MNB TC Programme 2023 – Stability and Innovation
PrintGreen and Sustainable Finances – Introducing the MNB’s Green Program
Magyar Nemzeti Bank’s inaugural Technical Cooperation Programme for partner central banks starts with seminar focusing on green finance
Magyar Nemzeti Bank, the central bank of Hungary successfully launched its Technical Cooperation Programme for 2023 with a seminar titled “Green and Sustainable Finances – Introducing the MNB’s Green Program” organised between 14-16 June in Budapest. The new initiative aims to foster the MNB’s collaboration with its partners, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and financial dialogue among central banks. The Programme is built on the belief that knowledge-transfer and personal connections have a vital role in effective economic policymaking, financial stability and growth, therefore benefit all parties involved.
As climate change and the green transformation of the economy have an impact on price stability, central banks must be active in the field of environmental sustainability. Given the importance of the topic, the first event of the MNB Technical Cooperation Programme was dedicated to financial sustainability and introduced the MNB’s pioneer Green Program. The seminar provided a comprehensive overview and deep dives into the sustainability aspects of MNB’s operations, ranging from carbon footprint reduction and greening the monetary policy to climate stress tests. The 2,5-day event was an excellent opportunity for the participating central bankers to expand their knowledge and build valuable relationships with other professionals from the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Central and East Asia.
Themed “Stability and Innovation”, the MNB Technical Cooperation Programme offers four seminars over the year, covering both conventional central banking functions and the contemporary, technology-driven developments of the financial landscape. In the future, the program is expected to expand in accordance with the latest trends and the needs of our partners. The introductory brochure of the program, which contains detailed description of the seminars and application deadlines, is available on MNB's webpage.
Within the framework of the new Programme, the following seminars are organized in 2023 in Budapest:
Green and Sustainable Finances – Introducing the MNB’s Green Program: 1 4-16 June 2023
The MNB’s approach on supporting Digitization and FinTech innovations: 25-27 October 2023
Financial Infrastructures, Payments and Cyber Security: 22-24 November 2023
Financial Stability and Macroprudential Policymaking: 6-8 December 2023
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The MNB’s approach on supporting Digitization and FinTech innovations
The MNB organized knowledge-sharing seminar on Digitizalization and Fintech
The Technical Cooperation Programme aims to foster the MNB’s collaboration with its partners, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and financial dialogue among central banks. The Programme launched in 2023 by Magyar Nemzeti Bank, the central bank of Hungary continued with its second seminar titled “The MNB’s approach on supporting Digitization and FinTech innovations” organised between 25-27 October in Budapest. The 2,5-day event was an excellent opportunity for the participating experts to expand their knowledge and build valuable relationships with other professionals from the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Central and East Asia.
The future of central banking is inextricably linked to innovation. As the digital economy and financial innovation expand beyond regulatory perimeters and national borders, policymakers need institutional mechanisms to help them work and learn together.
During the seminar the current global FinTech trends were discussed first. As part of the theoretical introduction, participants gained an in-depth insight into the financial stability and market integrity considerations that the newly appeared FinTech solutions brought about. The participants of the seminar also learnt about MNB’s digital policy tools and digitalisation technologies via case studies and received information on the cyber security aspects as well. The second part of the seminar covered the CBDC design aspects, theoretical considerations, and introduced the global and Hungarian CBDC projects. The seminar also included a crypto-assets and blockchain technology workshop, which provided participants with an opportunity to enhance their practical knowledge on the topic.
Themed “Stability and Innovation”, the MNB Technical Cooperation Programme offers four seminars over the year, covering both conventional central banking functions and the most current, technology-driven developments of the financial landscape. In the future, the program is expected to expand in accordance with the latest trends and the needs of our partners. The introductory brochure of the program, which contains detailed description of the seminars and application deadlines, is available on MNB's webpage.
