The OMFIF Podcast

Driving biodiversity and conservation finance: In-conversation with WWF

Thomas Vellacot, CEO, WWF Switzerland, joins Emma McGarthy, head of OMFIF’s Sustainable Policy Institute, to discuss the role WWF is playing in biodiversity and conservation finance. They discuss how governments and private industries are developing financing solutions to protect and sustainably manage natural resources. They explore solutions to biodiversity financing and risk considerations, as well as the latest developments in carbon pricing and mechanisms for driving the transition to net zero and increasing ecological conservation.

View the panel discussed in this podcast here.

Digital exchanges and the future of financial assets

The digital assets landscape is growing rapidly in both scale and variety. As the first regulated digital securities exchange, Six Digital Exchange is at the heart of this developing market. Michele Curtoni, Head of Strategy at SDX, joins Lewis McLellan, editor of OMFIF’s DMI, to discuss the benefits that a new digital architecture for financial securities is starting to bring. Curtoni goes into detail on the benefits of distributed ledger technology in improving the settlement of different asset classes and the disruption that it enables. He also discusses how to solve what he calls the ‘cold start problem’ — the problem of how to simultaneously introduce digital assets, liquidity, and a dedicated digital market infrastructure.

A macroeconomic overview and the Bank of England’s monetary policy

With the impact of Covid-19 on international monetary and financial conditions, as well as higher energy and goods prices, Catherine Mann, external member of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England, discusses the latest economic projections for the UK. She offers her thinking on effects on inflation and the direction of monetary policy. 

To view the slides mentioned in this podcast, please visit our website here: https://www.omfif.org/videos/a-macroeconomic-overview-and-the-bank-of-englands-monetary-policy/

 

Ahead of the ECB: Inflation, central bank reserves management and risks

Max Castelli and Athanasios Orphanides discuss inflation expectations in the euro area and how these impact monetary policy thinking and market behaviour. Talking to Ellie Groves, Castelli, head of strategy, global sovereign markets at UBS Asset Management, and Orphanides, who is professor of the practice of global economics and management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, as well as former governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus and member of the European Central Bank governing council, contextualise inflation forecasts from the ECB and UBS. They explore what is in store for central bank reserves managers as they navigate investing in riskier assets and the biggest risks facing the financial community in 2022.

Reflections on the Fed and risks to financial stability

Randal Quarles, former member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System, joins Mark Sobel, US chair, OMFIF, for a broad discussion on the outlook of the Federal Reserve. Their discussion will take in everything from the economic outlook, financial stability to Randal’s reflections on his time at the Fed and as Chair of the Financial Stability Board. 

Technical issues around the introduction CBDCs and their policy implications

As economies around the world look for ways to foster greater financial inclusion, conversations have increased around upgrading the global payments system, both wholesale and retail. Koji Fusa, chief executive officer at GVE, joins John Orchard, chief executive officer of OMFIF, to discuss the tension between privacy and oversight if physical cash is phased out, characteristics of a two-tier (opted for by the People’s Bank of China and most other central banks considering CBDCs) and three-tier system. A closer look at the impact on tokens and contracts used to settle transactions if a new payments system is created involving using blockchain or distributed ledger technology is also explored. 

View the graph mentioned in the podcast here. 

ESG and US asset management: The future is now

With climate change evermore on the global agenda, investors and the financial sector are increasingly having to factor ESG into investment decisions. In collaboration with Mazars, OMFIF has produced a report titled: ESG and US asset management: The future is now. In the virtual launch of the report, which includes a brief overview of key findings, panellists discuss investment approaches to ESG, data metrics and standards, the political and policy environment impacting approaches to ESG, as well as opportunities and developments in ESG processes. 

Jingdong Hua‘s retirement reflections on development finance

Jingdong Hua shares his reflections as he retires as treasurer from the World Bank and after an extensive career in development finance across different multilateral organisations. In a broad ranging interview with David Marsh, chairman of OMFIF, they discuss among others the role of multilateral development banks in a post-covid world, holistic approaches to tackling climate change as well as how to develop and strengthen local capital markets in emerging economies. 

CBDCs, stablecoins and geopolitical implications

As economies around the world move towards a greater degree of digitalisation and look to foster greater financial inclusion, CBDCs could prove to be crucial to safeguarding central bank money. James Wallis, vice-president, central bank engagements and CBDCs, RippleX at Ripple, joins John Orchard, chief executive officer of OMFIF, to discuss the economic benefits and risks surrounding CBDCs, collaboration between the private and public sectors, the stablecoin debate and privacy trade-off concerns.

Ahead of the ECB: challenges ahead in monetary policy and reserves management

Interest rates are on the rise as the ‘transitory’ rise in inflation appears to be more persistent than previously thought. Max Castelli, head of strategy, global sovereign markets, UBS Asset Management, talks with David Marsh, OMFIF chairman, about the European Central Bank’s policies ahead of the all-important end-of-year governing council meeting on 16 December, where the central bank’s 2022 asset purchase strategy will take centre stage. The podcast features findings from UBS’ research on reserves management, including reserves managers facing potential losses on their fixed income portfolios for the first time in a very long while and how they are diversifying away from government bonds to better respond to this challenging reality.