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Effective internal and external oversight structures are essential to ensure good governance of financial institutions and a sustainable business model. Executive management is responsible for implementing these structures, and supervisory boards should assess whether they appear reasonably designed and effective. Under a comprehensive approach, the business areas serve as the first line of defense and determine risk appetite; control functions in risk management and compliance serve as a second line of defense to monitor, manage, and mitigate manifold types of risks, from cyber to fraud; and internal audit reviews as a third line of defence. Additional oversight may be provided by external auditors, and within regulated industry sectors including financial services, by governmental supervisory authorities. Ensuring appropriate governance, control and oversight structures becomes even more important within corporate groups operating on a cross-border basis.

The payment services provider Wirecard grew rapidly and in late 2018 reached a market capitalization of €24 billion, yet it had been the subject of speculation over accounting irregularities and allegations of money laundering. In June 2020, the FinTech company Wirecard was reported to have €1,9 billion cash missing, and within the first day of his joining the company, Mr Freis unveiled massive internal fraud. The fraud scandal has called into question the roles of stakeholders within and outside the institution. In its corporate governance, Wirecard did not have any audit or nomination committee in the period 2015-2019 and a comparatively undersized Supervisory Board checking on the executive management. This case generally sheds light on the needs for strengthening both structures and the individuals involved in supervision and audit of financial institutions in Europe.

In this context, this online debate will:

• Reflect upon broader Wirecard lessons for Boards and Banks in having an efficient corporate governance framework with effective control functions
• Discuss financial reporting and auditing deficiencies and inefficiencies, legal and procedural impediments in supervising and enforcing financial information
• Consider alternatives for the overall supervisory system (from whistleblowing mechanisms to the supervisory architecture in Europe)

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Speaker

James H. Freis, Jr. (Former CEO, Wirecard)
James H. Freis, Jr. has pursued a career dedicated to promoting the integrity of the global financial markets. From 2014 through 2020 he was Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer, and Group Anti-Money Laundering Officer for the Deutsche Börse Group in Frankfurt, Germany, responsible for overseeing regulatory requirements and engaging with financial supervisors for Group entities on a global basis for this provider of financial market infrastructures. From 2007 to 2012, Mr. Freis was Director (CEO) of the United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the lead U.S. Government official for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing requirements, and head of the country’s financial intelligence unit (FIU). His career as an attorney began at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, followed by seven years in Basel, Switzerland at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Mr Freis is a graduate of Georgetown University, earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard University, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder. Most recently, he was asked to join Wirecard in June 2020 to professionalize the company and oversee its global regulated businesses in a newly created management board role responsible for “Integrity, Legal & Compliance”. Within his first day, he exposed internal fraud, was promoted to CEO, and then initiated a global restructuring.

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This second online seminar takes place in the framework of the Challenges for Bank Board Members series, which aims at building a community of professionals from the banking and finance industry interested in deepening their knowledge about bank boards’ functioning and learning how to challenge bank management effectively. Seminar speakers will include an international faculty of regulators, supervisors, and academics together with bank and finance professionals. The Challenges for Bank Board Members series is part of the new FBF Bank Board Academy for Non-Executive Directors.

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The Covid-19 crisis has brought credit risk back to the attention of regulators, supervisors and banks. On the one hand, policymakers are requiring banks to prepare themselves for a future increase in Non-Performing-Loans (NPL) by setting aside enough loan loss provisions, also in light of the recently adopted IFSR 9 accounting rules. On the other hand, the existence of public moratoria and the prevailing uncertainty on the evolution of the pandemic make it more difficult for banks to assess borrowers’ creditworthiness and build stable and reliable macroeconomic forecasts. Banks are thus required to adjust their credit risk models and build new IT and data infrastructure to manage the current situation. On this background, bank supervisors have provided additional guidance on credit risk identification and measurement in the context of the pandemic, and are requiring boards to engage tightly with the management on the matter, thus discussing provisioning policies and NPE management strategies in details. In this context, this online debate will:

