Governing Finance for Sustainability – Advancing the Debate

8-9 July 2019 | Zurich, Switzerland | By Invitation
Monetary, Roundtables | Tags: Central Banks, Financial Regulation, Governing Finance

This is the second in a series of roundtables on Governing Finance for Sustainability. Details on the first roundtable can be found here, and the third here

  • Since the initial roundtable that was held in January 2019 we have been carefully following the debate on governing finance in what we increasingly perceive to be a four-way nexus between growing risks in today’s financial and monetary systems, the power of central banks and financial regulators and challenges to that from many quarters, the rapidly growing relevance of sustainability considerations in governing finance, and the potentially disruptive impact of fintech.

    With this in mind, we have embarked on the next phase of this initiative to expand the community, deepen the knowledge base and advance the debate. The meeting on 8-9 July provided an important platform to target this objective.

  • Monday, 8 July, 2019
    14.00Arrival and coffee
    14.15
    		Welcome and Introduction
    14.45Governance in the 21st Century
    How has governance evolved in the early 21st century. How is governance adapted in the face of complexity and uncertainty? What are new governance principles, methods and practices that are emerging and what is their relevance to the governance of finance?
    15.30Financial Governance – Aligning International Rule-Setting, National Policies and Regulation and Market-Based Standards
    How are financial markets governed today? What are the roles of international rule-setting, national policies and regulation, and market-based standards in governing finance? What are the interlinkages between these three pillars? What are potential reforms to strengthen their alignment with a broad sustainability agenda?
    16.45Break
    17.15Financial Governance and Fintech
    What are the opportunities and risks of fintech for sustainability? What must those governing the financial system do, and what mandates and tools do they need, to seize the former and mitigate the latter? When and where should they not seek to govern? What other actors need to be involved in the governance of digital financing for sustainability?
    18.30Close
    19.00Dinner
    Tuesdy, 9 July, 2019
    8.45Arrival and coffee
    9.00Recap
    9.30Central Banks as Catalysts for Mission-Oriented Financial Markets
    What is the role of central banks as catalysts to align financial markets with a broad sustainability agenda? How should they deploy their existing policy toolkit to target this objective? What further instruments do they require?
    10.30Break
    11.00Governing Finance in Times of Crisis
    When, why and to what effect have rules governing the financial system been temporarily suspended or over-ridden for reasons of crisis? Are we in a comparable situation today and, if so, how should financial governance reflect that?
    12.00Light Lunch
    12.45Financial Governance 2020
    In view of our discussions in the previous sessions how do we envision financial governance to evolve? How would a roadmap toward reform look like? How far can we get on this roadmap until end-2020?
    13.45Next Steps
    14.00Close