Latest news with #KlaasKnot


Bloomberg
01-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
ECB Gets Another ‘Moderate Hawk' as Dutch Central-Bank Veteran Exits
Olaf Sleijpen, the European Central Bank's newest interest-rate setter, is about to continue where his Dutch predecessor left off. The 54-year-old economist takes over as the head of the central bank of the Netherlands on Tuesday, succeeding the hawkish Klaas Knot, who was among the most keenly tracked policymakers, despite him hailing from outside the region's top economies.


Bloomberg
27-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
ECB May Need to Hold Rates Amid ‘Two-Sided' Risks, Knot Tells FT
The European Central Bank may have to keep borrowing costs steady for the forseeable future as officials confront both upside and downside risks to consumer prices, Governing Council member Klaas Knot said. Speaking to the Financial Times, the Dutch governor, whose term ends this month, said he couldn't rule out a further reduction but said that colleagues will need to judge how the trade war and energy prices impact the economy.


Coin Geek
17-06-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
FSB: Links between crypto, TradFi nearing tipping point
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The outgoing chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), Klaas Knot, has warned that interconnections between the digital asset sector and traditional finance (TradFi) are nearing a 'tipping point,' creating potential risks. The FSB Plenary, the decision-making body of the FSB—an international organization that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system—met in Madrid on June 11 to discuss key priorities for global financial stability. Speaking at the event, Knot said that 'technological innovation is transforming the financial sector. It's adding new layers of complexity. And it's doing so at speed.' Knot, whose tenure as FSB Chair will end on June 30, warned that part of this increased complexity is down to the systemic risk the growing digital asset sector poses to TradFi. 'At the FSB, we have long maintained that crypto does not yet pose a systemic risk, but recent developments suggest we may be approaching a tipping point,' said Knot, according to a De Nederlandsche Bank transcript of his speech. 'Barriers for retail users have dropped significantly, particularly with the introduction of crypto ETFs. The interlinkages with the traditional financial system continue to grow.' He particularly highlighted stablecoins as a potential area of concern, noting that 'stablecoin issuers, for example, now hold substantial amounts of U.S. Treasuries. This is a segment we must monitor closely.' Systemic stablecoin concerns Many lawmakers and regulators around the globe have also identified the risk that certain stablecoins pose. The European Union's landmark Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation—the stablecoin provisions of which came into force last June—came with strict requirements for stablecoin issuers, including that they must maintain full reserves, undergo regular audits, and secure approval from a national authority. According to MiCA, some stablecoins may also be considered 'significant' or 'systemic' if they meet any three of seven criteria, including having more than €5 billion ($6.28 billion) in reserves, over 10 million users, if it processes over €500 million ($577.3 million) daily if it's used for payments on a global scale, or based on its level of interconnected with the financial system. For stablecoins that fall into this category, MiCA mandates additional measures, which have been compared to the regime applied to classify global systemically important banks, and the European Banking Authority (EBA) will have supervisory responsibilities for issuers of these stablecoins. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, where digital assets remain largely unregulated, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is progressing stablecoin regulation alongside the Bank of England (BOE), the latter of which is expected to have oversight of stablecoins that 'operate at systemic scale.' In his speech to the FSB Plenary, Knot reiterated the need for such regulation, saying, 'the crypto ecosystem will continue to evolve—and so must our regulatory frameworks.' Industry response The comments of the outgoing FSB Chair garnered a swift response from some industry figures. Nick Jones, co-founder and CEO of Zumo, a decentralized mobile wallet and payments platform built on blockchain technology, gave Knot's concerns short shrift. 'Given the widespread turmoil in the traditional financial system in recent years, the industry should be championing alternative financial solutions, not panicking as they gain traction,' Jones told CoinGeek. 'It's clear many people feel locked out of the incumbent system and are seeking viable alternatives. A resilient future financial system should surely seek to incorporate new ideas and structures that will provide added value for consumers.' He added that Zumo was seeing 'increased institutional and retail interest in digital assets, a wave of crypto IPOs, and a host of deals that draw TradFi and DeFi closer together.' Rather than closing off doors to booming digital assets, such as stablecoins, Jones suggested that the FSB 'looks through a different lens' and recognizes that stablecoins and other digital assets 'have significant potential to fortify financial resilience by introducing cost savings, faster transaction processing, and advanced security features underpinned by cryptographic principles.' Jones said the focus should be on 'getting the burgeoning regulatory regimes right for our nascent sector, ensuring that consumers are fully protected whilst giving innovation the required room to breathe.' For his part, FSB Chair Knot also highlighted some of the benefits provided by innovative technologies, namely that 'technology has made financial services faster, more accessible, more efficient. And in some areas, like AI, we have only started to see its full impact.' Knot's speech in Madrid was accompanied by the FSB Plenary confirming Andrew Bailey, Governor of the BOE, as the next FSB Chair for a three-year term beginning on July 1 this year. Watch: Richard Baker on engineering a smarter financial world with blockchain title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">


Reuters
13-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Dutch pick Olaf Sleijpen as new central bank president
AMSTERDAM, June 13 (Reuters) - The Dutch caretaker government has picked Olaf Sleijpen to head the country's central bank, succeeding current president Klaas Knot whose term ends on July 1, the central bank (DNB) said on its website on Friday. Sleijpen currently is the central bank's director for monetary affairs. The Dutch central bank president also serves as a member of the European Central Bank's governing council, which decides on monetary policy in the euro area. Knot has served as DNB's president since 2011 and is the longest-serving ECB policymaker in the council. Sleijpen joined DNB in 2011 and has been one its directors since 2020. He also teaches European Economic Policy at the University of Maastricht.


Bloomberg
13-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Netherlands Picks Sleijpen to Succeed Knot as Central Bank Chief
The Dutch government appointed Olaf Sleijpen to head the central bank. Sleijpen will start his seven-year term on July 1. He will succeed Klaas Knot, who led the central bank for 14 years and couldn't stand for another period.