• Assess the credit risk situation in the banking sector
• Take stock of the regulatory and supervisory actions concerning credit risk management in the context of the pandemic
• Reflect upon banks’ operating models and strategies to ensure credit risk monitoring and management after Covid
• Discuss the implications for the role of the NED in the management of credit risk by the management

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Chair

Thorsten Beck (Cass Business School and Florence School of Banking and Finance, European University Institute)
Thorsten Beck is currently professor of banking and finance at The Business School (formerly Cass) in London. He is also a research fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the CESifo. He was professor of economics from 2008 to 2014 at Tilburg University and the founding chair of the European Banking Center there from 2008 to 2013. Previously he worked many years in the research department of the World Bank and has also worked as consultant for – among others – the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the BIS, the IMF, the European Commission, and the German Development Corporation. He is also a member of the Advisory Scientific Council of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and is co-editor of the Journal of Banking and Finance. His research, academic publications and operational work have focused on two major questions: What is the relationship between finance and economic development? What policies are needed to build a sound and effective financial system? Recently, he has concentrated on access to financial services, including SME finance, as well as on the design of regulatory and bank resolution frameworks. In addition to numerous academic publications in leading economics and finance journals, he has co-authored several policy reports on access to finance, financial systems in Africa and cross-border banking. His country experience, both in operational and research work, includes Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Russia and several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to presentation at numerous academic conferences, including several keynote addresses, he is invited regularly to policy panels across Europe. He holds a PhD from the University of Virginia and an MA from the University of Tübingen in Germany.    

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Speakers

José Manuel Campa (Chairperson, European Banking Authority)
José Manuel Campa is the current chairperson of the European Banking Authority. After studying law and economics at the University of Oviedo and earning his PhD in economics from Harvard University, Mr. Campa taught finance at New York University and the IESE Business School and consulted for a number of international organisations including the World Bank, the IMF, the Bank for International Settlements and the European Commission. He then served as the 10th Secretary of State for Economy of the Spanish government and was most recently Director of Regulatory affairs of the Santander Bank.

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Klara Jandova (Partner, Oliver Wyman)
Klara Jandova is Partner in the Financial Services – Finance and Risk practice of Oliver Wyman based in Milan. She regularly advises leading financial institutions and supervisory authorities in Europe on credit risk management. In her work she focuses in particular on: credit strategy and risk appetite, credit process redesign, credit risk measurement and model development, asset quality reviews, credit loss forecasting and stress-testing.

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Francesca Tondi Guy (Non Executive Director, UniCredit group)
Francesca Tondi Guy is Board Member of UniCredit Group, sitting on the Internal Risk and Control Committee and the Governance, Nomination and ESG Committee. Francesca previously had a 25-year career in Financial services, most recently as Managing Director and co-manager of the European Equity Banks Research at Morgan Stanley and previously in a similar role at JPMorgan. She has worked at Fitch, focusing on Credit rating of European Banks, and at KPMG, auditing banks. In her career she has focused and written extensively on bank asset quality issues and provisioning and on bank deleveraging, especially following the Great Financial Crisis.

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This third online seminar takes place in the framework of the Challenges for Bank Board Members series, which aims at building a community of professionals from the banking and finance industry interested in deepening their knowledge about bank boards’ functioning and learning how to challenge bank management effectively. Seminar speakers include an international faculty of regulators, supervisors, and academics together with bank and finance professionals. The Challenges for Bank Board Members series is part of the new FBF Bank Board Academy for Non-Executive Directors.

