Past Conferences

LATSIS SYMPOSIUM 2016
3rd GENEVA SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE FINANCE

22 March 2016

The theme of the event was “The Role of Finance in Promoting Sustainable Development.” As in previous years, the conference was a platform for sustainable finance related research relevant to academics, investment practitioners, think-tanks, policy-makers, non-governmental organizations, and civil society at large.

The conference featured a keynote presentation by Mr. Tidjane Thiam, CEO of Credit Suisse and generated 1200 registrations.

Press articles covering the conference:
– Geneva Summit on Sustainable Finance CS Chef fordert Umdenken,  NZZ, 23.03.16 [Download]
– Très attendu hier à Genève, l’Agefi, 23.03.16 [Download]
– La finance durable a rassemblé plus de 1000 participants à Genève, Le Temps,23.03.16 [Download]
– Tidjane Thiams Mantra, Finews, 23.03.16. [Download]
– Rayonnement international et audience en nette hausse, l’Agefi 17.03.16 [Download]
– La finance durable est érigée en vedette à Genève, Tribune de Genève, 21.03.16  [Download]

Please visit the conference website for the detailed program and further information

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Pictures taken during the conference

Will digitalization be disruptive or constructive to the Swiss financial industry? The digital revolution has disrupted many secular industries and is increasingly putting pressure on professionals in the Asset Management, Wealth Management and Banking industries to change their traditional ways of doing business. Robo-advisers, institutional investment platforms, crowdfunding and new analytics are challenging incumbents to offer both individuals and institutional investors solutions for managing their wealth at a fraction of the costs and with better access to independent research and execution.

Topics addressed:

• Is digitization disruptive or constructive to the Swiss financial industry
• How incumbents are dealing with the fast pace of change
• What are the risks of disintermediation for the financial system as a whole
• Where is the line between social responsibility and privacy in finance.

A Q&A session followed the discussion. Participants Michael Appenzeller, Fundbase Olivier Collombin, Fintech Entrepreneur Serge Ledermann, Banque J. Safra Sarasin Felix Niederer, Truewealth Ben Robinson, Temenos, Fintech Fusion Michel Girardin PhD, Moderator, Prof., Geneva School of Economics and Management / Geneva Finance Research Institute

Date: September 17, 2015

Dowload the lecture presentation here

Funding for biomedical innovation has been declining at the same time that breakthroughs in translational medicine seem to be occurring at ever increasing rates. One explanation for this counterintuitive state of affairs is that greater scientific knowledge in biomedicine can actually lead to greater economic risk for biopharma investors. While the impact of the Human Genome project, high-throughput screening, and genetic biomarkers has been tremendously positive for clinicians and their patients, it has also increased the cost and complexity of the drug development process, causing investors to shift their assets to more attractive investment opportunities.

Invited by the Geneva Finance Research Institute at the University of Geneva and Geneva Financial Center, professor Andrew W. Lo gave a public lecture on Monday, 29 June.

In this talk, he reviewed this novel interpretation of recent trends in the biopharma industry and describe how financial engineering-portfolio theory, securitization, credit default swaps, and other tools of modern finance-can be used to reduce the risk and increase the attractiveness of biomedical innovation so as to bridge the “Valley of Death” in translational medicine.

Prof. Lo is the Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the Director of MIT’s Laboratory for Financial Engineering, and a principal investigator at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab. He received a B.A. in economics from Yale University in 1980, and an A.M. and Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1984.

He has published extensively in academic journals (see http://web.mit.edu/alo/www/) and his most recent book is Hedge Funds: An Analytic Perspective. His awards include Sloan and Guggenheim Fellowships, the Paul A. Samuelson Award, the Harry M. Markowitz Award, the CFA Institute’s James R. Vertin Award, and election to Academia Sinica, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society, and Time Magazine’s 2012 list of the “100 most influential people in the world.” He has also received teaching awards from the University of Pennsylvania and MIT.

His most recent research focuses on systemic risk, evolutionary models of investor behavior, and applying financial engineering to accelerate biomedical innovation.

Can Finance cure cancer? 
Public lecture given by Prof. Andrew W. Lo
Professor at MIT Sloan School of Management and Director of MIT’s Laboratory for Financial Engineering

Monday, 29 June 2015 at 18:30
Collège Calvin, room Franck-Martin

19th of November 2014.

The Geneva Financial Center Foundation and the GFRI were delighted to host a private lecture given by Dr. Philipp Hildebrand Vice Chairman of BlackRock.

The Keynote topic was “Perspectives on the global economy”.
The lecture was followed by a dining cocktail with Executives from the Geneva Financial Services who attended the event in Geneva.

A few words about Dr. Hildebrand:

Philipp Hildebrand is Vice Chairman of BlackRock, a member of the firm’s Global Executive Committee, and Chairman of Multi-Asset Strategies (MAS). Philipp has served as a Senior Visiting Fellow at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government and he sits on the School’s International Advisory Board. Until January 2012, he served as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank
(SNB). In that capacity, he was a Director of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Swiss Governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a member of the Financial Stability Board (FSB). In November 2011, the Leaders of the G20 appointed him Vice Chairman of the FSB.
Previously, Mr. Hildebrand served as Chief Investment Officer of a Swiss private bank and as a partner of Moore Capital Management in London. Between 2006 and 2009, he served as a member of the Strategic Committee of the French Debt Management Office. He began his professional career at the World Economic Forum in Geneva.

