Central Banking is pleased to announce the third round of winners of its 6^th annual industry awards recognising excellence in the central banking community.

• Economics in Central Banking: Greg Kaplan, Benjamin Moll and Gianluca Violante
• Website of the Year: Sveriges Riksbank
• Risk Manager: Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority
• Risk Management Technology: Vermeg
• Professional Services Initiative: World Gold Council
• Treasury Systems Initiative: Ion Treasury
• Advisory Services: Deloitte
• Data Services: Vizor Software

Drawing on 29 years of independent and informed reporting, analysis and comment, the Central Banking Awards were judged by a panel comprising members of the Central Banking Editorial Team and Editorial Advisory Board.

A brief description detailing the rationale for the awards as well as reaction comments from the Governors of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authorityand Sveriges Riksbank, Economists Greg Kaplan, Benjamin Moll and Gianluca Violante, the Chief Executives of Vermeg and Vizor, a Managing Director of the World Gold Council, the Global Banking and Capital Markets Sector Leader at Deloitte, and Senior Executive of Ioncan be found by scrolling down.

Economics in Central Banking: Greg Kaplan, Benjamin Moll and Gianluca Violante

Research by economists Greg Kaplan (University of Chicago), Benjamin Moll (Princeton University) and Giovanni Luca Violante (Princeton University) – in particular, their Monetary policy according to Hank paper – has broken new ground in understanding the transmission of monetary policy. As well as helping to add realism to key macroeconomic models, their work highlights the importance of inequality in the transmission of monetary policy – one of the most pressing issues in current political discourse.

Kaplan, Moll and Violante said in a joint statement: “We are honoured to receive this prestigious award. The prize recognises the importance of income and wealth inequality for monetary economics. There are two main takeaways from our research. First, the transmission of monetary policy to the real economy depends crucially on the distribution of income, assets and liabilities across households. Second, central bank actions can impact these distributions and thus affect household inequality. Our paper is just a first step towards a full understanding of this two-way feedback between monetary policy and inequality. We are excited to see that central banks around the world have begun to incorporate these ideas into their economic models, and hope that this trend will continue.”

Christopher Jeffery, Chairman of the Central Banking Awards Committee and Editor-in-chief of Central Banking, said: “The paper by Kaplan, Moll and Violante, Monetary policy according to Hank, represents an important effort to boost the realism of some core economic models, delivering important insights into inequality and the transmission of monetary policy. It has the potential to be an important trigger to spur central banks to do more to weigh up the redistributive consequences of their actions.”

Website: Sveriges Riksbank

The Sveriges Riksbank has had to communicate complex issues – financial stability tools, forward guidance, quantitative easing and negative policy rates, among others – that test the relationship between a central bank and its stakeholders. The Riksbank has met these challenges by speaking plainly, openly and frequently, and by continually adapting its communication tools to ensure its messages are heard. At the heart of this is its website, which has evolved continually, with its latest redesign in 2018 making its content easier to access and digest. Gone are the days of tables and dropdown menus; instead, the Riksbank has deployed new interactive elements and a much cleaner user interface. In doing so, it has maintained its position at the forefront of the central banking community.

Stefan Ingves, Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, said: “I am very happy and proud of the prize and our creative team. The Riksbank has a responsibility to communicate the changes we see and how we work towards solutions that are in the best interest of the general public. It is therefore very pleasing that our website, riksbank.se, is receiving this award for providing accessible content in a simple and efficient way.”

Christopher Jeffery, Chairman of the Central Banking Awards Committee and Editor-in-chief of Central Banking, said: “The Swedish central bank is a trailblazer in the area of central bank transparency and website communication. In 2018, it restructured and redesigned its website to cater to a full range of users to great effect, with visitors staying longer and engaging with more content.”

Risk Manager: Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority first embarked on overhauling its risk management systems in 2015. The result has been a radical change in behaviour, practices and procedures. Directors now have access to real-time risk profiles, allowing for staff to be immediately alerted to big changes in risk positions, so offering the potential to take remedial actions. Risks that had been overlooked or overestimated in the past are now less likely to slip through the net, putting the central bank on a surer footing from both a reputational and financial standpoint.

Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority Governor, Ahmed Abdulkarim Alkholifey, said: “We are proud that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority has been granted the 2019 Risk Manager Award in view of the considerable attention paid to risk management in all its works in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 in achieving its strategic objectives. SAMA has been coping with the enormous changes taking place in the Saudi financial and monetary system, and the risks arising thereof. SAMA has always ensured it has set appropriate procedures to reduce such risks and establish an effective risk culture at all levels of work.”

Christopher Jeffery, Chairman of the Central Banking Awards Committee and Editor-in-chief of Central Banking, said: “After several years of work, SAMA’s new highly customised risk management system has started to bear fruit, resulting in radical changes in behaviour, thanks to the access of real-time risk profiles and automated reporting. This work is highlighted by SAMA addressing important risks that emerged in its investment department.” 

Risk Management Technology: Vermeg

In 2018, Vermeg successfully deployed the collateral management module of its Megara system to four major central banks. But its successes did not stop there. The past 12 months also saw the company awarded the contract to deliver technology for Europe’s Collateral Management System, which will modernise the Eurosystem’s framework over the next four years. Vermeg also acquired reporting and collateral management specialist Lombard Risk, almost doubling its revenues and extending its client base.

Badreddine Ouali, chief executive of Vermeg, said: “We are pleased to be named the Risk Management Technology award-winner for this year’s Central Banking Awards. We are constantly developing and innovating our products across the board, and are pleased to be recognised for this in the industry and for our work in the central banking space. We’ll continue to work on addressing the key challenges our clients face. And in particular, we look forward to playing a leading role in the development of the Eurosystem Collateral Management System over the coming years.”

Christopher Jeffery, Chairman of the Central Banking Awards Committee and Editor-in-chief of Central Banking, said: “The past year has been a very successful one for Vermeg, which has increased its global presence through acquisitions and winning high-profile contracts that are set to result in significant change in collateral management in Europe.”

Professional Services Initiative: World Gold Council

Monetary gold has never been fully defined in international accounting standards, but in February 2018, the World Gold Council published guidance for monetary authorities on a recommended practice for consistent accounting of monetary gold. The guidance is not meant to replace existing standards, but includes instructions for integration within a general-purpose accounting framework. Managing the objectives of central banks, auditors and standard-setters is no easy feat, but the WGC has persisted with its efforts – which could help to improve transparency and help protect central bank independence – with positive results.

Natalie Dempster, Managing Director, Central Banks and Public Policy, at the World Gold Council, said: “We are delighted to be the recipient of the inaugural Professional Services Initiative award. We are encouraged that the importance of providing a common framework that will help monetary authorities recognise and account for monetary gold in an appropriate and consistent manner has been acknowledged, as this is a key issue for many central banks themselves.”

Christopher Jeffery, Chairman of the Central Banking Awards Committee and Editor-in-chief of Central Banking, said: “Having identified seven different ways of accounting for monetary gold among 70 central banks, the WGC has developed guidance to bring greater consistency to accounting practices, and has already secured its first convert.”

Advisory Services: Deloitte

The past few years have seen major growth in Deloitte’s advisory business with central banks, complementing its well-known role as auditor. Over the past year, the firm has undertaken important projects at several leading central banks, including reforms to central banking operations, enhancing resiliency, and fostering a culture of innovation at the Bank of Canada, the development of a blockchain-based trade finance system for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the launch of a fintech hub in Saudi Arabia. A key strength cited by clients is Deloitte’s combination of central banking expertise with technological know-how.

Anna Celner, Deloitte’s Global Banking and Capital Markets Sector Leader, said: “It is both an honour and a privilege to be recognised by Central Banking Publications as best in class, and I thank Deloitte’s clients and industry colleagues for their support and recognition of Deloitte’s people.”

