Bond and money markets embody most of the financial system. They not only carry most of the world's funding, they also act as collateral in propping liquidity whenever its needed. However we still can't agree how big they are, who issues into them or who is exposed. The fix is not another database. Public and private participants need to agree the data, security by security, from the bottom up.
- Data agreement is the cheapest financial-stability backstop, and it works before a crisis, not after.
- Official figures drift widely from market reality, and the gaps sit where mandates meet.
- A top-down global master database won't happen. A shared record built bottom-up, like the LEI, can.
A stable financial system is a shared public good, and it needs a shared picture. For the most important part of the system, no such picture exists.