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Watch the recording of the event

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Donwload Online Debate Highlights

Presentation by Jon Frost

Presentation by Philipp Paech

Presentation by Loriana Pelizzon

Most recent reports show growing volumes of alternative credit: fintech credit provided by non-bank digital platforms, and big tech credit provided by large technology companies, independently or in partnership with traditional financial institutions. According to a report by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the ‘total alternative credit’ reached USD 795 billion globally in 2019.The expansion of alternative credit has been further accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, with more people using financial services and shopping online. As the drastic growth of fintech and big tech credit continues in Asia, Africa and Latin America, should European policy-makers facilitate this innovation-driven change?
The growth of alternative credit is primarily demand-driven, including lower costs compared to traditional banking, ease of use, speed and convenience of fintech and big tech credit. Supply-side factors, in turn, are linked with the stringency of banking regulation, which can create barriers for fintech and big tech credit, but also ease of doing business, and the degree of development of bond and equity markets. Despite the promise of consumer benefits, rapid growth of credit bears the risk of over-indebtedness for individual borrowers and may present risks for financial stability.
The debate will focus on the risks and benefits of fintech and big tech credit from the European perspective.
The following questions will be addressed:

• Is alternative credit an opportunity or a concern for the European financial sector?
  – Consumer perspective (e.g. choice, consumer protection, privacy)
  – Business perspective (e.g. competition, financial stability)
• Does the regulatory framework that regulates alternative credit:
  – set barriers for the growth of alternative credit (innovation in finance more broadly)?
  – overlook any risks (to consumer protection, financial stability, competitive process)?

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Chair and Moderator

Thorsten Beck (Cass Business School and Florence School of Banking and Finance, European University Institute)
Thorsten Beck is currently professor of banking and finance at The Business School (formerly Cass) in London. He is also a research fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the CESifo. He was professor of economics from 2008 to 2014 at Tilburg University and the founding chair of the European Banking Center there from 2008 to 2013. Previously he worked many years in the research department of the World Bank and has also worked as consultant for – among others – the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the BIS, the IMF, the European Commission, and the German Development Corporation. He is also a member of the Advisory Scientific Council of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and is co-editor of the Journal of Banking and Finance. His research, academic publications and operational work have focused on two major questions: What is the relationship between finance and economic development? What policies are needed to build a sound and effective financial system? Recently, he has concentrated on access to financial services, including SME finance, as well as on the design of regulatory and bank resolution frameworks. In addition to numerous academic publications in leading economics and finance journals, he has co-authored several policy reports on access to finance, financial systems in Africa and cross-border banking. His country experience, both in operational and research work, includes Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Russia and several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to presentation at numerous academic conferences, including several keynote addresses, he is invited regularly to policy panels across Europe. He holds a PhD from the University of Virginia and an MA from the University of Tübingen in Germany.    

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Speakers

Jon Frost (Bank for International Settlements)
Jon Frost conducts policy-oriented research on fintech and digital innovation. He has written on fintech credit, big tech in finance, and technology and inequality. Previously, Jon worked at the Financial Stability Board, Netherlands Bank, VU University in Amsterdam, and in the private sector in Germany. Jon holds a PhD in economics from the University of Groningen. He is a research affiliate of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge.



Philippe Paech (London School of Economics)
Philippe Paech is an Associate Professor of Financial Law and Regulation at LSE. He joined LSE in 2010 and is now the Director of LSE’s Law and Financial Markets Project. Since 2007, he has been a Fellow at the Institute for Law and Finance at the University of Frankfurt, becoming a Visiting Professor in 2015. Before joining the LSE, he spent many years at the heart of international legal and regulatory reform of the financial sector, working from 2007-2010 for the European Commission DG FISMA, and from 2002-2006 for UNIDROIT in Rome. Philipp holds a doctorate from the University of Bonn and obtained the Diploma of EU Studies from the University of Toulouse. He is a qualified lawyer admitted to the Bar of Frankfurt and a CEDR-accredited mediator in the UK. He has been awarded LSE’s Excellence in Education Award 2017-18. His research spans the whole spectrum of financial law and regulation, including technology-enabled innovation. Philipp is the Chairman of the EU Commission’s Expert Group on Regulatory Obstacles to Financial Innovation (ROFI-Group) and the lead author of ’30 Recommendations on Regulation, Innovation and Finance’, published by the EU Commission in December 2019.

