The OMFIF Podcast

Turning women’s entrepreneurial potential into economic opportunity

Wendy Teleki, head of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative at the World Bank, joins Arunima Sharan, senior economist at OMFIF's Economic and Monetary Policy Institute, to discuss how the We Finance Code is tackling the $1.7tn financing gap facing women entrepreneurs. They explore We-Fi's work across 80 countries and examine how supporting women-led businesses creates positive social impact through improved education, employment and economic empowerment.

Tokenisation: a new model for collaboration

Tokenisation is frequently discussed as a means of improving the efficiency of existing financial markets, but the technology may offer the chance to create entirely new types of economic activity. The immense reach of distributed ledger technology-based tokens makes them a vector of greater inclusion to types of markets previously inaccessible to the general public. Additionally, the collaborative decision-making facilitated by tokenisation can encourage new types of co-operation between competitors to achieve shared aims. Dominik Talebi, managing director of Global Trade Finance, joins Lewis McLellan, editor of OMFIF’s Digital Monetary Institute, to discuss the new economic paradigm that tokenisation is already beginning to offer.

From plans to impactful strategies transforming transition finance

Yara Aziz, economist at OMFIF’s Economic and Monetary Policy Institute, speaks with Ashleigh Lee, co-lead secretariat of the City of London Corporation’s Transition Finance Market Review, to discuss the findings of the Transition Finance Market Review report. They explore the challenges and opportunities in scaling transition finance, strategies to prevent greenwashing and the global collaboration required to drive decarbonisation.

From petrodollar to petroyuan?

Mark Sobel, US Chair, OMFIF, speaks with Max Castelli, head of strategy, sovereign institutions, UBS Asset Management, on the role of the US dollar and the various dedollarisation scenarios. They discuss significance of Saudi Arabia’s decision to join the mBridge multi-currency CBDC platform and the potential implications for the incumbent USD-based financial system. 

Risks and opportunities for investment grade credit in 2025

Flavio Carpenzano, fixed income investment director at Capital Group, joins Burhan Khadbai, head of content for OMFIF’s Sovereign Debt Institute, to look back at the performance of the investment grade credit market in 2024 and the outlook for next year.

 

They discuss how credit spreads are continuing to compress despite elevated levels of supply and to what extent this will evolve as markets move into a lower yield environment with the easing of monetary policy. The discussion also looks at the opportunities in IG credit and the risks for the sector from the volatility in rates driven by macroeconomic and geopolitical factors.

Behind the post-election crypto bump

Bitcoin's price has surged following Donald Trump's victory in the US election. Trump's campaign was calculated to appeal to the crypto world, so the move comes as no surprise, but what are policy changes can we expect and do they warrant this kind of explosive price action? To discuss these questions, Lewis McLellan, editor of the Digital Monetary Institute at OMFIF, is joined by Brian Whitehurst, head of regulatory affairs at Lukka, Suzanne Morsfield, global head at Lukka, and Dorothy DeWitt, chief executive officer of Tölt Strategies and former director of market oversight at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Why governments should embrace technology

A recent OMFIF-EY report on the future of public money outlines the need for governments to embrace new ideas, frameworks and technology. Joining Nikhil Sanghani, managing director, Economic and Monetary Policy Institute at OMFIF, is Mark MacDonald, global public finance management leader at EY, and Joachim Schwerin, principal economist, DG GROW at the European Commission. They discuss why governments should embrace new technology as well as how blockchain and artificial intelligence can improve public finance outcomes, the need for greater understanding and the importance of public-private partnerships.

Transitioning global public funds – strategies, barriers and opportunities

Anne Simpson, global head of sustainability at Franklin Templeton, joins Emma McGarthy, head of OMFIF’s Sustainable Policy Institute, to assess the role of public pension and sovereign funds in transition finance. They also discuss the work of the Transition Finance Working Group, which has spoken with 12 of the biggest funds on their transition strategies and challenges. The working group conversations have been distilled into a research report by OMFIF, which will be launched at a seminar during COP29.

 

To join OMFIF, Franklin Templeton and global public funds at COP29, register here.

 

To read more about OMFIF's Transition Finance insight, click here.

Breaking down wholesale CBDC developments with G+D

2024 has seen exciting developments in the wholesale central bank digital currency space. Abbas Albasha, senior strategy consultant for CBDC at Giesecke+Devrient, joins Lewis McLellan, OMFIF's Digital Monetary Institute editor, to discuss the value that wholesale CBDC can offer economies, how they can integrate with other forms of money including retail CBDC and some of the challenges those looking to implement them are facing.

Examining the changing landscape of digital assets with R3

Many in capital markets have long been expecting an overhaul in how their business functions from the disruptive effects of digital assets technology. So far, these effects have not been substantial outside isolated pockets where implementation has leaped ahead. But many believe we are approaching an inflection point and that dramatic changes are about to arrive for financial market infrastructure. Kate Karimson, R3's chief commercial officer, joins Lewis McLellan, OMFIF's Digital Monetary Institute editor, to discuss what these changes will look like.