Within the framework of the new Programme, two more seminars are organized in 2023 in Budapest:
Financial Infrastructures, Payments and Cyber Security: 22-24 November 2023
Financial Stability and Macroprudential Policymaking: 6-8 December 2023
Press release:
Financial Infrastructures, Payments and Cyber Security
MNB’s knowledge-sharing seminar series continued with the theme of financial infrastructures
A seminar titled „Financial Infrastructures, Payments and Cyber Security” was held by Magyar Nemzeti Bank between 22-24 November 2023, in which foreign professionals from the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Central and East Asia attended, representing 18 central banks and supervisory authorities. The event took place within the framework of the Technical Cooperation Programme launched in the beginning of 2023, which aims to strengthen the international exchange of professional knowledge and best practices, and to build valuable relationships with other central banks.
The third seminar of the programme focused on key topics such as the renewal of financial infrastructures, innovative payment systems and the increasingly important cyber security. Electronic payment solutions have developed dynamically in recent years and have become the fundamental element of a modern, internationally competitive economy. The MNB speakers presented the Hungarian Instant Payment System in detail, which was implemented as one of the central bank's main priorities. With its launch a new era began in payments in Hungary and resulted the successful digital transition of the banking sector as the main Hungarian financial innovation of the past thirty years. Participants also learnt about the main factors influencing payment habits and best practices for promoting electronic payments via group assignments.
The audience was also able to learn about the tools introduced to mitigate fraud in the retail payment market, as well as the MNB’s experiences on IT and cyber security. Nowadays, due to the faster digitization developments, financial institutions have to face more complex and an increasing number of information security risks and threats, therefore the topic of cyber risks and cyber security becomes of paramount importance.
Themed “Stability and Innovation”, the MNB Technical Cooperation Programme offers four seminars over the year, covering both conventional central banking functions and the most current, technology-driven developments of the financial landscape. The introductory brochure of the program, which contains detailed description of the seminars, is available on MNB's webpage.
Within the framework of the new programme, an additional seminar will be organized in 2023 in Budapest in the theme of “Financial Stability and Macroprudential Policymaking“ on 6-8 December 2023, and then the programme will continue with four more seminars next year.
Press release:
Financial Stability and Macroprudential Policymaking
The MNB’s 2023 Technical Cooperation Programme concluded with a seminar on financial stability
A seminar titled "Financial Stability and Macroprudential Policymaking" was held by the Magyar Nemzeti Bank from 6th to 8th of December in Budapest. The three-days seminar was held as the final event of the MNB’s Technical Cooperation Programme launched in 2023, following the programme series in June and the autumn which addressed key topics such as green finance, digitalization and FinTech as well as the financial infrastructures. The opening speech at the seminar was delivered by Mr Barnabás Virág, Deputy Governor of the MNB, who highlighted the importance of cooperation and international partnership as key elements in dealing with unprecedented challenges in times of crisis. Deputy Governor Virág also announced in his speech that building on the success of this year, the MNB’s Technical Cooperation Programme will continue in 2024 under the theme "From Tradition To Innovation" featuring four new seminars covering both traditional central bank functions and innovative areas. Nearly 100 central bank experts form 21 partner countries participated in the four seminars during the year.
Nowadays when the resilience of financial institutions and economies to unexpected events and crises is crucial, more attention is paid to maintain financial stability and minimize systemic risks as ever. Decisions made in this regard directly impact lending, real estate markets, and capital stock, significantly influencing economic growth and sustainable development. The seminar held by MNB experts focused on addressing contemporary challenges to financial stability, including the Magyar Nemzeti Bank’s response to climate risk and the presentation of the newest decision-supporting methodologies, such as agent-based modelling.
Participants engaged in interactive workshops deepening their practical knowledge on borrower-based measures, calibrating macroprudential capital buffers as well as liquidity and funding regulation. The seminar also shared experiences about the MNB’s practice on data collection for analytical and decision-making purposes in the field of financial stability. Beyond enhancing the professional expertise of central bank experts, the event provided a valuable platform for participants to establish connections with MNB experts, and each other.
The MNB launched its Technical Assistance Programme called “Stability and Innovation” in June 2023. Through its international network the Magyar Nemzeti Bank has regularly hosted study visits and knowledge sharing events in the previous years attended by central bank experts and management from our partner countries. With the MNB's own Technical Assistance Programme, the previous demand-based professional training courses and knowledge-sharing events were put into an organized framework. This initiative facilitated the sharing of the bank’s best practices, strengthened international relations and promoted unique professional solutions.
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