Loriana Pelizzon (SAFE/Goethe University)
Loriana Pelizzon is the Program Director of the Research Centre SAFE Systemic Risk Lab and SAFE Full Professor at Goethe University Frankfurt, Chair of Law and Finance. She is also part-time Full Professor of Economics at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Research Affiliate at MIT Sloan. She was recently Visiting Associate Professor at MIT Sloan and NYU Stern. Her research interests are on risk measurement and management, asset allocation and household portfolios, hedge funds, financial institutions, systemic risk and financial crisis. Loriana is a member of the ESRB Advisory Board, a member of an expert panel on banking supervision for the European Parliament and an external expert for the EU commission on digital currency and blockchain technology. Furthermore, she has been involved in NBER and FDIC projects as well as in EU, Europlace, Eurofidai and Inquire Europe projects. Her publications include: “Sovereign Credit Risk, Liquidity and ECB Intervention: Deux ex Machina?, (Journal of Financial Economics) with M. Subrahmanyam, J. Uno and D. Tomio, “Mutual Excitation in Eurozone Sovereign CDS” (Journal of Econometrics) with Y. Ait-Sahalia and R. Laeven and “Econometric Measures of Systemic Risk in Finance and Insurance sectors” (Journal of Financial Economics), with M. Billio, M. Getmansky and A. Lo.

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Watch the recording of the event

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A conversation with Edouard Fernandez-Bollo, ECB Representative in the Supervisory Board.

One key aspect in bank governance concerns the composition and functioning of the Board of Directors. It is the bank’s primary responsibility to ensure that members of the management bodies are suitable when appointed and throughout their tenure. The suitability of members of the management bodies of the banks is assessed by supervisors through so-called “Fit and Proper” (FAP) assessment. Members of the board have not only to be suitable individually but also collectively, and cover specific knowledge, skills, and a broad range of experience to perform their responsibilities and duties. For that purpose, credit institutions have to put in place policies promoting diversity on the management body. Supervisors check diverse criteria: experience, reputation, conflicts of interest and independence of mind, time commitment, and collective suitability. Supervisory authorities lead a case-by-case and proportionate approach that takes into account national, distinctive features of banks and of each role within management bodies and the aim to ensure a level playing field, notwithstanding the difficulties stemming from the different implementation into national law of EU standards.

In this context, this online debate will ask:

• With now a few years of experience, how effective is the FAP framework to ensure sound governance, adequate risk-taking, and accountability of the management body towards the Board? Where are we as regards the promotion of diversity? Has the implementation of FAP requirements improved across the SSM countries?
• What is the role of non-executive directors in the banking governance and how do you see they can contribute and influence a sound risk taking and the banks overall corporate culture?
• Going forward,
• Is there a need to scale FAP up in order to improve further the selection of board members? If so, what work could be developed with and by the banks in this respect and should be the main criteria (e.g., reputation, diversity) that should be taken into account by banks and supervisors?
• Is there a need for better harmonisation across the SSM? If yes, on which specific areas?

The SSM seeks to engage in a conversation with non-executive directors to better gauge their experience and main challenges.

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Chair

Elena Carletti (Bocconi University)
Elena Carletti is Professor of Finance at Bocconi University. She is also founding director of the Florence School of Banking and Finance Florence School of Banking and Finance at the European University Institute, is a member of Board of Directors of Unicredit SpA and a member of the Advisory Scientific Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). Furthermore, she is research professor at the Bundesbank, a member of the Expert Panel on banking supervision for the European Parliament, a member of the Scientific Committee “Paolo Baffi Lecture” at the Bank of Italy, a member of Bruegel Scientific Committee, Research Fellow at CEPR, Fellow of the Finance Theory Group, CESifo, IGIER, and Wharton Financial Institutions Center. She is the author of numerous articles on Financial Intermediation, Financial Crises and Regulation, Competition Policy, Corporate Governance and Sovereign Debt.

