2015 ECMI Annual Conference – Navigating the Storm: Setting long-term goals in volatile market conditions?

The quality of financial integration is a key priority on the agenda of European institutions, prompting the European Commission to launch an action plan to promote a single market for capital in Europe. Taking a long-term view and learning from other countries' experiences, such as the United States, this session discusses the options that EU institutions face in building the infrastructure needed for the development of a true European financial markets. The session will discuss the structural elements of a capital markets union and what components should be left to competition among member states.

Keynote speech:
Lord Jonathan Hill, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

Keynote presentation:  
Paul G. Mahoney, David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, Arnold H. Leon Professor of Law, Dean, University of Virginia School of Law

Preliminary findings of the Final Report of the European Capital Markets Expert Group (ECMEG): Francesco Papadia, ECMEG Charman and Diego Valiante, ECMEG Rapporteur & Head of Research, European Capital Market Institute (ECMI) and Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

Panel discussion:

Kay Swinburne, MEP, Member of Economic and Monetary Affairs
Florencio Lopez de Silanes, Professor of Finance and Law, EDHEC Business School
Yann Le Pallec, Managing Director, EMEA Ratings Services, Standard & Poor's Europe
Paul G. Mahoney, David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, Arnold H. Leon Professor of Law and Dean of the University of Virginia School of Law
Philipp Hartmann, Deputy Director General, Research, European Central Bank

Moderatored by Franklin Allen, Executive Director of the Brevan Howard Centre, Professor of Finance and Economics, Imperial College London

 11:00

Coffee break

Most central banks around the world are engaging in massive asset purchases, which put significant pressures on asset prices. Currencies and liquidity in securities markets are very volatile. Portfolio rebalancing effects of the ECB's quantitative easing have sparked fears that bubbles will form in fixed income markets and that liquidity will dry-up in collateral markets. The macroeconomic implications of this intervention are still unclear and many argue that it will not be sufficient to lift inflationary expectations, which are driven by secular stagnation and a debt 'super-cycle'. Will QE support an environment conducive to structural reforms and market conditions that can ultimately promote economic growth and employment?

Keynote speech:
Marianne Nessén, Head of Monetary Policy Department, Sveriges Riksbank

Keynote presentation:
José-Luis Peydró, ICREA Professor of Economics, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona GSE

Panel discussion:

William De Vijlder, Group Chief Economist, BNP Paribas

Olivier De Bandt, Director of Research at the Prudential Supervision Authority, Banque de France

Colin Ellis, EMEA Chief Credit Officer, Moody's

Marianne Nessén, Head of Monetary Policy Department, Sveriges Riksbank

José-Luis Peydró, ICREA Professor of Economics, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona GSE

Moderated by Daniel Gros, Director, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

 13:30 

Lunch break 

The low interest rate environment in combination with post-crisis regulatory intervention are forcing banks to change their business models with lower margins. Some banks are moving away from their traditional banking model towards a strengthened link between dealer activities and their asset management arm. Will this development impose a further constraint on markets, which may lead to more risk-taking or will it promote bank restructuring and a stronger move towards capital markets? Are there profound or cyclical implications behind the rise of the asset management industry in recent years? And if so, how will they change the way we look at financial markets and the role of this industry in the financial ecosystem? 

Keynote presentation:
Perry Mehrling, Professor of Economics, Barnard College, Columbia University

Panel discussion: 
David Blumer, Head of Europe, Middle East & Africa, BlackRock
Perry Mehrling, Professor of Economics, Barnard College, Columbia University
Rhodri Preece, Head, Capital Markets Policy EMEA, CFA Institute 
Huw Van Steenis, Head of Financial Services Research, Morgan Stanley 

Moderatored by Karel Lannoo, General Manager, European Capital Market Institute (ECMI) and CEO, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

Financial markets infrastructure is the backbone of the financial system. Post-crisis reforms increasingly rely on market infrastructure to ensure transparency and market stability. Nonetheless, the reliance on new players changes the connectivity structure of the financial system and thus alters the definition of systemic risk. How does this new environment affect connectivity in the financial system and the pricing of risk? How can recent network theories help us to understand changes in the interconnection between financial institutions as a consequence of these structural developments? 

Keynote presentation:
Albert Menkveld, Professor in Financial Economics, VU University Amsterdam

Panel discussion:
Martin Merlin, Director Financial Markets, European Commission DG Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union
Geert Vanderbeke, Executive Director, Global Sales & Sales Support, ABN AMRO Clearing
Sheri Markose, Professor of Economics, Essex University
Dennis McLaughin, Group Chief Risk Officer, LCH.Clearnet

Moderatored by Andrei Kirilenko, Visiting Professor, Brevan Howard Centre, Imperial College Business School