Online symposium using interactive Zoom.
Tuesday, September 22nd, from 1:00pm until 3:00pm, EDT
If you are ready to book your place, use the button below;
Otherwise read on for further details…
For any queries please contact us.
With much thanks to our event sponsors:
Other sponsorship opportunities available – please get in touch
Executive Summary; scroll down for the speakers and to make bookings
This symposium is all about galvanising support for the positive, progressive and purposeful finance reform that is so desperately needed.
If you believe there is scope for the financial services sector in the USA to serve society better, then this is an event for you.
If you know about problems around market conduct that need fixing then, please do all you can to participate – we want to hear from you.
Furthermore, if you have ideas about what can be done to make a positive difference, then it’s vital you get involved. We know there are many great ideas that can help drive the transformational change; and we want to shine a big bright light on those ideas.
There are many important questions that need to be discussed and our events are all about creating a forum where people can “tell it as it is” and be heard, not ignored, such as:
- Do the financial regulators in the USA have sufficient powers to properly govern the sector?
- If they do have sufficient powers, are those powers being used effectively?
- If not, is regulatory capture a factor? – is Wall Street influencing Washington DC?
- Are vested interests getting in the way of consumers getting good outcomes?
- Are there positive innovations available that are being ignored, because they challenge vested interests and the status quo?
- Are the public finding it easy to get the information they need to make well-informed decisions?
- Are class actions having to fill the void created by ineffective regulatory enforcement?
- Are the fiduciary standard and best interest rules working as intended?
- Is the financial services sector in the USA serving society as it should?
- Has the Friedmanite idea of “maximising profit in the short term” spoiled the culture in financial services?
- What are the underlying forces driving poor market conduct?
- Is the regulatory framework in the USA working as it should? – if not, what can be done?
- Should there be a “Financial Consumers Bill of Rights?”
These are the types of questions and issues that impact the public’s perceptions of the financial services sector, which has been riddled with various types of malpractice, malfeasance, misconduct and mis-selling, for many years.
It is obvious to everybody that the reputational integrity of the sector has been badly damaged in recent decades; and that’s why the Transparency Task Force is initiating and facilitating a global conversation about what’s wrong in financial services; and what needs to be done to fix it.
Furthermore, through the many discussions we are having with people around the world, we are creating a framework for finance reform that is designed to drive positive, progressive and purposeful change.
Please do join us for what promises to be an interesting, engaging and thought-provoking event.
There will be a range of stakeholders involved, including some of our Ambassadors and members of our TTF International community.
We’ll also be touching on a range of insights, ideas and initiatives that are referenced in our new book, entitled
“Why we must rebuild trustworthiness and confidence in financial services; and how we can do it.”
Do please get involved and become part of the solution.
Scroll down for further info, speaker details and to make bookings
Who should participate?
This online event will be of particular interest to individuals and organisations that authentically align with the idea that the financial services sector is important and that there is scope for improvement in how it works.
You can expect to be ‘amongst’ progressively minded and collaboratively minded people.
On the basis that “progress begins with realism” we’ll be running the event as a forum to enable everybody to “say it as they see it.” We will be facilitating the kind of candid yet constructive discussion that is needed to help move matters forward.
We don’t think any one person or organisation has all the answers; and we also think that all answers are worth listening to, so if you’ve got a point of view that you’d like to share, and are keen to hear the views of others, this is definitely an event for you.
This symposium will cover important topics that will be of particular interest to:
- Think Tanks and Civil Society Groups with an interest in the financial ecosystem
- Economists
- Industry Observers, Commentators; the Media in General
- Policymakers
- Regulators
- Politicians interested in the financial services sector
- Financial Conduct Professionals
- Sustainaility experts
- Bankers and representatives of Banking organisations
- Risk Management Professionals
- Compliance Professionals
- Pension Professionals
- Governance Professionals
- Financial Planners and Wealth Managers
- Fiduciaries
- Financial Services Trade Bodies and Professional Associations
- Academics and researchers in governance, stewardship, ethics, conduct and compliance in the banking, investment and pensions space; and more
Format
We will be using Zoom so you’ll just need access to a computer with Broadband connection.
We will be structuring the event in such a way that it will be as engaging and as interactive as we can possibly make it. We’ll be working hard to create as “life-like” an event as possible, with every opportunity taken to create interaction and engagement.
