By Chris Mahony (Senior Communications Officer), Published
Several Bayes Business School’s Fintech students presented the results and key conclusions of their course research to Bank of England officials recently.
The three small groups of students had each secured scores above 70 per cent for their major research project, which challenged them to evaluate different strands of the challenges and implications the Bank should consider if policymakers pressed ahead with a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the UK.
It is the second year that Bayes students have presented to Bank of England staff.
Oliver Manyemba, the Bayes’ Lecturer in Actuarial Science who coordinated the visit, said: “There were a few nerves the day before but you wouldn’t have known on the day as they all transformed into confident and eloquent speakers. The critical thinking and originality which earned them their first class grades shone through their presentations.”
He pointed to a 2021 observation by the Bank's then Chief Economist, Andy Haldane, in his farewell speech after 30 years' service.
"The Bank is blessed with having the capacity to both think and do, both brain and hands. When former Governor Cobbold said 'the Bank is a bank and not a study group' he was wrong. The Bank is both. And the magic happens when the two are combined, the brains and hands co-ordinated."
Oliver said: "In this case, it was the students leading the study group at the Bank."
Zohra Shaikh, presenting on behalf of six students, set out shortcomings with the electronic clearing and payment systems, RTGS and CHAPS. Those concerns, she said, have led to growing interest in developing a digital payment and clearing system based on CBDC and blockchain. The presentation featured lessons from both a successful Nigerian experiment with a CBDC and a failed scheme, tested in Norway.
Daniel Abraham, presenting on behalf of three students, analysed global trends, again deploying case studies of both successful and failed flirtations with CBDCs – which stimulated excited discussions with Bank officials.
China’s successful approach to CBDCs was at the heart of the presentation by Kaiyue Liang, who presented on behalf of a four-strong team. He outlined a number of systems successfully trialled in China which Bank officials seemed particularly engaged with.
Incentivising ideas
Zohra said: “While the entire team was motivated to secure a first-class degree, the opportunity to present at the Bank of England pushed us all to deliver further. We conducted thorough research and analysis, which included asking our professor lots of questions and having numerous in-depth discussions to challenge our ideas and refine them as much as possible to present only the most strategic ones. This resulted in an exciting opportunity to present our ideas to the Bank of England officials, and I found the entire process immensely rewarding.”
Daniel said: “I could see that during each presentation the Bank officials were taking a lot of notes throughout. That gave me confidence. I know this is a really complex area but it would be so great if the recommendations we shared have even a 1 per cent impact on their decision-making and inform their implementation strategy.”
The anxiety of the day before, which Oliver alluded to, had disappeared to such an extent that all three wished they had more than the allotted 15 minutes each.
However, they made some of these points over afternoon tea with officials after the challenge of presenting was over.
As Kaiyue said: “Not many people get the opportunity of speaking directly with the central bank. This experience gave me a clear vision of my potential career path and I’m grateful to Oliver and Bayes for that chance.”
Dr Russell Gerrard, who was Head of the Faculty of Actuarial Science & Insurance until recently, said: “It was obvious that the Bank officials were fully engaged with the presentations and impressed with the content. This is the sort of unique experience that Bayes can offer students because of our great location on the border of both London’s famous Square Mile and ‘Tech City’."