The single currency was expected to make balance of payments irrelevant between the euro-area member states. This benign view has been challenged by recent developments, especially as imbalances between euro-area central banks have widened within the TARGET2 settlement system. Current-account...

While net settlement systems make more efficient use of liquidity than gross settlement systems, they are known to generate systemic risk. What does that tendency imply for the stability of the payments [or financial] system when the two settlement systems coexist? Do liquidity shortages induce...

Diverging fiscal policy paths, housing booms and diverging unit labour costs were driving forces of rising intra-European current account imbalances, which were underpinned by low interest rates. Since the outbreak of the crisis, the adjustment of intra-EMU current account imbalances has been...

We investigate the formation and structure of 248 financial exchangesthroughout the world. First, we empirically analyze the determinantsof exchange formation as well as the impact of exchange formation onthe domestic country's economy. Second, conditional on formation, weuse a probit model to...

This article deals with the macro-economics of the Trans-European Automated Re- al-time Gross Settlement Express Transfer System (TARGET2). Originally, the TARGET2 was in-tended to solely function as a monetary arrangement for liquidity issues. It is shown that the TARGET2 contributes to a...

This paper develops an economic framework to analyze the exchange rate of virtual currency. Three components are important: first, the current use of virtual currency to make payments; second, the decision of forward-looking investors to buy virtual currency (thereby effectively regulating its...

This paper uses a large panel of bilateral bank flow data to assess how institutions and politics affect international capital -bank in particular- flows. The following key findings emerge: 1) The empirical "gravity" model is the benchmark in explaining the volume of international banking...

We analyse the distribution of the TARGET cross-border interbank payment flows, from both a cross-section and time series point of view, using average daily data for the period 1999-2002. We find out that first, “location matters”, in the sense that bilateral payment flows seem to reflect an...

This paper investigates the determinants of currency invoicing in international trade. Although the currency of invoicing is central for the transmission of monetary policy, empirical research on this topic is scarce due to a lack of data. With a new extensive invoicing dataset and a panel model...

T2S is the single and harmonised IT platform for securities settlement in central bank money developed by the Eurosystem to promote integration in the European post-trading industry, and will go live in 2015. CSDs joining T2S are thus faced with the decision problem of determining to which...