On 25 September 2020 (at 11:30), Latvijas Banka will host its annual economic conference to discuss the development of payment technologies, their impact on public security and the ways it could be strengthened.
Taking account of the measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the international conference "Money and public security" will be organised mostly remotely. Most speakers as well as the audience will participate in the conference by taking advantage of modern video conference technologies. Anyone interested will be able to watch the conference live on the website makroekonomika.lv and news portals as well as have the opportunity to engage in discussions and ask questions to leading international and Latvian experts in the fields of finance and security (on the platform sli.do, code #LBconference).
Krišjānis Kariņš, Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, will address the conference participants and those watching, and the keynote speech will be delivered by Benoît Cœuré, Head of Innovation Hub, Bank for International Settlements.
Two panel discussions will be held: "Challenges in the age of new high-convenience real-time payment technologies" and "Tomorrow offers digital money in digital wallets".
The discussions will seek answers to the following questions:
- What are the risks entailed by the rapid development of new payment technologies?
- What is the role of the state and the central bank, when the availability and acceptance of digital money becomes more widespread?
- Are the new payment technologies robust in case of power outages or data flow interruptions?
- What can we do to ensure proper protection of personal or confidential data?
- Are we heading for a cash-less economy?
- What is the role of cash as a means of payment and a store of value in light of new payment techniques?
- What is the impact of the demise of cash – in terms of payment availability, convenience, public security, privacy?
- What is digital money and what makes it different from other types of money?
- Why do we need digital money?
- Should digital money be private or public?
- How can the creation of digital money intended by private global businesses affect each of us – both in terms of settlement, the economy and the economic security of the state and society?
- What impact will the issuance of digital money by the state, central banks have on savings, lending, price stability, crises resolution?
- What new risks are expected to emerge upon the introduction of digital money and how would the current ones change?
The moderator of the panel discussion "Challenges in the age of new high-convenience real-time payment technologies" will be Niels Henrik Bünemann, communication specialist and freelance journalist. The opening presentation will be delivered by Deniss Fiļipovs, Head of Payment Systems Policy Division, Latvijas Banka, and the discussion participants will be Benoît Cœuré, Harijs Ozols, Head of Information Technology Department, Latvijas Banka, Jānis Sārts, Director, NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, Karsten Biltoft, Assistant Governor and Head of Financial Market Department, Danmarks Nationalbank, and Prof. Dr. Franz Seitz, Weiden Technical University of Applied Sciences.
The moderator of the panel discussion "Tomorrow offers digital money in digital wallets" will be Mārtiņš Kazāks, Governor, Latvijas Banka, and the opening presentation will be delivered by Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli, Deputy Division Chief of Payments, Currencies, and Infrastructure Division of Monetary and Capital Markets Department, IMF. Ulrich Bindseil, Director General of Market Infrastructure and Payments, European Central Bank, Marius Jurgilas, Member of the Board, Lietuvos bankas, and Liza Aizupiete, Managing Director, SIA Fintelum (tbc), will also participate in the discussion.
Detailed information on the conference as well as its live coverage will be available on Latvijas Banka's website at macroeconomics.lv. The mass media are also invited to follow the discussions. The working language of the conference is English (simultaneous interpreting into Latvian will be provided).