Designing the Global Payments System: Telegraph to Tether - Lecture by Catherine R. Schenk

Recording of the public lecture of Professor Catherine Schenk (Oxford University) "Designing the Global Payments System: Telegraph to Tether", held in the context of the Goethe University Visiting Professorship of Financial History* (29 June 2022). ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Over the past 5 years the FSB and CPMI have undertaken an intensive examination of the global payments system with a view to enhancing its resilience, reducing costs and increasing transparency. In Europe, the TARGET system for cross-border payments suffered five interruption incidents in 2020. The global payments system is a public good that is often provided through the private sector, but it also poses systemic risks that are greater than the private sector can resolve. These official investigations have emerged alongside an acceleration in distributed ledger technology, digital currencies and innovations in messaging systems. Meanwhile, many central banks are considering the potential for central bank digital currencies. How have cross-border payments systems evolved over the longer term and responded to shocks, globalisation and technological innovation? This lecture takes the long view on understanding the evolution of the underlying plumbing of the international economic system. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ A jointly organized event of the House of Finance, the Leibniz Institute SAFE and the Institute for Banking and Financial History (IBF). *The Visiting Professorship of Financial History is endowed by Metzler Bank and the Friedrich Flick Förderungsstiftung. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:27 Indroduction by Professor Rainer Klump 5:46 Lecture Professor Catherine Schenk 59:45 Q&A