Television
Thinking Ahead During Hurricane Storms in Florida's Gulf Coast
2024-12-02
Darrel Lieze-Adams shared how Hurricane Milton was projected to cause significant damage along Florida's Gulf Coast and in cities from Fort Myers to Daytona Beach. Two years after Hurricane Ian and seven years after Hurricane Irma, a leader of two Hearst Television stations in the storm's path detailed the news flow while ensuring staff safety. We are delighted to present excerpts from this story to our readers. The full article is available in our print and digital publication, distributed on November 11 to all subscribers and Forecast 2025 attendees.

Key Insights from the Story

Hurricane Projections and Impact

Hurricane Milton was expected to have a severe impact, stretching across a vast area. This posed significant challenges for the local communities and the media. The potential for widespread destruction and disruption was a major concern.

Leaders of the Hearst Television stations were faced with the difficult task of keeping the public informed while also ensuring the safety of their staff. This required careful planning and coordination.

News Flow during the Storm

During the hurricane, the news flow was crucial. The media had to provide timely and accurate information to help people prepare and stay safe. This involved close monitoring of the storm's progress and communicating with emergency services and local authorities.

The Hearst Television stations played a vital role in keeping the public informed. They used various platforms to deliver news and updates, ensuring that people had access to the information they needed.

Ensuring Staff Safety

The safety of staff was a top priority during the hurricane. The media organizations implemented strict safety protocols and procedures to protect their employees. This included providing emergency supplies, ensuring proper shelter, and coordinating with emergency services.

The efforts made to ensure staff safety demonstrated the commitment of the media to their employees and the community. It also helped to maintain the continuity of news coverage during the crisis.

Express Oil Change in Riverview: Exceptional Customer Service
2024-12-03
Jeremy Persinger, the proprietor and operator of Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers, has made a significant mark in the automotive service industry. With a location at 11690 Boyette Rd. in Riverview, his business has been thriving since its inception.

Exceptional Customer Service and Community Involvement

Jeremy Persinger's Business Journey

Jeremy Persinger, a resident of FishHawk, embarked on his entrepreneurial journey in 2018 with the opening of his first location in Bradenton. His dedication and hard work led to the successful establishment of his second location in Riverview in 2020. Since then, his business has been growing steadily, providing exceptional services to customers.Persinger takes great pride in the daily interactions with diverse customers. He believes that this aspect of running the business is what makes it truly special. "We are a one-stop shop that offers convenience, quality, speed, and competitive pricing for all vehicle tires, maintenance, and repairs," he said. "We handle everything from engines and transmissions to regular oil changes, but we don't do body work or windshields."

December Discount Offer

To celebrate December, Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers is offering a 25 percent discount on every oil change for life with an approved Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers Car Care Credit Card. This is a great opportunity for loyal customers to keep their vehicles in good condition without breaking the bank.

Community Involvement

Beyond his business success, Persinger has been a dedicated executive board member of the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation since 2008. His commitment to community service is evident in his ongoing support for pediatric cancer research and treatment. He believes that by giving back to the community, he can make a positive impact on the lives of others.

Business Operations and Customer Engagement

Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers operates six days a week, from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., with a closing time of 5 p.m. on Saturdays and being closed on Sundays. Customers can take advantage of various online coupons available at www.expressoil.com or follow the company's active Facebook page for promotions, including the weekly selection of a free oil change recipient. The store is conveniently located at 11690 Boyette Rd. in Riverview, next to Culver's, and can be reached by phone at 813-499-9606.Persinger's dedication to excellence in customer service and community involvement continues to drive the success of Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers. His reputation as a leader in the automotive service industry is well-deserved, and he is committed to providing the best possible services to his customers.
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Central Bank Digital Currencies: Reducing Foreign Exchange Risks
2024-12-04
The foreign exchange market is a complex and dynamic arena that plays a crucial role in the global economy. It is subject to significant credit and settlement risks, which can have far-reaching implications for market participants. While there are risk mitigation mechanisms in place, a significant portion of foreign exchange settlements still occur without them. Ousmène Mandeng's insights shed light on how the adoption of central bank and other digital currencies can revolutionize the settlement process and free transactions from these risks.

