---

---

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)

---

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.

---

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.

---

Register here

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

---

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.    

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

Register here

---

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)?

---

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.    

---

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.

---

---

Speaker

Edouard Fernandez-Bollo, Member of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank
After post-graduate studies at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Saint-Cloud, Section Humanities and Social sciences, and an experience in different branches of French civil service, Edouard Fernandez-Bollo joined the Banque de France in 1988. He has occupied different posts related to Banking Regulation and Licensing, European harmonization and Banking Resolution issues. As of 2000 he was in charge of the legal secretariat of the Commission bancaire, the French supervisory authority and of its antimoney laundering policy unit. In 2004 he became its General Counsel and in 2008 deputy General Secretary. He has been chairing the Basle Committee Expert group on AML-CFT (antimoney landering and combating the financing of terrorism) issues since 2007. From 2010 to 2013 he was deputy General Secretary of the new Autorité de contrôle prudentiel, the integrated French prudential supervisorand from January 2014 to August 2019, he was Secretary General of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de resolution, Member of the European Banking Authority and of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Edouard Fernandez-Bollo is currently serving a five-year mandate as Member of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank.

---

---

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.