   

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Speaker

Edouard Fernandez-Bollo (Member of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank)
Following post-graduate studies at the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud in the humanities and social sciences section, and after acquiring experience in several branches of the French civil service, Edouard Fernandez-Bollo joined the Banque de France in 1988. There, he held various positions related to banking regulation and licensing, European harmonisation and banking resolution issues. Mr Fernandez-Bollo became General Counsel of the Commission Bancaire, the French supervisory authority, in 2004 and Deputy Secretary General in 2008. He was Chair of the Basel Committee’s expert group on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism from 2007 to 2020. From 2010 to 2013 he was Deputy Secretary General of the new Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), the integrated French prudential supervisor, and from 2014 to August 2019 he was Secretary General of the ACPR, member of the Management Board of the European Banking Authority and member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Edouard Fernandez-Bollo began his five-year term as Member of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank in September 2019.

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Discussants

Laragh Cassar (Non-Executive Director, APS Bank Malta)
Dr. Cassar was appointed to the Board in April 2016. Throughout her career, Dr. Cassar has gained vast experience in many areas of practice including banking, investment services, asset management, capital markets and corporate law restructuring. Having joined Camilleri Preziosi as an associate in 2003, she was subsequently a partner of this firm between 2009 and 2015. She then founded the firm ‘Camilleri Cassar Advocates’. Dr. Cassar obtained a degree in law from the University of Malta in 2002 and a Master of Law in Banking and Finance from the University of London in 2003. She also holds the role of non-executive director on the board of Hili Properties p.l.c. and the role of non-executive director and company secretary on the Board of Medserv p.l.c..

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Hans-Helmut Kotz (Non-Executive Member of the Board of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Lisbon and Resident Fellow at Center for European Studies, Harvard)
Prof. Hans-Helmut Kotz is a Senior Fellow of the Center for Financial Studies and of the SAFE Policy Center, Goethe University, Frankfurt. He is also a Resident Fellow at Harvard’s Center for European Studies (since fall 2010) as well as a Visiting Professor in the Economics Department. (In fall 2015, he received the Derek Bok Center’s Excellence in Teaching Award.) He is also on Freiburg University’s Economics Faculty, where he was given the University Teaching Award in 2010. Moreover, he is a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Co. (since 2011) and Academic Advisor to the McKinsey Global Institute (since 2016) and a Non-Executive Member of the Board of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Lisbon (since 2017). Between 2013 and 2018, he was on the Supervisory Board of Eurex Clearing AG, Frankfurt/Zurich. Prior to joining CFS, Prof Kotz was a Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Bundesbank (between 2002 and 2010), finally in charge of Financial Stability, Markets and Statistics. He was also a member of a number of committees of the Bank for International Settlements, the Financial Stability Board as well as the OECD, where he was chair of the Financial Markets Committee. In addition, he served as the German Central Bank Deputy for the G7/G8 and the G20 process.

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This fourth online seminar takes place in the framework of the Challenges for Bank Board Members series, which aims at building a community of professionals from the banking and finance industry interested in deepening their knowledge about bank boards’ functioning and learning how to challenge bank management effectively. Seminar speakers include an international faculty of regulators, supervisors, and academics together with bank and finance professionals. The Challenges for Bank Board Members series is part of the new FBF Bank Board Academy for Non-Executive Directors.

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Watch the recording of the event

Highlights of the debate

Presentation by Gianfranco Gianfrate

Presentation by Justine Leigh-Bell

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Institutional investors are increasingly attracted by a host of new financial instruments such as green bonds, social bonds, sustainability bonds or indeed sustainability-linked bonds. This forms part of a broader endeavour to rely on private sources to fund sustainable investments. Among these instruments, green bonds – the “stars of climate finance” according to the Financial Times – have shown high market uptake. Green bond issuances are regularly, if not systematically these days, oversubscribed. Set against the background of an ongoing policy and academic discussion on the need for more transparent green bond markets, this online debate will discuss the merits and limits of green bond financing.
Specifically, this digital event will discuss the following questions:

• How green are green bonds really?
• How could trust in the green bond market place be increased and sustained?
• Are non-binding green bond standards showing their limits?
• Is a new and binding green bond standard needed to eliminate any risk of green-washing?
• Are green bonds fairly valued by market players or is there a green bubble at play?

