Payment clearing and settlement systems

• November 17, 2011

  Liquidity Provision and Collateral Haircuts in Payments Systems

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2011 James Chapman, Jonathan Chiu, Miguel Molico

  Central banks play a pivotal role in well-functioning payments systems by providing liquidity via collateralized lending. This article discusses the role of collateral and haircut policy in central bank lending, as well as the distinguishing features of the central bank’s policy relative to private sector practices. It presents a model that explicitly incorporates the unique role of central banks in the payments system and argues that central banks must consider how their haircut policies affect the relative price and liquidity of assets, the market’s asset allocation, and the likelihood of participants to default. Furthermore, under extraordinary circumstances, there is a rationale for the central bank to temporarily reduce haircuts or broaden the list of eligible collateral to mitigate the shortage of liquidity in the market.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Central bank research, Financial stability, Payment clearing and settlement systems

• Analyzing Default Risk and Liquidity Demand during a Financial Crisis: The Case of Canada

  Staff Working Paper 2011-17 Jason Allen, Ali Hortaçsu, Jakub Kastl

  This paper explores the reliability of using prices of credit default swap contracts (CDS) as indicators of default probabilities during the 2007/2008 financial crisis.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E58, G, G0, G01, G2, G28

• The Impact of Operational Events on the Network Structure of the LVTS

  Staff Discussion Paper 2011-7 Tom Roberts

  The author uses a quantitative network analysis approach to assess how participants in the Large Value Transfer System (LVTS) respond to partial outages at other banks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C4, C49, G, G1, G14, G2, G21

• Lessons from International Central Counterparties: Benchmarking and Analysis

  Staff Discussion Paper 2011-4 Alexandre Lazarow

  Since the financial crisis, attention has focused on central counterparties (CCPs) as a solution to systemic risk for a variety of financial markets, ranging from repurchase agreements and options to swaps.

  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, G0, G01, G1, G14, G18, G2, G28, G3, G38
• May 19, 2011

  Central Bank Collateral Policy: Insights from Recent Experience

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2011 Lorie Zorn, Alejandro García

  The collateral policy of central banks played a critical role during the recent financial crisis, as they worked to bolster liquidity and alleviate the funding pressures facing financial institutions. This article examines central bank collateral policy and discusses three areas in which central banks can use their collateral policy to influence financial market practices: promoting greater transparency for securitized products, improving practices related to credit risk, and reducing procyclicality in the management of market risk.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Financial markets, Financial stability, Payment clearing and settlement systems
• May 19, 2011

  Supplementary article: Paying with Polymer: Developing Canada’s New Bank Notes

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2011 Charles Spencer

  In this article, author Charles Spencer reviews the complex process of developing the new series, which represents a dramatic change for Canada. The leading-edge security features made possible by the new substrate, the cost savings of the move to a polymer base and the environmental advantages of the new notes are also examined.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Bank notes, Credibility, Payment clearing and settlement systems
• February 17, 2011

  Payment Networks: A Review of Recent Research

  Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2010-2011 James Chapman, Lana Embree, Tom Roberts, Nellie Zhang

  In this article, the authors review work done at the Bank of Canada and at other central banks with the relatively new application of network analysis to the study of payments systems.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Central bank research, Payment clearing and settlement systems