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You are looking at 1 - 8 of 8 items for :

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Cover FinTech Notes
BigTech in Financial Services: Regulatory Approaches and Architecture
Parma Bains, Nobuyasu Sugimoto, and Christopher Wilson
BigTech firms are gradually entering the financial sector and becoming important service providers, particularly in emerging markets. BigTechs have entered financial services using platform-based technology to facilitate payments and more recently expanded into other areas, such as lending, asset management, and insurance services. They accumulate data from their nonfinancial and financial activities and draw on consumer data held in different parts of their business (such as via social media). BigTechs are applying new approaches to existing financial services products and services such as underwriting using big data and are also applying machine learning for their key business decisions, such as pricing and risk management across multiple financial sectors. Incumbent financial firms have also increased their reliance on BigTech firms to host core IT systems (for example, cloud-based services, which have the potential to improve efficiency and security). This rapid and significant expansion of BigTechs in financial services and their interconnectedness with financial service firms are potentially creating new channels of systemic risks. To achieve effective implementation and multiple objectives of financial regulation and supervision, a hybrid approach, combining a mix of entity- and activity-based approaches, is needed.
Keywords:
financial services industry; BigTech in financial services; financial services products; core IT system; home supervisor; Fintech; Systemic risk; Financial sector stability; Emerging technologies; Global
Cover FinTech Notes
Blockchain Consensus Mechanisms: A Primer for Supervisors
Parma Bains
Technology plays an increasingly important role in financial services. With the pace of technological inno-vation moving ever faster, the role new technology plays in the provision of financial services is becoming increasingly fundamental. New technology can generate efficiencies for firms, lowering costs that can be passed on to end users. It can increase access to financial services and products for consumers, particularly the most vulnerable; however, new technology can also create new risks and unintended consequences that can harm financial stability, consumer protection, and market integrity. This primer is designed for financial supervisors at central banks, regulatory authorities, and government departments. It adds to existing literature by summarizing key aspects of popular consensus mechanisms at a high level, with a specific focus on how such mechanisms may impact the mandates of supervisors and policymakers when deployed in financial services markets. It could also help inform IMF staff on policy development and technical assistance related to crypto assets, stablecoins, and blockchains.
Keywords:
fintech, blockchain, distributed ledger technology, proof-of-stake, proof-of-work, crypto assets, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies, Bitcoin, BigTech; Blockchain consensus mechanism; bitcoin mining; FINTECH note; A. consensus mechanism; B. consensus mechanism; Blockchain and DLT; Virtual currencies; Technological innovation; Global
Cover FinTech Notes
Regulating the Crypto Ecosystem: The Case of Unbacked Crypto Assets
Parma Bains, Arif Ismail, Fabiana Melo, and Nobuyasu Sugimoto
Unbacked crypto assets are the oldest and most popular type of crypto assets, relying not on any backing asset for value but instead on supply and demand. They were originally developed to democratize payments but are mostly used for speculation. Crypto assets were designed to disintermediate financial services, but centralized entities, such as exchanges and wallet providers, offer key functions to users and sustain the necessity of trust in one or several entities. At present, many of these entities are not covered by existing conduct, prudential, or payment regulations and can generate risks to market integrity, market conduct, and potential financial stability. We recommend that global bodies work to develop common taxonomies that can inform global and cross-sectoral standards while improving data insights. Standards should be risk-based, with greater requirements on entities and activities that generate more risk. Crypto asset service providers that deliver core functions and generate key risks should be licensed, registered, or authorized.