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Chair and Moderator

Thorsten Beck (The Business School (formerly Cass) and Florence School of Banking and Finance, European University Institute)
Thorsten Beck is currently professor of banking and finance at The Business School (formerly Cass) in London. He is also a research fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the CESifo. He was professor of economics from 2008 to 2014 at Tilburg University and the founding chair of the European Banking Center there from 2008 to 2013. Previously he worked many years in the research department of the World Bank and has also worked as consultant for – among others – the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the BIS, the IMF, the European Commission, and the German Development Corporation. He is also a member of the Advisory Scientific Council of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and is co-editor of the Journal of Banking and Finance. His research, academic publications and operational work have focused on two major questions: What is the relationship between finance and economic development? What policies are needed to build a sound and effective financial system? Recently, he has concentrated on access to financial services, including SME finance, as well as on the design of regulatory and bank resolution frameworks. In addition to numerous academic publications in leading economics and finance journals, he has co-authored several policy reports on access to finance, financial systems in Africa and cross-border banking. His country experience, both in operational and research work, includes Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Russia and several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to presentation at numerous academic conferences, including several keynote addresses, he is invited regularly to policy panels across Europe. He holds a PhD from the University of Virginia and an MA from the University of Tübingen in Germany.  

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Speaker

Gianfranco Gianfrate (EDHEC Business School)
Gianfranco Gianfrate is Associate Professor of Finance at EDHEC Business School. He writes and researches on topics related to innovation financing, corporate valuation, and climate change finance. Prior to joining EDHEC Business School, he held teaching and research positions at Erasmus University (Netherlands), Harvard University (USA), and Bocconi University (Italy). Gianfranco also has extensive experience in the financial industry, having worked, among others, for Deloitte Corporate Finance (Italy), Hermes Investment Management (UK), and iStarter (UK). Gianfranco holds a BA and a PhD in Business Administration from Bocconi University and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University.

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Commentator

Justine Leigh-Bell (Climate Bonds Initiative)
Justine has spent much of her career helping business leaders and governments find solutions to the global challenges of climate change and sustainable development. She has provided advisory services for a number of global financial institutions and governments across Europe, Africa, India, South East Asia and Latin America. Her areas of focus includes sustainable development in emerging economies, climate change mitigation/adaptation strategies, climate finance, economic valuation and market based instruments for managing natural resource assets. She is currently the Deputy CEO & Director of Market Development at the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI). Her primary focus is in the emerging markets where she works closely with both public and private sector actors in developing national policy guidelines and investment roadmaps that will enable access to green bond financing. Currently, she provides oversight and leadership to CBI’s regional and country teams in China, India, ASEAN and Africa where market development programs are underway.

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The low interest rates environment is commonly accepted to be with us for long. Secular trends beyond monetary policy – in growth, productivity, demographics, technological disruptions among others – are driving the level of rates. Those broader parameters must be internalised in banking operations. Low interest rates trigger adjustments in bank business models to new risks. With admittedly decreasing net interest margins, bank boards have to re-examine the profitability of various segments in their bank business model, including a better understanding of the cost structure and risks associated with the low rates’ environment. Different aspects include: interest-generating activities (and potential negative rates), fee-related and trading activities, and the funding structure (market-based vs retail funding).

This online debate will ask:

• What are the effects of low interest rates on bank profitability and risk appetite?
• What are the main drivers of the current low-for-long interest rates that bank board members should pay attention to?
• How should bank boards adapt the bank’s strategy and business model to a low interest rates’ environment?
• Are there key measures in the short to medium-term to better cope with the low interest rates’ environment and mitigate the depletion of net-interest margins?
• What is the role of independent board members in accompanying the development of such strategy within their bank’s board?

