Program on International Financial Systems

On January 3, 2018, the world will change, according to Professor Howell Jackson. That is the day that the second iteration of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive — a set of European Union financial regulations that emerged in the wake of 2008, known colloquially as MiFID II — will go into effect.

Niamh Moloney LL.M. ’93, professor of Financial Markets Law and incoming Head of the Law Department (2018-2019) at the London School of Economics, spoke at Harvard Law School on Sept. 27 on the complex question of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union and its implications for the U.K.’s financial services industry.

In October, The Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) at Harvard Law School celebrated its 30th anniversary by holding the kind of symposium it has been hosting for three decades — convening financial leaders, high-ranking government officials, and distinguished academics from around the world to discuss the most pressing issues in international finance.

Program on International Financial Systems Executive Director James Shipton. Harvard Law School’s Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) has named James Shipton its new executive director.

The Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) at Harvard Law School and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) recently launched a joint Global Certificate Program for Regulators of Securities Markets.

Dr. Heath Tarbert, a partner of the global law firm of Allen & Overy, has been appointed as a non-resident fellow of the Harvard Law School Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS).

Professor Hal Scott, director of the Harvard Law School Program on International Financial Systems, recently gathered public and private sector financial leaders from Brazil and the U.S. to examine issues affecting the financial relationship between the two countries.

The Harvard Law School Program on International Financial Systems fosters the exchange of ideas on capital markets, financial regulation, and international financial systems through its portfolio of Symposia on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century. The symposia, started in 1998, bring together senior financial leaders, high-ranking government officials, and distinguished academics from the U.S. and their counterparts from China, Europe, Japan, and Brazil each year for intensive dialogue on issues affecting international capital markets. The 15th annual Japan-U.S. symposium was held this year in Karuizawa, Japan from Oct. 24 to 26. In a Q&A, HLS Professor Hal Scott, PIFS director, talks about the symposium’s history and impact.

In an Aug. 15 op-ed published in The New York Times Global Edition, Harvard Law School Professor Hal Scott weighs in on the European economic crisis and the need for international action in resolving it.

Harvard Law School Professor Hal Scott’s Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) hosted the 10th annual Symposium on Building the Financial System of the Twenty-first Century: An Agenda for Europe and the United States on March 22-24 at the Weill Center in Armonk, N.Y.  Co-hosted by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), the event gathered 100 senior executives and government officials from the financial industry, policymaking arenas, law, and academia.

On Nov. 4-6, Harvard Law School’s Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) co-hosted the 14th annual “Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Japan and the United States,” with the International House of Japan. The event, held this year in Cambridge, Mass., brought together more than 100 hundred senior executives and government officials from the financial industry, policymaking, law and academic arenas.

In a July 19 op-ed published in the Opinion section of the Financial Times, Harvard Law School Professor Hal Scott reflects on the past, present, and future of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on the anniversary of its passage into law.

On Thursday June 16, HLS Professor Hal Scott is testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services in a hearing entitled “Financial Regulatory Reform: The International Context."

Harvard Law School Professor Hal Scott’s Program on International Financial Systems is hosting the 9th annual “Symposium on Building the Financial System of the Twenty-first Century: An Agenda for Europe and the United States” this weekend in Hampshire, England.  Co-hosted by the Centre for European Policy Studies, the event will gather more than 100 senior executives and government officials from the financial industry, policymaking arenas, law, and academia.  

In a Jan. 18 op-ed in The New York Times, “China’s Currency Isn’t Our Problem,” HLS Assistant Professor Mark Wu assesses the impact of the value of China’s currency, the renminbi, on the the American economy.

Harvard Law School Professor Hal Scott's op-ed, “Do we really need a systemic regulator?” appeared in the December 11, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal.

This year's outbreak of the H1N1 influenza has demonstrated that contagions know few boundaries and spread wherever they can find an available host. Likewise, because of their broad jurisdictional rules, U.S. courts can be easy targets for "forum shopping" by foreign plaintiffs seeking redress against American companies for torts they claim have taken place abroad.

This weekend, senior financial and government leaders from the United States and Japan will gather in Armonk, N.Y., to examine challenges facing the financial sectors of the two countries. The “Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Japan and the United States” is organized by Harvard Law School’s Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) and the International House of Japan (I-House).

The following column by Harvard Law School Professor Hal Scott,“Regulatory reform needs rethink,” appeared in the Sept. 21, 2009, edition of Financial News Online. Scott is the Nomura Professor of International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School and the director of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation and Harvard Law School’s Program on International Financial Systems.

On July 28, HLS Professor Hal Scott testified before the Senate Banking Committee at hearings held by committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., addressing how the insurance sector could be better regulated.

The following op-ed “The Fed Can Lead on Financial Supervision” co-written by HLS Professor Hal Scott appeared in the July 24, 2009 edition of the Wall Street Journal. Scott, the director of HLS’s Program on International Financial Systems, co-wrote the op-ed with R. Glenn Hubbard, dean and professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School, and John Thornton, chairman of the Brookings Institution.

This weekend, leaders from the United States and China will gather in Cambridge to examine challenges facing the financial sectors of the two countries. The annual “Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for China and the United States” is organized by Harvard Law School’s Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) and the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF).

Leaders from the financial sectors of Europe and United States have gathered in Torino, Italy, this week to examine issues affecting their financial markets.

This weekend, leaders from the United States and Japan will gather in Hakone, Japan, to examine challenges facing the financial sectors of the two countries.

The visionaries who supported these programs can already see results Credit: Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images The impact of Harvard research programs extends well beyond Cambridge.

This weekend, leaders from the financial sectors of the United States and China will gather in Half Moon Bay, Calif., at a symposium organized by Harvard Law School’s Program on International Financial Systems and the China Development Research Foundation to examine issues affecting the financial relationship between the two countries.

This weekend, leaders of the financial systems of the United States and China will gather in Tianjin, China to examine the financial relationship between the two countries. Organized by HLS's Program on International Financial Systems and the China Development Research Foundation, the "Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for China and the United States" will allow participants from the U.S. and China to discuss financial challenges facing the two nations.

Today, approximately 80 private and public sector financial leaders will meet in Armonk, N.Y. to discuss issues affecting the future of the financial relationship between the EU and the U.S. The fourth annual "Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Europe and the United States" is sponsored by HLS's Program on International Financial Systems, along with the Centre for European Policy Studies.