Yesterday night the Central Banking Awards 2019 ceremony took place in London, the UK. Yakiv Smolii, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), received the prestigious international Central Banking Transparency Award for making strong progress in improving its transparency and advancing communication with stakeholders.
"On behalf of the NBU team, I’d like to thank Central Banking for this award. It is wonderful to receive such recognition and support from the international community,” said Yakiv Smolii.
Since the very beginning, the NBU regarded transparency and communication the only way to gain trust, to tackle populism and to preserve the independence of the NBU while withstanding economic and financial turmoil and undergoing the reform of the banking sector and the fundamental internal transformation of the regulator.
"We adopted new culture and values. We became more modern, open and transparent. Since then we maintain a dialogue with our stakeholders. We explain our actions to the public every step of the way. We make clear the opportunities and challenges our country is facing. We take responsibility for our words and our actions," noted Yakiv Smolii in his speech.
Today, communications are an integral part of the NBU operation. They are an efficient policy instrument aimed at ensuring price and financial stability to promote economic growth and reach goals set in the medium-term Strategy of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Being a modern institution, the NBU intends to build mutual understanding not only with a narrow expert audience, but also with general public. Accurate targeting is an important requirement for effective communications. With this purpose, the NBU investigates the needs of its target audience and builds its direct communications to speak one language with each group on issues of interest. (For more details go to the NBU’s Communication Strategy)
"We will continue the good work. We are open to accepting and to sharing leading practices in the central banking community,” affirmed Yakiv Smolii.
Be reminded, that Central Banking Awards’ winners were announced on 23 January this year. Since 2014, the NBU has faced numerous problems, including the conflict in Ukraine’s east, increased inflation, and a malfunctioning banking system, Central Banking Awards said in a comment. Under these conditions, the central bank was tempted to withhold all information and even make itself less transparent but, leaded by Valeria Gontareva and Yakiv Smolii, opted to do just the opposite.
By contrast, the NBU significantly expanded the scope of information it publishes regarding its operation and is working hard to make this information intelligible and available on time to every interested party, Central Banking Awards said in a statement.
For Reference
Сentral Banking Publications
The British publishing house Central Banking Publications was founded in 1990. Central Banking Publications issues the eponymous Central Banking Journal and a series of whitepapers and administers the annual Central Banking Awards. In addition, Central Banking Publications hosts professional events for central banks and financial market participants.
The Central Banking Journal is one of the world’s top publications for central bankers that is read by people in 130 countries and by professionals at 120 central banks. The Journal’s Editorial Advisory Board includes key figures of the global central banker community such as Jean-Claude Trichet, Ex-President of the European Central Bank and Governor of Banque de France, as well as economists from the world’s top universities, including Yale, Harvard, and Columbia.
Central Banking Awards
Central Banking Awards are a collection of category-specific prizes granted annually by the Central Banking Journal. Central Banking Awards span 26 categories, half of which are intended to recognize central banks’ achievements and successes, and the other half, to acknowledge the accomplishments of financial market participants.
Central banks compete for awards in the following categories: Central Bank of the Year, Governor of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, Economics in Central Banking, Transparency Award, Reserve Management Initiative, Currency Manager, Risk Manager, Initiative of the Year, Website, Outstanding Contribution for Capacity Building, Financial Inclusion Initiative, and Payments and Market Infrastructure Development.
Central Banking Transparency Award
Central Banking Transparency Award primarily recognizes a central bank’s successful record of transparency in dealing with a broad range of stakeholders.
To qualify for the Transparency Award, a central bank has to demonstrate proof of significant accomplishments and/or a leadership record characterized by intelligible communications with stakeholders via both internal and external communication channels.
Applications for Central Banking Awards are submitted online. No application fees are required. Winners are selected by the Central Banking Awards Committee, which includes:
- the Central Banking Journal’s editor team
- the Editorial Advisory Board chaired by the Journal’s Editor-in-chief Christopher Jeffery.
Іn 2017, the Transparency Award went to the Central Bank of Ireland; in 2016, to the Bank of Israel; in 2015, to Česká národní banka; and in 2014, to Sveriges Riksbank.