Submission deadline: 30 June 2020

Call for papers

European Central Bank, Main Building, 23-24 November 2020

Please note: the ECB is closely monitoring the situation regarding COVID-19. As we plan the conference, we will follow guidance from the ECB Executive Board on the safety of attending large events and travelling. We are also developing a contingency plan to move the conference to an online format if necessary.

Purpose

The ECB’s annual conference on money markets brings together academics, market practitioners and central bankers to discuss the key developments in money markets, monetary policy implementation and central bank operational frameworks. Through a combination of research presentations, keynote speeches and insights from market participants, the workshop explores how efficient transmission of monetary policy can be ensured in the current money market environment.

Keynote speakers

• Remarks by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board, ECB
• Academic keynote address by Gara Afonso, Assistant Vice President in the Financial Intermediation Function, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Scope

The money market, where short-term funds are lent and borrowed, is a key component of the financial system, being one of the main channels of monetary policy implementation and its transmission as well as an important source of liquidity, as has been proven again in the recent reactions to the COVID-19 outbreak. The money market benchmark rates underpin the interest rates of the broader financial markets. Many term interest rate benchmarks based on expert judgement or quotes in the unsecured money markets are being gradually replaced by near risk-free interest rate benchmarks based on actual transactions. A consequence of the global financial crisis and the policy response to it has been the partial displacement of unsecured transactions by secured ones as a main driver of euro money markets. In addition, non-banks have gained an increasing share of money market transactions. Regulated financial institutions such as insurers, pension funds, central clearing counterparties and unregulated entities such as some investment funds or non-financial corporations are no traditional counterparties of the central bank, which add to the complexity of monetary policy implementation.

Researchers are invited to present their latest results and ideas in the area of money markets, including their interaction with monetary policy implementation – in particular their functioning in view of the evolution of central bank balance sheets, monetary policy frameworks and of regulatory frameworks – and their adaptation to emerging trends such as environmental sustainability and digitalisation. In this context, analyses of the impact of the COVID-19 on the functioning of money markets are also welcomed.

Topics of interest for submission include, but are not limited to:

• the shift from unsecured to secured transactions, its causes and consequences for monetary policy transmission
• the growing share of non-banks in financial market activity, its causes and consequences for monetary policy transmission
• drivers of the secured market segment, such as the supply and demand for high quality liquid assets and potential spillover effects on other segments of the financial markets
• the role of the foreign exchange swap market in foreign currency funding
• structure and liquidity of the euro overnight interest rate swap (OIS) segment
• effects of negative interest rates and technological progress on investment or trading strategies
• the current status of fragmentation in money markets and its implications for monetary policy implementation
• the current status of financial integration and the contribution of the ECB’s targeted long-term lending operations to harmonising the credit conditions offered by banks across the euro area
• international experiences with the impact of tiering systems for remunerating excess liquidity holdings on money markets
• international experiences with managing the decline in central bank reserves and their uneven distribution among market players
• the interest rate benchmark reform in the euro area and the transition to new near risk-free benchmark rates
• potential implications of widening access to central bank balance sheets to non-banks
• the impact of central bank digital currencies on monetary policy implementation
• the role of central bank collateral frameworks, in particular in the fight against climate change
• the future of central bank operational frameworks
• the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on money markets

Submission

Papers should be submitted in portable document format (PDF) to MMWorkshop@ecb.europa.eu by 30 June 2020. Submissions by female researchers are particularly encouraged. Authors whose papers are accepted will be notified by the end of July 2020. Submitting authors should also indicate whether they would be willing to discuss a paper.

Organisational information

Attendance at the conference is by invitation only. The conference will start in the morning of Monday, 23 November 2020 and end at noon on Tuesday, 24 November 2020. A dinner is planned for the evening of the first day.

Expenses

Academic speakers and discussants will be reimbursed for their travel and accommodation costs.

Conference organisers

• Johannes Breckenfelder, ECB, Financial Research
• Marco Corsi, ECB, Market Operations Analysis
• María Encío, ECB, Money Market and Liquidity
• Julian Schumacher, ECB, Monetary Policy Strategy