Karen Grieve, Global Operations Leader, Sovereign Financial Institutions, Deloitte Global, said: “It is an honour for Deloitte’s central banking practices to be recognised as the standard of excellence in advisory services to central banks. Deloitte has built a central banking network with member firm representatives in more than 125 countries to serve clients. Deloitte’s success is the result of practitioners’ technical and regulatory knowledge, combined with Deloitte’s deep understanding of the central banking sector and the ability to provide a wide range of services and innovative solutions to meet clients’ needs.”

Christopher Jeffery, Chairman of the Central Banking Awards Committee and Editor-in-chief of Central Banking, said: “Deloitte has a growing central bank footprint, including new projects on strategy and cyber resilience in Canada, fintech in Saudi Arabia and DLT in Hong Kong.”

Treasury Systems Initiative: Ion Treasury

Ion has maintained its dominance in the treasury sector throughout 2018, due in large part to its acquisition of Openlink, which beat many of its competitors to supply the European Central Bank’s new treasury management system. Wallstreet Suite and Openlink will continue to operate as separate products under common ownership, but both could benefit from the broader integration, with enhancements under way on both sides.

Rich Grossi, Ion Senior Executive, said: “Being honoured for the second year in a row is not only a testament to our continuing partnership with our clients, but also Openlink’s dedication to using technology to empower central banks to rapidly enact economic and monetary policy changes.” 

Christopher Jeffery, Chairman of the Central Banking Awards Committee and Editor-in-chief of Central Banking, said: “The combination of Ion’s Wall Street Systems and Openlink will undoubtedly establish Ion as a powerful force in the treasury tech sector for official institutions for some years to come. The company now counts 39 central banks and 26 agencies among its ballooning client base, with Openlink’s new ECB contract being a ‘jewel in its crown’.”

Data services: Vizor Software

Vizor won this award for supporting supervisors in coping with an ever-growing volume and complexity of data. The company has overhauled its system to make it easier to configure and improve the user interface, backing this up with an enhanced mentoring programme to help smaller institutions learn to make full use of the platform. The system is underpinned by a ‘rules engine’ that signals possible anomalies – and this, too, has been made easier to manage, helping central banks and other financial authorities to tailor the platform to their needs. Vizor also won important repeat business from two of its major central bank clients.

Conor Crowley, Vizor’s chief executive, said: “Vizor is delighted to be recognised again this year by the Central Banking Awards Committee. Winning the Data Services Award is a testimony to the success our customers have achieved with major supervision system upgrades over the last year. These projects show the value of higher-quality data and the significant cost savings achieved with each new or modified data collection.”

 Christopher Jeffery, Chairman of the Central Banking Awards Committee and Editor-in-chief of Central Banking, said: “Vizor’s roll-out of major updates has paved the way for more agile supervision, as its scalable system secured major repeat business with SAMA and the Bank of England.”

Looking to expand its functionality and take advantage of the latest developments in blockchain technology, the Bytecoin team has announced that it has laid out the foundation for users to establish their own gateways via blockchain bridging.

Blockchain bridging is a process that provides digital assets with a veritable new dimension of capabilities. To complete the process, a bridge is formed, immutably linking a set amount of one asset to an equivalent amount of another asset on a different blockchain. The link is made via a smart contract, which maintains that the units of the two assets always share an original base value and allows for the establishment of the gateway interface. The gateway interface opens the doors for a new asset to emerge, the final result of the transfiguration of one asset into another form on another blockchain. 

This development has been made possible due to Bytecoin’s new auditable wallets which were released as part of the beta of Amethyst v3.4.0 in December of last year. Auditible wallets are optional features that allow users to provide outside parties with view-only access to their holdings without compromising their anonymity. 

If enacted, the Bytecoin Gateway presents a number of benefits to the Bytecoin community, including growth via cross-chain expansion and augmentation of presence and trading convenience. 

Jenny Goldberg, Bytecoin’s CMO, had this to add: “We are all really excited by the possibilities this technology brings to the table. At Bytecoin, we have a deep interest in emerging technologies that can enhance our platform, and blockchain bridging could potentially do that in a big way.”

This move is the latest effort by the Bytecoin team to turn cutting edge crypto technology into structures fit for practical use. 