There will be several presentations with Q&A sessions and an open discussion and debate session towards the end.
Here’s the programme and timings, so far*
1:00 p.m. EDT
Welcome to the symposium, introductions and initial exploration of the main issues; plus “Why we must rebuild trustworthiness and confidence in financial services; and how we can do it” by
Andy Agathangelou FRSA
Founder, Transparency Task Force; Chair, Secretariat Committee to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pension Scams; Governor, Pensions Policy Institute; former Founding Chair, Friends of Automatic Enrolment; former Founding Chair, Association of Member Nominated Trustees.
1:20 p.m. EDT
Presentation #1, for 10 minutes + 10 minutes Q&A with facilitated discussion, by
Barbara Roper
Director of Investor Protection
Barbara Roper is director of investor protection for the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization where she has been employed since 1986.
A leading consumer spokesperson on investor protection issues, Roper has conducted numerous studies, testified before Congress, and supported federal and state legislative and regulatory initiatives on a broad range of investor protection issues.
A primary focus of her work has been strengthening protections that apply when investors rely on financial professionals for investment recommendations and advice.
Roper is a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee, FINRA’s Investor Issues Group, and the CFP Board’s Public Policy Council.
She is the 2019 recipient of the Fiduciary of the Year Award from the Committee for the Fiduciary Standard, 2018 recipient of an Investor Champion Award from the North American Securities Administrators Association, the 2017 recipient of the Frankel Fiduciary Prize.
She was named as one of 40 Money Heroes by Money Magazine in 2012 and as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance by Barron’s in 2019.
1:40 p.m. EDT
Presentation #2, for 10 minutes + 10 minutes Q&A with facilitated discussion, by
Jonny Ruck
CEO, Scorpeo US LLC
Jonny Ruck is co-founder and board member of the SCORPEO Group and CEO of SCORPEO US LLC.
Jonny has 15 years’ experience in all facets of corporate actions trading before founding SCORPEO.
He was the head of corporate event arbitrage for Nomura and his previous roles include corporate event trading at Paloma Partners and Lehman Brothers.
Jonny holds an LLB and LPC in Law from the University of East Anglia.
COO, Scorpeo US LLC
Sander is co-founder and COO of SCORPEO and currently runs their Boston office.
Sander has done extensive work on the fiduciary responsibility of asset managers and pension funds to maximize their returns on corporate actions. Sander currently works with numerous US State pension funds identifying the value lost by their asset managers.
Sander was responsible for Delta One Structuring at Nomura in London, having joined from Barclays Capital where he was Vice President. Sander began his career at PWC in Amsterdam. After seven years he moved to PWC in London as a senior manager in their financial services group. As an international tax and legal structuring expert, Sander’s clients mainly consisted of cross-border hedge funds and private equity funds. He also headed the Financing Sustainability initiative for FS Tax advising on investments in clean energy assets.
2:00 p.m. EDT
Short Comfort Break
2:10 p.m. EDT
Presentation #3, for 10 minutes + 10 minutes Q&A with facilitated discussion, by
Paul Bates
Senior Counsel, Bates Barristers
Paul Bates is a Canadian senior litigation counsel with 35+ years of experience in complex commercial litigation. Paul is also a member of the UK Bar, and professionally associated with Outer Temple Chambers in the London, U.K.
Paul maintains an extensive practice in financial services, including collective redress, with an emphasis on retail and institutional investor compensation for regulatory contraventions by financial institutions and intermediaries.
Paul serves as a member of the Ontario Securities Commission Investor Advisory Panel to assist the Commission to identify investor interests in Canadian regulatory developments. Paul also leads competition claims for consumer redress.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulbateslitigator/
2:30 p.m. EDT
Open discussion & debate including the “Just a Minute”-round
Inspired by the BBC Radio 4 programme, we have asked a selection of our attendees to spend just a minute sharing their thoughts on the topic “What’s it going to take to fix financial services in the USA?”
But unlike the Radio 4 programme our speakers won’t be penalised for hesitation, repetition or deviation!
2:55 p.m. EDT
Formal close to the proceedings; however, for those that want to continue…
3:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. EDT
Optional networking and conversation; a friendly and lightly facilitated “fireside chat” amongst friends and acquaintances, old and new…
* The programme will continuously evolve so is subject to change
Please click below to book your place
For any queries please contact us.
