Program

Workshop on Central banking, payments, and monetary sovereignty
Prof. Ulrich Bindseil
Technische Universität Berlin

Date: 7-8.05.2026
Location: Freie Universität Berlin, Room 003, Boltzmannstraße 1, 14195 Berlin

I. Description:

This workshop provides an overview of money and payment architectures and develops the associated policy and regulatory questions. Money, payments, and other financial market infrastructures function as networks, implying significant (global) economies of scale. However, these characteristics raise important concerns regarding governance, potential abuse of power, monetary sovereignty, and, consequently, the role of regulation and public provision. At the same time, rapid technological innovation is challenging existing structures: declining use of cash, the emergence of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), instant payment systems, and the rise of public blockchains and stablecoins. While these developments offer substantial potential, they also introduce new risks and call for updates to regulation and the public provision of payment infrastructure. The workshop begins with an introduction to central bank operations, as central banks remain at the core of the monetary architecture. It then turns to payment architecture more broadly, examining how the layering of ledgers enables the combination of network effects with the needs of a highly heterogeneous set of payment system participants. Building on this foundation, the discussion expands to the global level, addressing cross-border payment architectures and related policy issues. In this context, the workshop returns to central banking, focusing on the role of foreign reserves and currency swap arrangements between central banks. It then considers how ongoing innovation challenges the current architecture and identifies the resulting risks that must be addressed through a rethinking of public sector policies. Finally, the workshop adopts the perspective of monetary sovereignty and reviews recent trends from this viewpoint.

II. Participation requirements:

Participation is only possible with prior registration. Please register by April 17 contacting carmen.marull@fu-berlin.de. Space is limited, so early registration is recommended.
All participants are expected to read the general reading.
Participants presenting their PhD projects are required to upload their exposé (max. 15 pages) by April 30 here. For Day 2, they should prepare a 10-minute presentation.

III. Detailed Workshop schedule

Day 1: 7.05.2026

9:30 – 10:30 Central bank financial operations

10:30 – 11:30 Payments architecture

11:30 – 11:45 Coffee Break

11:45 – 12:45 The global monetary and financial architecture

12:45 – 13:45 Lunch break

13:45 – 14:45 Central bank currency swaps and foreign reserves

14:45 – 15:00 Coffee Break

15:00 – 16:00 Innovations in financial institutions, payments, and market infrastructure

Day 2: 8.05.2026

9:00 – 10:00 Monetary sovereignty

10:00 – 11:15 Coffee Break

10:15 – 13:00 PhD Project presentations

IV. Reading List (available here):

General reading:

U. Bindseil and A. Fotia (2021), Introduction to central banking, chapters 1-3.
U. Bindseil and G. Pantelopoulos, (2023), Introduction to payments and financial market infrastructure, excerpt from chapters 1-4

Topics and reading:

1. Central bank financial operations (central bank balance sheet, basic monetary policy logic, and monetary policy operations)

U. Bindseil and A. Fotia (2021), Introduction to central banking, chapters 1-3

2. Payments architecture

U. Bindseil and G. Pantelopoulos, (2023), Introduction to payments and financial market infrastructure, excerpt from chapters 1-4

3. The global monetary and financial architecture

U. Bindseil and G. Pantelopoulos, (2022), “Towards the Holy Grail of Cross-Border Payments,” ECB WP 2693.

4. Central bank currency swaps and foreign reserves

S. Bahaj and R. Reis (2022), “The economics of liquidity lines between central banks”, Annual Review of Financial Econonomics, 2022, 57–74

T. Goda, L. Mühlich and B. Fritz (2025), “You are worth that to me – Uncovering the hierarchy of central bank currency swap scale”, Paper to be presented at the 29th FMM Conference, Berlin 23-25 October 2025.

5. Innovations in financial institutions, payments and market infrastructure (narrow bank constructs, public and private blockchains; CBDC)