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Chair

Thorsten Beck (The Business School (formerly Cass) and Florence School of Banking and Finance, European University Institute)
Thorsten Beck is currently professor of banking and finance at The Business School (formerly Cass) in London. He is also a research fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the CESifo. He was professor of economics from 2008 to 2014 at Tilburg University and the founding chair of the European Banking Center there from 2008 to 2013. Previously he worked many years in the research department of the World Bank and has also worked as consultant for – among others – the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the BIS, the IMF, the European Commission, and the German Development Corporation. He is also a member of the Advisory Scientific Council of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and is co-editor of the Journal of Banking and Finance. His research, academic publications and operational work have focused on two major questions: What is the relationship between finance and economic development? What policies are needed to build a sound and effective financial system? Recently, he has concentrated on access to financial services, including SME finance, as well as on the design of regulatory and bank resolution frameworks. In addition to numerous academic publications in leading economics and finance journals, he has co-authored several policy reports on access to finance, financial systems in Africa and cross-border banking. His country experience, both in operational and research work, includes Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Russia and several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to presentation at numerous academic conferences, including several keynote addresses, he is invited regularly to policy panels across Europe. He holds a PhD from the University of Virginia and an MA from the University of Tübingen in Germany.    

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Speakers

Vítor Constâncio (Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Former Vice President European Central Bank)
Vítor Constâncio was Vice-President of the European Central Bank from 1 June 2010 to May 2018. In the Portuguese Government, he was Secretary of State for the Budget and Planning in 1974-76 and Finance Minister in 1977-78. At the central bank of Portugal, he was Director of the Economics Department, Deputy Governor and then from 2000 to 2010, Governor of the Banco de Portugal and consequently, member of the European Central Bank Governing Council. He was Assistant Professor at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG), University of Lisbon, from 1968 to 1973 and later, coordinator Professor of the Master´s degree on Monetary Policy from 1989 to June 2010. He is now President of the School Board at ISEG and Professor at the Master’s Degree in Banking and Financial Regulation at the School of Economics, University of Navarra, Madrid.

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Julie Galbo (Board Member, DNB Bank ASA)
Julie currently serves on the board of DNB Bank ASA and is an observer in the risk and audit committees. She also serves as chairman of the board of Trifork AG and Fundamental Fondsmæglerselskab A/S. Formerly, Julie was part of Group Executive Management in Nordea Bank Abp, where she held the positions as Group Chief Risk Officer and Head of Business Risk. Prior to joining executive management, Julie led the mergers of the 4 Nordic Nordea banks and the subsequent redomiciliation to Finland (the Eurozone). During the financial crisis, Julie held the position of Deputy Director General of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, contributing to bank resolution and supervision of banks, markets and conduct as well as being Chief Legal Counsel. She was also head of state capital injections during the crisis.

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Thomas Vlassopoulos (Head of Monetary Analysis Division, European Central Bank)
Thomas Vlassopoulos is Head of the Monetary Analysis Division in the Directorate General Monetary Policy of the ECB. In this role, together with his team, he is responsible for analysing monetary policy transmission through financial intermediaries and contributes to the design and assessment of monetary policy measures. Thomas joined the ECB in 2007 and has served in policy and analysis-oriented roles spanning both monetary and macroprudential policy. He started his career at Eurobank, a universal bank in Greece, followed by three years with the Economic Research Department at the Bank of Greece. He holds an M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics.

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This fifth online seminar takes place in the framework of the Challenges for Bank Board Members series, which aims at building a community of professionals from the banking and finance industry interested in deepening their knowledge about bank boards’ functioning and learning how to challenge bank management effectively. Seminar speakers include an international faculty of regulators, supervisors, and academics together with bank and finance professionals. The Challenges for Bank Board Members series is part of the new FBF Bank Board Academy for Non-Executive Directors.