On 17-18 December, UniCredit Group organized the third Conference on Banking and Finance in Rome, giving floor to international experts to discuss "Banking Business in the Aftermath of the Crisis".
UniCredit Group Chairman Dieter Rampl welcomed more than 120 international participants who comprised interested academic and financial audience and UniCredit employees. In his welcome address, he underlined that banks must be considered both as originators and bearers of risk - this statement can be seen as the motto of the conference.
The two-day event was organized in four different sessions - "Bank Performance", "Bank Lending", "Real effects" and "Rewriting Regulation". In each session, two papers were presented and discussed, followed by a question and answer session which involved the audience.
Participants and speakers from such highly reputated institutions as Bank of Italy, Bocconi University, the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of England, Duke University, Banco de Espana, London Business School etc. contributed to the lively debate.
It was Hyun Song Shin from Princeton University, participating in UniCredit's Conference on Banking and Finance for the second time, who gave the keynote lecture ("Reshaping the Financial System after the Crisis").
The panel discussion on Bank Regulation and Supervision after the Crisis, with the participation of Francesco Giordano, Head of CIB Strategy & Marketing, wrapped up the previous discussions.
The conference was very well received among the participants, as it did not only give floor to academic debate, but also served as a platform for networking and exchanging academic views. "It´s the first time I´ve come to the UniCredit Banking and Finance Conference to meet experts from universities and other research institutions for discussing data and trends in banking. UniCredit has done a great job organizing this conference bringing together renowned people from all over the world.", says Jan Schildbach, Senior Economist of Deutsche Bank Research.
One of the presenters, Jörg Rocholl, Associate Professor at ESMT, points out: "It was a great pleasure for me being invited to present our work to an international audience of colleagues and research specialists of the banking industry. I appreciated a lot this opportunity to discuss our findings and to make new contacts. I´m already looking forward to deepening these fruitful discussions at the next UniCredit Conference on Banking and Finance."
The "Conference on Banking and Finance" was launched by UniCredit Group in 2007 as a contribution to the scientific debate regarding the financial sector and has attracted high-ranking scientists and audience ever since.