Financial Reading List

In recent times I have been seeking to better understand the global financial system and upcoming financial innovation. Here are a small selection of links that I have found helpful in enhancing my understanding so far.

Payment, clearing and settlement systems

• BIS Red Book Volume 1 published September 2011

Coverage: Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland.

• BIS Red Book Volume 2 published November 2012

Coverage: Belgium, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Euro Area.

• Glossary of terms used in payments and settlement systems

Note:

As one would expect, over time technologies and systems change. For example, a Google search for Canada’s Large Value Transfer System (Red Book Volume 1, p126), reveals it will be replaced in 2021 with a new High-Value payments system called Lynx that leverages the global IOS 20022 message specifications. Consider the Red Books a starting point.

Central Banks

• BIS The role of central bank money in payment systems published August 2003

• BOE Money creation in the modern economy published March 2014

• BOE Understanding the central bank balance sheet published 2015

• EU COVID-19 and the Future of Quantitative Easing in the Euro Area: Three Scenarios with a Trilemma published September 2020

Central Banks Digital Money

This is an area that is rapidly evolving. A small selection of recent publications.

• BIS Central bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features published October 2020

• ECB Report on a digital euro published October 2020

• Voxeu CBDC architectures, the financial system, and the central bank of the future published October 2020

• IMF The Rise of Digital Money published July 2019

• EU The future of money published June 2019