The trade war, political uncertainty in Europe and tighter financial conditions are hurting economic development, and we have downgraded expectations for growth in the world economy this year and next,” says Nordea’s Group Chief Economist, Helge J. Pedersen. “In the Nordics, the focus is on higher policy rates and their likely impact on each country. The role of household debt and its effect on the housing market will not be trivial, and interest rate sensitivities pose downside risks to the Nordic economies, be it at varying degrees.

The Swedish economy has gradually lost steam on the back of an uncertain housing market that has impacted investment and sluggish private consumption. Exports have also been slow,but will improve somewhat in coming years while a tight labour market has not yet translated into anything more than modest wage growth. Inflation has hovered around the 2% target, enabling the Riksbank to raise the repo rate by 25bp in December. When the effect of the SEK depreciation fades and energy prices stabilise, inflation will start falling by mid-2019. The Riksbank is only expected to hike rates again at the end of 2019, tracking an expected first move by the ECB.  

Our view on the Norwegian economy is largely unchanged despite financial market turmoil, lower oil prices and downward revisions to global growth forecasts. Mainland export growth may be lower, and slightly lower oil prices could dampen growth over time, but growth will remain relatively strong, partly driven by progress in the oil-related industries. Due to the more cautious monetary-policy line and a weaker growth outlook for key trading partners, Norges Bank will proceed more carefully than we previously expected with its normalisation of interest rates.  

The Danish economy had its worst growth rate last year since 2013 but as this was due largely to one-off factors, it doesn’t change the underlying picture of a sustained robust economic upswing. Even more encouraging is the fact that the upswing has not given rise to any economic imbalances. In the years ahead, growth will be driven mainly by increased household consumption and growing business investment. The outlook for exports is more uncertain, though, due to mounting protectionism and waning demand among several of key trading partners. 

The outlook for the Finnish economy has worsened more than we expected in our previous forecast on the back of global uncertainty rippling out from Finland’s most important export markets. Export growth is expected to remain sluggish, but there are clear signs that residential construction in particular may even start to decrease after a number of years of robust growth. Continued positive developments in the labour market are expected to boost consumption which will be the main engine of growth in the coming years.  

Clarivate Analytics, a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to enable researchers to accelerate discovery, has partnered with the Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB), the government's digital library and online knowledge hub, to launch Converis and implement a national research management system. 

Converis will be hosted by the Egyptian National Science and Technology Network (ENSTINET) and it will allow Egypt to manage research funding and curate researcher profiles across research organizations in the country.

EKB was seeking an integrated solution for better management of research data. Information such as researcher profiles, proposal evaluations, project data, and publication records were not easily accessible. Hence, EKB was looking for a more efficient and streamlined administrative process to manage research information for researchers and administrators. Converis, Clarivate Analytics' flagship research information system, which supports universities, research centers, other research institutions, and funding agencies comprehensively in collecting and managing data, aims to fulfill EKB's needs, offering a holistic approach to managing the complete research lifecycle.

The partnership with EKB to launch Converis will support Egypt's Vision for 2030 to become an innovative, knowledge-based economy, facilitating scientific research excellence and bridging the old with the new.

Annette Thomas, CEO, Web of Science Group at Clarivate Analytics said:
"We are proud to partner with the Egyptian Knowledge Bank and to support Egypt's 2030 Vision. By enhancing its national research management system, the EKB will now have more resource to focus on transforming the research ecosystem in the country."

Dr. Shawky, Minister of Education and president of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB), said:
"The launch of Converis will further develop the Egyptian scientific research community and is a key component in the scientific research development strategy of the Egypt 2030 vision to create and develop a knowledge-based society."

Eng. Majid, Supervisor of Egyptian National Science and Technology Network (ENSTINET), said:
"Knowledge is the new capital, but it's worthless unless it's well organized, accessible, communicated, and tangibly measured, that's where the need for Research Information management emerge. Too often, people think of Research Management as a noun. They're mistaken: it is a verb, a way of getting work done with the right partner, and we have full of confidence not only in Converis as our national RIM platform but in Clarivate Analytics as our partner along the journey. The system is flexible and can be easily configured to our specific processes and requirements, and its data integrations engine provides us with a range of advantages to get more from our research management data."