Unlock the Potential of Digital Currencies in Foreign Exchange

Foreign Exchange Market and Its Risks

The foreign exchange market is the largest segment of the financial market, with a daily average turnover of US$7.5 trillion. It touches on most aspects of economic activities, but its high trading volumes and lack of diversification make it susceptible to considerable complexities and risks. The 10 largest institutions make up two-thirds of the transaction volume, and currency concentration is substantial, with the US dollar being involved in nine out of 10 currency pairs. This market is subject to significant credit and settlement risks, and although there are ways to minimize risks, about one-third of foreign exchange settlements are estimated to take place without proper mitigation. Settlement is subject to important delays, usually taking two days from execution but can take considerably longer.Foreign exchange consists of exchanging two amounts of money, each denominated in a given national currency at a set exchange rate. The foreign exchange life cycle distinguishes between execution, netting, and settlement. Netting is the consolidation of multiple transactions with other financial institutions, leaving a single net amount to be received or paid out. To settle a transaction, payments are normally made in the large value payment system (LVPS) of the country whose currency is being exchanged. Banks typically need to use correspondent banks to make or receive payments as they do not have direct access to foreign LVPS.Credit risk is addressed by minimizing exposure to the counterparty. Banks do this through netting and setting aside capital to absorb possible losses. Settlement risk is mitigated by payment-versus-payment mechanisms to ensure that monies are exchanged only if both parties can meet their respective obligations. Risk increases with the time to settlement.CLS, an independent multi-currency settlement system, offers important risk mitigation mechanisms through multilateral netting and payment-versus-payment arrangements. Only 18 currencies can be cleared through CLS. Multilateral netting reduces average funding to a small fraction of traded amounts. However, netting itself implies credit exposures and is subject to considerable systemic risk.Banks hold large amounts of regulatory capital as liquidity buffers to address credit and settlement risks and meet their liquidity coverage ratios (LCRs). The capital banks hold to meet these obligations in case of distress is called high-quality liquid assets (HQLA). These reserves bear an opportunity cost, calculated as the difference between their rate of return and banks' target rate of return on equity. Euro area banks hold about 3.8 trillion euros in HQLA, and it is estimated that about 10-30 percent of HQLA are used to cover intra-day liquidity shortfalls. The amount allocated to foreign exchange is normally not disclosed but is estimated to be a significant share of intra-day liquidity needs.

The Impact of Digital Currencies on Foreign Exchange Settlement

The adoption of digital currencies can give rise to an entirely new settlement approach. Digital currencies, in this context, refer to currencies issued on blockchain in a tokenized format. They can be exchanged like cash, collapsing the foreign exchange life cycle where execution is settlement, and every transaction is processed on a gross basis. Transactions can settle instantly and atomically, meaning both legs of the transaction have to succeed or none does (payment versus payment).The combination of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) or other high-quality settlement instruments and instant and atomic settlement implies that foreign exchange transactions are no longer subject to credit and settlement risks. The use of instant and atomic settlement ensures that each bank's position is always balanced, with one leg of the transaction funding the other leg. In an instant environment, there are no delays, and one operation can follow another (nested operations). The bought leg (the currency that is being bought or received) can be traded for another currency instantly, establishing or restoring the desired currency exposure. This environment leads to infinite money velocity and important liquidity savings.The implied risk mitigation and liquidity savings are estimated to produce sizable regulatory capital savings. It may represent one of the greatest sources of cost reduction for banks. If euro area banks alone were to forgo 10 per cent on HQLA holdings, it would mean savings of 380 billion euros in regulatory capital.The reduction in regulatory capital requirements, lower liquidity needs, and the adoption of gross settlement would produce entirely new market conditions. It may enable efficient settlement at lower volumes and give rise to more competition as lower capital requirements would mean lower transaction costs and lower barriers to entry. It would follow the logic of real-time gross settlement in domestic large value payments.The introduction of alternative settlement approaches could rebalance the foreign exchange market, reduce concentration, and allow smaller currencies to become relatively more attractive. It would offer efficient settlement at significantly lower levels of concentration and liquidity. This is particularly important for currency pairs that cannot settle via CLS. While the settlement approach is not limited to digital currencies, they already have out-of-the-box features that support such an approach.The alternative settlement approach is strictly about the post-trade process and does not alter existing foreign exchange trading and exchange rate determination. However, the adoption of digital currencies should mean they will trade at a premium to existing instruments.While CBDCs would be ideal, there are other high-quality mediums of exchange. Instant and atomic settlement for Brazilian real-US dollar may be coming soon to a trading venue near you.
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