Staff discussion papers

• Central Bank Digital Currencies: A Framework for Assessing Why and How

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-22 Ben Fung, Hanna Halaburda

  Digital currencies have attracted strong interest in recent years and have the potential to become widely adopted for use in making payments. Public authorities and central banks around the world are closely monitoring developments in digital currencies and studying their implications for the economy, the financial system and central banks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42

• The Digital Economy—Insight from a Special Survey with IT Service Exporters

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-21 Wei Dong, James Fudurich, Lena Suchanek

  Information technology (IT) is an increasingly integral part of everyday business and personal life reflecting the ongoing and accelerating digital transformation of the economy. In this paper, we present information gathered from a survey with export-oriented firms in the Canadian IT service industry and consultations with industry associations aimed at shedding light on this small but highly dynamic sector.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Service sector JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, L, L8, L86, O, O3, O33

• The Paul Storer Memorial Lecture—Cross-Border Trade Integration and Monetary Policy

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-20 Stephen S. Poloz

  In this paper we explore the nexus between cross-border trade integration and monetary policy. We first review the evidence that trade liberalization has increased the degree of integration in North America and conclude that, while robust structural inferences remain elusive, there is sufficient supporting evidence for central banks to treat the issue seriously.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Economic models, Monetary policy, Trade integration JEL Code(s): E, E3, E37, E5, F, F1, F4, F41, F6

• Implementing Cross-Border Interbank Lending in BoC-GEM-FIN

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-19 Malik Shukayev, Argyn Toktamyssov

  BIS interbank lending data show that the Great Recession generated large and persistent changes in the international interbank lending positions of various countries. The main objective of this study is to understand the role of changes in international interbank credit flows in transmitting shocks across borders.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E2, E27, E3, E37, F, F4, F47

• Using Speed and Credit Limits to Address the Procyclicality of Initial Margin at Central Counterparties

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-18 Nikil Chande, Nicholas Labelle

  This paper proposes a practical approach to address the procyclicality of initial margin at central counterparties (CCPs) that can work even in periods of extreme stress. The approach allows CCPs to limit the speed of margin increases resulting from spikes in market volatility.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial markets, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): G, G1, G18

• Leaning Within a Flexible Inflation-Targeting Framework: Review of Costs and Benefits

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-17 Denis Gorea, Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Tamon Takamura

  This note examines the merits of monetary policy adjustments in response to financial stability concerns, taking into account changes in the state of knowledge since the renewal of the inflation-targeting agreement in 2011. A key financial system vulnerability in Canada is elevated household indebtedness: as more and more households are nearing their debt-capacity limits, the likelihood and severity of a large negative correction in housing markets are also increasing.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial stability, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E0, E4, E44, E5, E52, E58, G, G1, G18

• Credit Risk and Collateral Demand in a Retail Payment System

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-16 Héctor Pérez Saiz, Gabriel Xerri

  The recent financial crisis has led to the development of new regulations to control risk in designated payment systems, and the implementation of new credit risk management standards is one of the key issues. In this paper, we study various credit risk management schemes for the Canadian retail payment system (ACSS) that are designed to cover the exposure of a defaulting member.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial stability, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C5, C58, G, G2, G21, G23

• The Role of Central Banks in Promoting Financial Stability: An International Perspective

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-15 Rose Cunningham, Christian Friedrich

  The 2007–09 global financial crisis has led policy-makers around the world, including central banks, to refocus their efforts to promote financial stability. As part of this process, central banks became quite active in supporting financial stability in a variety of ways, such as publicly sharing their assessments of financial system vulnerabilities and risks and helping to strengthen regulation, supervision and macroprudential measures.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): E, E5, G, G0, G01, G2, G28

• Clearing and Settlement Systems from Around the World: A Qualitative Analysis

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-14 Michael Tompkins, Ariel Olivares

  As Canada continues to engage in a dialogue to develop the approach to modernizing its core payment systems, we analyze the core payment systems that exist in countries around the world. We study payment systems in 27 jurisdictions, encompassing a broad range of geographic regions, through three levels of analysis.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial services, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, L, L1, L14, L15, L5, L52

• The Doug Purvis Memorial Lecture—Monetary/Fiscal Policy Mix and Financial Stability: The Medium Term Is Still the Message

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-13 Stephen S. Poloz

  In the Doug Purvis Memorial Lecture, Governor Stephen S. Poloz shows how changing the mix of monetary and fiscal policies can yield the same outcomes for growth and inflation, but lead to different results for public sector and private sector debt levels, which can impact financial stability.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Economic models, Financial stability, Fiscal policy, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E37, E5, E6, E63