by Fabio Accardi and Emiliano Di Carlo

The debate on corporate finalism, i.e. the purpose of existence of organisations, has always involved scholars, managers and, in general, a plurality of actors who are interested in economics and management issues. The reasons for this interest are deep and can be traced back to the crisis that the capitalist system is going through and which has made obsolete the theories focused on the sole ability of companies to create an economic surplus value in terms of margins between the resources used as raw materials/utilities, labor force and outputs in terms of products/services. The constant greater use and saturation of resources in environmental (raw materials/utilities) and social (workforce) terms and the progressive participation in consumption of larger segments of the population make the only parameter of the profitability of the individual production organisation unsustainable at the global community level. Continue reading…

by Thomas J. Jordan

It is a great pleasure to give you some insights into this pilot project of the Swiss National Bank. The pilot represents the world’s first issuance of a wholesale CBDC on a regulated third-party platform to settle commercial transactions with tokenised assets. Helvetia III is a good example of how learnings from BIS Innovation Hub projects can be leveraged for real world use. We started this work together with the Hub’s Swiss Centre and the private sector more than four years ago. In Helvetia I and II, we jointly expanded our understanding of wholesale CBDC and shared the findings with the central bank community. We took advantage of this groundwork to launch Helvetia III in December 2023, bringing Swiss franc wholesale CBDC from a test setting to real use. Continue reading…

by Simon Yeoman

Social media for business. Crucial asset or Trojan Horse for cybersecurity threats? For a growing business, it’s both. From increasing brand awareness and targeting advertisements to boosting website traffic and conversion, an online presence can reap significant rewards for a brand. However, below the surface, all is not as it seems. Weak passwords, overshared personal details and even simple usernames can expose businesses to data breaches and leaks. And the rise of sophisticated deepfakes further increases this risk, enabling impersonation attacks that can have devastating effects. Continue reading…

by Klaas Knot

What was on our minds when we last met in December 2022? At that time, we had just seen the sharpest tightening of financial conditions since the 2008 global financial crisis. We had concerns about elevated debt levels and interconnectedness between banks and non-bank financial intermediaries amid high inflation and a deteriorating growth outlook. In this context, I emphasized that financial stability could not be taken for granted. So where are we today? Well, these concerns have not vanished; they continue to shape large parts of the FSB’s work. While inflation has somewhat eased, there is still some uncertainty about the persistence of inflation. What’s more, market valuations remain elevated. The tight spreads and low volatility in corporate bond markets are hard to square with rising defaults and upcoming higher refinancing costs. Similarly, equity valuations appear stretched.
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by Daoud Abdel Hadi

When AI entered the mainstream, it instilled a sense of panic in many people. It was seen as a threat that would replace humans across the working world. Given the speed at which AI is advancing, and the emergence of technologies such as ChatGPT, this fear may seem reasonable. But over time, we’ve started to see AI as a helpful tool, not a replacement for humans. And just like any other tool, it can be used for good or bad. As a result, the real threat AI poses is not mass redundancies. It’s the pace at which malicious actors have exploited it to commit crime. To respond effectively, financial institutions need to fight fire with fire, using AI to limit the ability of lawbreakers to get away with their crimes. In doing so, it’s essential to balance the analytical prowess of AI and the nuanced understanding of humans. So what does this collaboration look like? Continue reading…

Basel Committee has published a consultation on guidelines for counterparty credit risk management. The proposed guidelines include key practices critical to resolving long-standing industry weaknesses in counterparty credit risk management. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued a consultative document on guidelines for counterparty credit risk (CCR) management. The proposed guidelines will replace the Committee’s Sound practices for banks’ interactions with highly leveraged institutions published in January 1999. Continue reading…

The European Commission has designated Apple with respect to iPadOS, its operating system for tablets, as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”). Apple now has six months to ensure full compliance of iPadOS with the DMA obligations. On 5 September 2023, the Commission designated Apple as a gatekeeper for its operating system iOS, its browser Safari and its App Store. On the same day, the Commission opened a market investigation to assess whether Apple’s iPadOS, despite not meeting the quantitative thresholds laid down in the DMA, constitutes an important gateway for business users to reach end users and therefore should be designated as a gatekeeper.
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by Hans Timmerman

My first book in 1982 was about robots. About the robots entering the factory. How they could take over heavy and monotonous work in the factory as flexible, mechanical machines. Besides the interested companies for this industrial automation, the study also attracted the attention of journalists who were eager to hear when this type of robots would also start supporting us at home. At that time, however, the home robot was still a dream of the future. But with Apple’s announcement in recent weeks, it seems that future has come much closer. Over the past decades, robotic technology has become available in and around the home: robot mowers and vacuums that quietly and independently take over this boring work from us. Or the pet-like home robots like Amazon’s Astro, which can also watch over and guard the house when you’re away, or Sony’s robot dog Aibo. Finally, the serving robots that we see appearing in more and more hospitality establishments. The idea of robots in our homes and the service sector is not new. But with the advent of new AI speech capabilities, entirely new human communication and usage possibilities emerge. What can we expect in the coming years? Continue reading…

by Giordano Di Veglia & Melania Franzese

Today the digital transformation acts as a driver of profitability of banking business models. The failure of strategic projects in most cases does not depend on strategic mistakes, but on difficulties in its implementation, which are often tragically underestimated. In other words, the analysis is correct, the solutions identified are right, but the bank has not adequately assessed its ability to implement the planned changes. Continue reading…

by Christine Lagarde

The Governing Council decided last week to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. The incoming information has broadly confirmed our previous assessment of the medium-term inflation outlook. Inflation has continued to fall, led by lower food and goods price inflation. Most measures of underlying inflation are easing, wage growth is gradually moderating, and firms are absorbing part of the rise in labour costs in their profits. Financing conditions remain restrictive and our past interest rate increases continue to weigh on demand, which is helping to push down inflation. But domestic price pressures are strong and are keeping services price inflation high. Continue reading…