The COVID-19 pandemic has served both as an x-ray onto existing vulnerabilities in the global financial system, and as an accelerator for destabilizing tendencies, including higher sovereign and consumer debt in emerging markets. At an online meeting of the Central Bank Governors' Club, hosted this week by Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina, representatives were unanimous in their expectations of the far-reaching consequences of the current crisis. At the meeting, the 26 central bank representatives that convened from Central Asia, the Black Sea region, the Balkan countries and beyond, also noted the pandemic-induced expansion of e-commerce, as well as digital …

The Republic of Azerbaijan is planning to complete a project of blockchain-based digital identification system by the end of 2019. Farid Osmanov, director of the information technology department at the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), says that the new system will be adopted in the first quarter of 2020, local news agency Trend News reported on Nov. 6. “Transition of the CBA to open banking” According to the report, the CBA executive introduced the plans speaking at the fourth International Banking Forum. Osmanov reportedly highlighted the system’s prospects in terms of security of personal data transferred to credit organizations as …

Azerbaijan has been a hotbed for a series of ambitious fintech-related announcements over the past several months, as the nation’s authorities were apparently moving to implement a series of innovative technological solutions in banking and e-government systems. Repeated statements by government representatives suggested that at least part of the program relied on blockchain infrastructure. Most recently, as Cointelegraph reported, the chairman of Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee revealed plans to implement blockchain technology to build an online-accessible cargo transportation database. Earlier in May, a high-ranking official for the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), speaking at the Fintex summit in Baku, mentioned …

IBM is expanding its partnership work with Azerbaijan’s government to bring blockchain technology to customs procedures, Central Asian-focused Trend News Agency reported on June 12. Following a reported deal with the country’s central bank in October 2018 — which should see blockchain deployed in various areas over a five-year period — IBM will now use the technology to target cargo transportation. The news came from Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee, the chairman of which, Safar Mehdiyev, spoke about the plans at a press conference during the ongoing IT/TI Conference and Exhibition of the World Customs Organization. “It will be possible to …

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) does not plan to issue a state-backed cryptocurrency because of the “great risks,” English-language Azerbaijani news outlet AzerNews reported Nov. 15. Alim Guliyev, the first Chairman at CBA, underlined that since digital currencies “come with great risks,” the CBA is not intending to launch a central bank issued digital currency (CBDC) any time soon. Guliyev, who sees such financial instruments as “risky and dangerous,” added that he believes money laundering is the prime goal of cryptocurrencies. An Israeli independent study group set up by the governor of the Bank of Israel came to a …

Azerbaijan is planning to use blockchain and smart contracts in the country’s legal system and housing sector, Central Asian-focused Trend News Agency reported Nov. 2. Speaking to the publication, chairman of the Azerbaijani Internet Forum Osman Gunduz noted that plans for smart contract introduction in these areas by the country’s justice ministry had “attracted attention” at a meeting held Oct. 30. “It was announced that in the future, the smart contracts will be introduced in the field of public utilities (water, gas and electricity supply),” he said, adding: “This refers to the switch-over of existing contracts of citizens for utility …

IBM and the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) will reportedly collaborate on implementing blockchain technology in the country’s economy, Central Asian-focused Trend News Agency reports October 9. Trend News Agency is an established news service provider spanning the Caucasus, Caspian region and Central Asia, with dedicated news platforms in Azerbaijani, Russian, Turkish and Persian, alongside an English-language platform The agency states that the director of the Information Technology Department at the CBA, Farid Osmanov, revealed news of the five-year program for the digital transformation of the economy at the Azerbaijan-Germany Business Forum on Energy and ICT in Baku earlier today. …