The majority of central banks around the world currently explore the option of creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Private individuals would be able to hold central bank money in digital form. Economic pressure from competing central banks, cryptocurrencies, and private payment services providers are important drivers in this process. CBDCs as a major innovation in central banking could have far-reaching consequences for the monetary system and the financial sector. The talk by Ulrich Bindseil will address some of the key issues about CBDCs with special emphasis on the project of a future European CBDC, the digital Euro.

Ulrich Bindseil has been Director General of Market Infrastructure and Payments at the Euro-pean Central Bank since November 2019. In this capacity, he is one of the key policymakers at the ECB preparing the possible creation of a digital Euro. Previously, he was Director General of Market Operations at the ECB and worked for the Deutsche Bundesbank and the European Monetary Institute. He chairs the ECB's Market Infrastructure Board and is a member of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) at the Bank for International Settlements. He is also honorary professor at TU Berlin.

Ulrich Bindseil holds a PhD from Saarland University.

Lecture Series: Monetary Policy and the Financial Sector
Ulrich Bindseil: “CBDC: Revolution or Overdue Update?”
21. January 2022, 10:00, Via MS Teams

Attendance is free for students and faculty of the WU as well as for all interested participants. In case of interest, please contact Cornelia.Berger@wu.ac.at via E-Mail and you will receive the Link for the Webinar.

The lecture series is jointly organized by Aurel Schubert, former Director General Statistics, ECB and by Guido Schäfer, Department of Economics, WU Vienna.

The next lecture will be by Alexsander Berentsen, Professor of Economics at University of Basel, Switzerland, on March 18, 2022, 10:30 on the topic of decentralized finance.

Separate invitations will follow.