New risks and opportunities for bank boards: levelling up

Core sessions – Governing at the edge of change

The sessions will address the most pressing issues facing bank boards today:

• Board structure, roles and effectiveness. Strengthening board architecture, clarifying accountability, and enhancing real impact in decision-making.
• Artificial intelligence: risks and strategic opportunities. Moving beyond compliance to understand how AI reshapes risk, competitiveness, and long-term value creation.
• Supervisory priorities. Anticipating regulatory expectations and engaging constructively and confidently with supervisors.
• Geopolitical risk. Navigating fragmentation, macroeconomic uncertainty, and systemic shocks in a volatile global landscape.
• Supervisory simplification. Understanding the evolving regulatory agenda and its strategic implications for large institutions.

Special executive conversations – Inside the board–management dynamic

Two exclusive sessions will be dedicated to one of the most critical determinants of institutional success: the relationship between the Board and Executive Management. These will take the form of in-depth, candid conversations with a CEO and a Chair, offering rare insights into:

• Building trust while preserving constructive tension
• Aligning strategy and oversight
• Managing crisis and transformation
• Creating a high-performance governance culture

These discussions are designed to go beyond theory by providing authentic perspectives from leaders operating at the highest level of banking.

Who should apply?

Participants profile:

• Banks’ Non-Executive Directors (current and prospective)
• Banks’ Executive Directors
• Board secretaries and secretariat officers
• Members of board committees
• Regulatory and government affairs managers
• Board Advisory consultants

The BBA programme puts a high priority on participant diversity, also in geographic terms. Our intention is for participants to interact and discuss with peers to get a valuable learning, sharing and networking experience thanks to an outstanding international faculty of regulators, supervisors, and academics together with bank and finance professionals.

Friday, 9 October 2026

08:30 – 09:00 Introduction & tour de table

09:00 – 10:00 Session 1: Fit and Proper 2.0: From Box Ticking to Cognitive Capability

10:00 – 10:30 Coffee break

10:30 – 12:00 Session 2: The Board–Management Contract Revisited

12:00 – 13:00 Session 3: In Conversation with the CEO: Sergio Ermotti

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch break and group picture

14:00 – 15:15 Session 4: Board of Directors from a market perspective: Opening the Kimono!

15:15 – 16:45 Session 5: Artificial Intelligence: bank and supervisory perspectives

16:45 – 17:15 Coffee break

17:15 – 18:30 Session 6: Geopolitical Risk: Are stress tests a good way to deal with it?

18:30 – 19:00 Tour of Badia Fiesolana

19:00 – 19:30 Aperitif

19:30 – 21:30 Dinner

Saturday, 10 October

09:00 – 09:45 Session 7: Supervisory priorities

09:45 – 11:15 Session 8: In Conversation with the Chair: William Connelly

11:15 – 11:45 Coffee break

11:45 – 13:15 Session 9: Regulatory and supervisory simplification: A cross-country comparison

13:15 Concluding remarks and light lunch

Details about the costs will be available soon.

You can find all relevant information about the course venue at this link, including logistical details, the venue address, and a range of accommodation options to suit different needs.

Practical Information

For any questions, please contact us at fbf@eui.eu and/or Victoria.Signorini@eui.eu.