Keywords:
• Crypto; crypto asset; cryptocurrency; blockchain; stablecoin; DLT; regulation; Economic sectors; Emerging technologies; Financial crises; Financial sector policy and analysis; Financial sector stability; Financial services; Fintech; Systemic risk; Technology; IMF FINTECH note 2022/007; crypto Ecosystem; Bali Fintech agenda; market infrastructure; Virtual currencies; Blockchain and DLT; Securities markets; Global
Cover Global Financial Stability Notes
Front Matter
Tara Iyer
Keywords:
Virtual currencies; Stock markets; Emerging and frontier financial markets; Global
Cover Global Financial Stability Notes
Cryptic Connections: Spillovers between Crypto and Equity Markets
Tara Iyer
Crypto assets have emerged as an increasingly popular asset class among retail and institutional investors. Although initially considered a fringe asset class, their increased adoption across countries—in emerging markets, in particular—amid bouts of extreme price volatility has raised concerns about their potential financial stability implications. This note examines the extent to which crypto assets have moved to the mainstream by estimating the potential for spillovers between crypto and equity markets in the United States and in emerging markets using daily data on price volatility and returns. The analysis suggests that crypto and equity markets have become increasingly interconnected across economies over time. Spillovers from price volatility of the oldest and most popular crypto asset, Bitcoin, to the S&P 500 and MSCI emerging markets indices have increased by about 12-16 percentage points since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, while those from its returns have increased by about 8-10 percentage points. Spillovers from the most traded stablecoin, Tether, to these indices have also increased by about 4-6 percentage points. In absolute terms, spillovers from Bitcoin to global equity markets are significant, explaining about 14-18 percent of the variation in equity price volatility and 8-10 percent of the variation in equity returns. These findings suggest that close monitoring of crypto asset markets and the adoption of appropriate regulatory policies are warranted to mitigate potential financial stability risks.
Keywords:
Crypto assets, international financial markets, volatility spillovers, return spillovers, dynamic connectedness, COVID-19, emerging markets, financial stability; crypto asset market; fringe asset class; price volatility; MSCI index; equity price misalignment; credit default swap Index; Virtual currencies; Spillovers; Stock markets; Emerging and frontier financial markets; Financial contagion; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Managing the Impact of Resource Booms on the Real Effective Exchange Rate: The Role of Financial Sector Development
Mr. Johannes Herderschee and Ms. Luisa Zanforlin
Whereas most of the literature related to the so-called “resource curse” tends to emphasize on institutional factors and public policies, in this research we focus on the role of the financial sector, which has been surprisingly overlooked. We find that countries that have financial systems with more depth, as well as those that actively manage their central banks’ balance sheets experience less exchange-rate appreciation than countries that do not. We analyze the relationship between these two findings and suggest that they appear to follow separate mechanisms.
Keywords:
Resource-Rich Countries; Financial Development; Monetary Policy; REER appreciation; credit vis-à-vis credit; monetary policy rate; balance sheet management policy; appreciation of the REER; nonrenewable resource wealth; gas resource; Financial sector development; Real effective exchange rates; Natural resources; Sterilization; Financial sector; Asia and Pacific
Cover IMF Working Papers
Quantum Computing and the Financial System: Spooky Action at a Distance?
Mr. Michael Gorbanyov, Majid Malaika, and Tahsin Saadi Sedik
The era of quantum computing is about to begin, with profound implications for the global economy and the financial system. Rapid development of quantum computing brings both benefits and risks. Quantum computers can revolutionize industries and fields that require significant computing power, including modeling financial markets, designing new effective medicines and vaccines, and empowering artificial intelligence, as well as creating a new and secure way of communication (quantum Internet). But they would also crack many of the current encryption algorithms and threaten financial stability by compromising the security of mobile banking, e-commerce, fintech, digital currencies, and Internet information exchange. While the work on quantum-safe encryption is still in progress, financial institutions should take steps now to prepare for the cryptographic transition, by assessing future and retroactive risks from quantum computers, taking an inventory of their cryptographic algorithms (especially public keys), and building cryptographic agility to improve the overall cybersecurity resilience.
Keywords:
quantum computing; quantum-safe encryption; cybersecurity; fintech.; fintech; functioning quantum computer; computing technology; quantum machine; encryption standard; hardware capability; cloud service; Computer science; Migration; Financial sector; Global
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Toward a Global Approach to Data in the Digital Age
Mr. Vikram Haksar, Mr. Yan Carriere-Swallow, Emran Islam, Andrew Giddings, Kathleen Kao, Emanuel Kopp, and Gabriel Quiros
The ongoing economic and financial digitalization is making individual data a key input and source of value for companies across sectors, from bigtechs and pharmaceuticals to manufacturers and financial services providers. Data on human behavior and choices—our “likes,” purchase patterns, locations, social activities, biometrics, and financing choices—are being generated, collected, stored, and processed at an unprecedented scale.
Keywords:
Data, finance, bigtech, competition, privacy, trade, policy coordination, global principles; data portability; DATA policies country; privacy trade-off; policy divergence; data availability divide; data economy; Digital economy; Competition; Financial sector stability; Artificial intelligence; Global