the UK, this paper provides initial evidence on the effectiveness of the world's first sandbox in improving fintechs' access to finance.

What can commercial property performance reveal about bank valuations?

11/09/2020 BIS International

We test whether commercial property performance, proxied by real estate investment trust (REIT) prices, can inform us about bank equity prices. Using data from the United States, the euro area and Japan, we show that REIT prices can predict bank equity prices.

The macro-financial effects of international bank lending on emerging markets

11/06/2020 BIS International

Banking flows to emerging market economies (EMEs) are a potential source of vulnerability capable of generating boom-bust cycles. The causal effect of such inflows on EME macro-financial conditions is hard to pin down empirically and should be key to well-informed policy design.

The dawn of fintech in Latin America: landscape, prospects and challenges

11/05/2020 BIS International

BIS Papers No 112 by Carlos Cantú and Bárbara Ulloa, November 2020. Fintech in Latin America is greeting the dawn. We take stock of how it is transforming financial services in the region.

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