ION, the largest global provider of trading, analytics and risk management solutions for commodities and treasury management, is proud to announce that its client, the British multinational retailer Tesco has been awarded the 2018 Corporate Recognition award for Risk Management Technology. 

With over 6,800 locations around the world serving millions of customers every week, Tesco is a world leader in grocery and general merchandise sales.                

By leveraging Openlink, an ION treasury solution, Tesco manages liquidity and risk within a single treasury management system (TMS) providing end-to-end visibility of all global financial flows and risk along the commodities supply chain, as well as automates their treasury, cash management, trading and risk operations.  

Jennifer Broker, ION SVP of Professional Services for EMEA and APAC said, "We are very proud of our evolving partnership with Tesco and applaud this recognition by their peers.  Our solution centralizes all their market and credit risk under one framework.  It also allows their procurement team to execute purchases with far greater market insight. " 

"Corporate treasury professionals, together with the providers of treasury services, have a vital role to play in supporting a wide range of vital functions and initiatives.  These awards offer recognition for those organizations, leading the way in the industry and providing a platform to showcase innovative projects in this space," said Robert Page, CEO of TMI.

For more than a decade, the TMI Awards for Innovation & Excellence recognize outstanding performance in the international treasury profession, recognizing the banks, vendors, consultants and practitioners who are defining new frontiers and driving best practices in treasury management globally.

​In January 2019, the Central Bank of Brazil launched the web application Din, a new communication channel that aims to facilitate the citizens' access to information regarding their ongoing relationship with financial institutions.

BBVA Compass has chosen Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX for Regulatory Reporting to provide regulatory reporting software for its operations in the U.S. BBVA Compass is the U.S.- based subsidiary of Spanish multinational banking group BBVA, with a major presence throughout the Sunbelt region of the U.S. and total assets of more than $90 billion.

OneSumX Regulatory Reporting uses a single source of data to ensure consistency, reconciliation and accuracy and includes the firm’s Regulatory Update Service. This unique service is maintained by Wolters Kluwer experts who actively monitor regulation in approximately 30 countries.

“As part of our ongoing strategy to build a leading franchise in the U.S. we wanted to take a more strategic approach to compliance. This needed to be supported by an integrated, flexible platform capable of evolving in response to regulatory requirements and supporting broader business goals. Wolters Kluwer provides this capability through OneSumX for Regulatory Reporting,” commented Chris Butler, Senior Vice President and Director of Financial Reporting at BBVA Compass.

“OneSumX for Regulatory Reporting addresses all U.S. regulatory, FR Y-14, FR 2052a, liquidity and other reporting requirements and can be also easily be expanded or customized to account for shifts in the risk and compliance environment,” said Todd Lawrence, General Manager of Wolters Kluwer’s Finance, Risk & Reporting (FRR) business in the Americas. “Like all firms, BBVA Compass was confronted with the challenge to respond to the rapid emergence of new regulatory demands in recent years, from increases in changes to core U.S. regulatory reporting, incorporation of capital changes, Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review stress testing and additional liquidity reporting. We are excited to be working with BBVA to ensure a strategic approach is in place.”

Wolters Kluwer FRR, which is part of the company’s Governance, Risk & Compliance division, is a global market leader in the provision of integrated regulatory compliance and reporting solutions. It supports regulated financial institutions in meeting their obligations to external regulators and their own board of directors.

Wolters Kluwer FRR receives frequent independent recognition of its excellence and innovation. In mid-2018, Risk magazine awarded the company its coveted Regulatory Reporting System of The Year Award and Central Banking magazine recently named OneSumX for Regulatory Reporting its Best Technology Solution For Regulatory Compliance. Wolters Kluwer FRR is also this year’s Category Winner for Regulatory Reporting in the annual RiskTech100® report. This comprehensive study of the world’s leading risk and compliance technology companies is compiled by Chartis Research. Notably, this is the seventh time in eight years that Wolters Kluwer FRR has achieved this honor. Chartis Research has also named the firm a Category Leader in both its IFRS 9 Technology Solutions Report and CECL Report.