On 6 May 2010, Febelfin Academy, the training institute of Febelfin, the Belgian confederation in the financial sector, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) organised the first in a series of strategic conferences entitled 'Strategic Reflections in Finance', dealing with current topics within the financial sector.
The first session, focusing on 'Trust and the Future of the Regulatory Dialogue: Lessons from the Financial Crisis', chaired by Rudi Bonte, CBFA director, will be a strategic-thinking exercise on the role of the sector itself in its own reform. Febelfin Academy and PwC are counting on contributions from a political viewpoint, from the regulator and, of course, from financial institutions. The following speakers and panel members will be present:
- Rudi Bonte, director of the CBFA and conference chairman
- David Wright, deputy director-general of DG internal market and services at the European Commission
- Pierre Wunsch, cabinet chief to Minister of Finance Didier Reynders
- Karel Lannoo, CEO of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Nico Zwikker, group compliance officer at ABN Amro
- Freddy Van den Spiegel, chief economist at BNP Paribas Fortis
- Ingrid Loos, director governance, risk and compliance practice at PwC
- Michel Vermaerke, CEO of Febelfin
The conference is directed towards members of the management of financial institutions and invites them to reflect on:
- The need for reform, from the viewpoint of both parliament and the sector itself
- The need for integrity and action, inter alia in the area of pay
- The divergence between the various reflection exercises being conducted at regional and national levels
- The need for cooperation between legislators and market players so that account is taken of the needs of the economy and financial institutions
Robert van der Eijk, lead partner financial sector advisory at PwC, is delighted at this cooperation, "which will help expand the offering of high-quality training and innovative business events for members of the financial sector; this is clearly a long-term cooperation in which PwC's financial services group and Febelfin Academy have resolve to invest in seriously."
The 'Strategic Reflections in Finance' conferences, of which four will be organised each year and which will each last a half-day, are aimed at bringing current strategic topics in the financial sector into focus for financial institutions' directors and top management.
The next conference
Febelfin Academy and PwC also have a series of topical training programmes on their agenda. These are seminars and workshops dealing with specific technical subjects of interest to operational management in the financial sector.