In 2011, Mr. Hildebrand received the Central Banker of the Year, Europe
Award from The Banker. Mr. Hildebrand is a member of the Group of Thirty and an Honorary Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. Mr.Hildebrand earned a BA from the University of Toronto in 1988, a Master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva in 1990, and a DPhil from the University of Oxford in 1994.

CONFERENCE “BITCOIN, MONNAIE DECENTRALISEE”

Le 18 juin 2014
de 17.15 à 19.00

Intervenants:
– Me. Vincent Mignon, Avocat, Docteur en Droit, Altafid;
– M. Alexis Roussel, Vice-Président, Association Suisse du Bitcoin, Fondateur de DigiCapital;
– Prof. Olivier Scaillet, Directeur Adjoint, Geneva Finance Research Institute, Professeur de Finance, UNIGE, SFI Chair;
– M. Adrien Treccani, Doctorant au Swiss Finance Institute, Geneva Finance Research Institute, Fondateur de Verso  Solutions;

Programme:

17.15-17.20   Mot de bienvenue et remarques d’ouverture – Prof. Olivier Scaillet, Directeur Adjoint, Geneva Finance  Research Institute, Professeur de Finance, UNIGE, SFI Chair;

17.20-18.00  Bitcoin, monnaie décentralisée – M. Adrien Treccani

18.00-18:30  Réglementation applicable, aspects pénaux et fiscaux –  Me. Vincent Mignon

18.30-18:50 Adoption par les banques et évolution future –  M. Alexis Roussel

18.50-19.00 Séance de questions

19.00 Cocktail

Inscription obligatoire: http://bitcoin.eventzilla.net

Lieu:
Salle MR280 – Unimail
Université de Genève
40 bld du Pont d’Arve, Genève

Conference on “The Future of Securities’ Markets Regulation: Trends and Implications”

Friday, February 14, 2014
Geneva Finance Research Institute
University of Geneva, Switzerland

VENUE: UNI MAIL, Bd du Pont-d’Arve 40, Geneva, Room MR280

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:

– Pierre Collin-Dufresne , Swiss Finance Institute & EPFL Lausanne ;
– Darrell Duffie, Graduate School of Business , Stanford University ;
– Alessandro Fontana , Geneva Finance Research Institute , University of Geneva (Program Coordinator) ;
– Thierry Foucault, HEC Paris ;
– Rajna Gibson Brandon , Swiss Finance Institute & Geneva Finance Research Institute (Program Chair) ;
– Harald Hau, Swiss Finance Institute & Geneva Finance Research Institute ;
– Albert J. Menkveld , VU University Amsterdam ;
– Maureen O’Hara, Johnson Comell University;
– Loriana Pelizzon , Ca‘ Foscari University ofVenice ;
– Jean-Charles Rochet, Swiss Finance Institute & University of Zurich ;
– Stephen Schaefer, London Business School ;

CONTACT and INFORMATION

Alessandro Fontana
Geneva Finance Research Institute (GFRI)
Unimail
Bd du Pont d’ Arve 40,
CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
alessandro.fontana@unige.ch

Conference Programme Friday, February 14, 2014

Registration opens at 8:30am

9.00-9.05 Welcome Address

Rajna Gibson Brandon – Managing Director of the GFRI, Swiss Finance Institute chaired Prof essor of Finance at the University of Geneva

Financial Transaction Tax

9.05-9.50 Sand in the Chips? Evidence on Taxing Transactions in Modern Markets Jean-Edouard

Colliard and *Peter Hoffmann (European Central Bank)

9.50-10.35 Optimal Financial Transaction Taxes, *Eduardo Davila (Harvard University)

10.35-11.00 Coffee break

Central Counterparty Clearing and Counterparty Risk

11.00-11.45 An Incentive Theory of Counterparty Risk, Clearing and Margins, Bruno Biais (Toulouse School ofEconomics) Florian Heider and *Marie Hoerova (European Central Bank)

11.45-12.30 Evaluating the Drivers of Counterparty Credit Risk and Bank Earnings Volatility , Jose A. Lopez and* Marius del Giudice Rodriguez (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco)

12.30-13.30 Lunch

High Frequency Trading and Market Runs

13.30-14.15 Circuit Breakers and Market Runs, *Sarah Draus (Rotterdam School of Management) and Mark V an Achter (Rotterdam School of Management)

14.15-15.00 News Trading and Speed, Thierry Foucault (HEC-Paris) , *Johan Hombert (HEC-Paris) and Ioanid Rosu (HEC-Paris)

15.00-15.30 Coffee break

Proprietary Trading, Volcker Rule and Financial Stability

15.30-16.15 Proprietary Trading and the Real Economy, *Stefan Arping (University of Amsterdam)

16.15-16.30 Coffee break

16.30-17.45 Paulel Discussion: “The Future of Securities’ Markets Regulation: Trends and Implications”. Moderator: Harald Hau Swiss Finance Institute chaired Prof essor of Finance at the University of Geneva

•Maria Teresa Fabregas Femandez (Head of Unit Securities Markets , European Commission)
• Prof essor Thierry Foucault (HEC-Paris)
•Frank M. Hatheway (ChiefEconomist of the NASDAQ OMX Group Inc.)
•Renaud de Planta (Partner, ChiefExecutive Officer of Pictet Asset Management)

18.00 End of Conference