On Demand: The European payments and digital assets conference

The European payments and digital assets conference

The effectiveness of central bank digital currencies depends to a great extent on the level of co-operation between public and private institutions. Through this co-operation we can ensure integration with existing payment systems, bridge consumer needs, support innovation, link conventional and new payment systems, balance regulatory clarity and innovation, and much more. The European payments and digital assets conference focused on the means through which digitalisation can be used to promote sovereignty and integration throughout Europe, specifically:

  • Retail CBDC and its implications for Economic Monetary Union
  • Future of the European Union’s capital markets and wholesale payments
  • The digital asset landscape
  • The impact of CBDC on reserves management

Watch the public sessions on demand:

Digital currency and the future of central banking

Retail CBDC and its implications for the European Monetary Union

The transition to digital currencies continues at a rapid pace and has inevitably been accelerated by Covid-19. As the economy moves towards a greater degree of digitalisation, a retail CBDC could prove important in safeguarding central bank money as well as protecting the interest of consumers and vendors online. The main topics of discussion for this panel include the unbundling of financial services and the impact on commercial banks, the ECB’s balance sheet implications under a two-tier model, the role of central banks in supporting digital evolution and how a programmable euro could safeguard the EU’s technological competitiveness. The need for a digital euro, the growing role of fintech and the potential division of labour under a two-tier retail model also come under consideration.

Exploring the tension between privacy and compliance in CBDC

We want digital cash to be hard for criminals to abuse but we also want it to retain the privacy characteristics of cash. Suggestions about how to resolve this tension abound. Some privilege one of these ideals over the other. Others call for an uneasy compromise, based on the amount of money changing hands. Is this a zero-sum game or is it possible to have both?

In this presentation, we describe how to build ‘provisional anonymity’ into digital cash such that criminals find the ecosystem intolerable, people with good intentions retain their privacy, regulators achieve strong oversight and law enforcement has recourse — all without backdoors in encryption. Such a mechanism is necessary if CBDC is to achieve its promise as a public good.

Future of EU’s capital markets and wholesale payments

This panel discussion delves into issues upon which the future of EU’s capital markets and wholesale payments hinge. Speakers focus on the current development in wholesale CBDCs and the ways in which the euro area differs from other currency jurisdictions, such as the US or China, the issues of interoperability and supervision, the means through which commercial banks and other transaction service providers rise to the challenge posed by DLT as well as what tokenisation might mean for the functioning of capital markets.

Another key point is the potential of by instantaneous 24/7 payment, better information oversight, and programmable money to substantially change the treasury function and how this might be achieved.

The digital asset landscape

The digital assets ecosystem is in a constant state of evolution which leads to the need for classification as well as for finding a balance between regulatory clarity and innovation. Among others, this panel examines the challenges that the digital assets landscape is facing as it evolves, the importance of harmonisation and standardisation of definitions and rules governing this space, the challenges of cryptoassets co-existing with CBDCs and stablecoins as well as the importance of collaboration between the private sector, central banks and regulatory bodies globally.

Considerations and lessons learned implementing a retail CBDC in Europe

FIS is advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests. FIS is a global leader in payments for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally. FIS is a Fortune 500® company, moving $10T+ annually around the globe amounting to 79B+ transactions processed. FIS covers the full payments value chain and provides central infrastructure for central banks, payment system operators and banks.

Report discussion: The impact of CBDC on reserves management

The World Gold Council and OMFIF launch a report on central bank digital currencies and gold. The panel presents the key findings of the report after which it delves into issues focused on the means through which CBDCs have impacted reserves management. The discussion broaches several topics such as the connection between CBDCs and gold as a reserve asset, the relationship between CBDCs and inflation, taxation implications brought on by the dichotomy between CBDCs and gold as well as questions of the regulatory perimeters under which CBDCs find themselves.

Speakers

Paul Tucker
Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School; Author of Unelected Power
Claudine-Hurman-photo
Claudine Hurman
Director of Infrastructures, Innovation and Payments
Banque de France
Charlottte-Hogg_Visa_large
Charlotte Hogg
CEO Europe
Visa
Ben-Pott-BNY-Mellon---resized
Ben Pott
Head of Public Policy and Government Affairs, EMEA
BNY Mellon
5.Thomas-Moser
Thomas Moser
Alternate Member of the Governing Board
Swiss National Bank
Costanza Iacomini
Head of the Fintech, Retail Payment Instruments and Services Directorate
Banca d’Italia
Doris Dietze
Head of Digital Finance, Payments and Cybersecurity
Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany
Marius Jurgilas
Member of the Board
Bank of Lithuania
Naveen new edited
Naveen Mallela
Global Head of Coin Systems
Onyx by JP Morgan
Aniko Szombati
Chief Digital Officer and Executive Director
Central Bank of Hungary
Co-Pierre
Co-Pierre Georg
Member, Economic Advisory Committee
Algorand Foundation
10WolframSeidemann-final
Wolfram Seidemann
CEO
Giesecke+Devrient Currency Technology
Mathias Studach
Head of Finance and Risk
SDX
Shaokai Fan
Global Head of Central Banks
World Gold Council
Daniel edited
Daniel Hardman
Principal Ecosystem Engineer, Digital Cash
SICPA
Dirk edited
Dirk Schrade
Deputy Head of the Payments and Settlement Systems
Deutsche Bundesbank
Andrew edited
Andrew Turner
CBDC and Digital Currencies Product Strategy Specialist
FIS Global

Themes

Central bank digital currencies

Fintech and digital asset landscape

Integration and cross-border payments

Distributed ledger technology and banking

The future of financial market infrastructures

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