On this page we showcase our latest research and analysis, conferences and partnerships with researchers outside the Bank.
About the FSRC
The FSRC will advance high-quality financial system research in Canada to inform policy and improve the economic and financial well-being of Canadians. The Centre showcases the Bank’s latest financial system research and analysis, helping us to build partnerships with researchers outside the Bank. We will also host an annual conference highlighting financial system research from Canada and around the world, including our own research and the results of our joint research ventures.
Research
Our goal is to advance the understanding of the structure, function and evolution of the Canadian financial system. This is essential to the core functions of the Bank. Our in-depth research helps identify risks and shapes policy by addressing issues in financial markets, banking, payments systems and other matters in the financial system.
Eggs in One Basket: Security and Convenience of Digital Currencies
Digital currencies store balances in anonymous electronic addresses. This paper analyzes the trade-offs between the safety and convenience of aggregating balances in addresses, electronic wallets and banks.
Charles M. Kahn
Francisco Rivadeneyra
Tsz-Nga Wong
Using Payments Data to Nowcast Macroeconomic Variables During the Onset of COVID-19
We use retail payment data in conjunction with machine learning techniques to predict the effects of COVID-19 on the Canadian economy in near-real time. Our model yields a significant increase in macroeconomic prediction accuracy over a linear benchmark model.
James Chapman
Ajit Desai
Losing Contact: The Impact of Contactless Payments on Cash Usage
Contactless payment cards are a competitive alternative to cash. Using Canadian panel data from 2010 to 2017, this study investigates whether contactless credit cards are an important contributor to the decline in the transactional use of cash.
Marie-Hélène Felt
Strategic Uncertainty in Financial Markets: Evidence from a Consensus Pricing Service
We look at the informational content of consensus pricing in opaque over-the-counter markets. We show that the availability of price data informs participants mainly about other participants’ valuations, rather than about the value of a financial security.
Lerby Ergun
Andreas Uthemann
On Causal Networks of Financial Firms: Structural Identification via Non-parametric Heteroskedasticity
Banks’ business interactions create a network of relationships that are hidden in the correlations of bank stock returns. But for policy interventions, we need causality to understand how the network changes. Thus, this paper looks for the causal network anticipated by investors.
Ruben Hipp
Interbank Asset-Liability Networks with Fire Sale Management
Raising liquidity when funding is stressed creates pressure on the financial market. Liquidating large quantities of assets depresses their prices and may amplify funding shocks. How do banks weathering a funding crisis contribute to contagion risk?
Zachary Feinstein
Grzegorz Halaj
Conferences
We regularly bring together researchers from academic and policy institutions at conferences that discuss financial system relevant topics such as banking regulation, housing markets, retail payments, and the next generation of central bank models.
Financial Markets’ Response to COVID-19 Policy Interventions
Policy-makers reacted to the COVID-19 crisis through a variety of channels. This Systemic Risk Centre conference, co-organized with the Bank of Canada, focused on how financial markets responded to these policy initiatives and asked what we have learned for future interventions.
November 27, 2020
Debt Management Modelling Workshop
The Bank of Canada is hosting a one-day workshop focusing on advances in models and frameworks for sovereign debt management.
April 24, 2020
Conference on the Economics of Central Bank Digital Currency
This two-day conference, jointly organized by the Bank of Canada and Sveriges Riksbank, was held in Ottawa, Ontario. The event provided a forum for central bankers and academic researchers to discuss arguments for and against the issuance of central bank digital currencies.
October 17, 2019
External Partnerships
We value research partnerships and offer opportunities for experienced and promising researchers in a variety of fields.