Post date: Deputy Treasury Secretary Kenneth Dam and Japanese Minister of Financial Services Hakuo Yanagisawa to Address Symposium
September 18, 2002 — 11 a.m.
Beginning on Friday, September 20, the Harvard Law School Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) will bring together policy makers from the United States and Japan to explore reforms in accounting and the operation of capital markets in the post-Enron world. The three-day event, “The Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Japan and the United States,” will be held at the Airlie Center in Warrenton, Virginia.
Harvard Law School Professor Hal S. Scott, director of PIFS, stressed the importance of this year ‘s meeting. “There is a serious need to discuss the implications of the recent problems in corporate governance and the capital markets in the United States for the financial systems of both countries. And there is continuing concern with the restoration of the Japanese financial system as a whole.”
The opening day of the conference will feature keynote speeches by Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Kenneth Dam and Japanese Minister of Financial Services Hakuo Yanagisawa. The latter will speak by video hook-up from Japan.
The second day of the conference will include sessions on three topics that have dominated the economic news in the past year: accounting reforms, information flow to capital markets, and Japanese regulatory reform.
Panelists discussing accounting reforms and auditor independence will include Yasuhisa Shiozaki, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives; George Ugeux, executive vice president of the New York Stock Exchange; and Michael D. Mann, former director of the Security and Exchange Commission’s Office of International Affairs.
The session exploring the flow of information to capital markets will feature a discussion with Douglas Shulman, president of regulatory services and operations of the National Association of Securities Dealers; Mineko Sasaki-Smith, chief strategist of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting; and Professor Mitsuhiro Fukao of the Faculty of Business and Commerce at Keio University.
“It will be important to get the Japanese perspective on these U.S. developments,” said Robin Radin, the associate director of PIFS, noting that financial events occurring in the United States have significant influence across the globe.
The final session of the second day will examine Japanese regulatory reform. Panelists will include Yasuo Kanzaki, special advisor at Nikko Salomon Smith Barney; Reese Harasawa, director of credit and investment policy at The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi; Robert Dugger, managing director of Tudor Investment Corporation, and Arthur M. Mitchell III, a partner at Courdert Brothers.
Saturday will also include keynote addresses by R. Glenn Hubbard, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers; Roger W. Ferguson Jr., vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; and Haruhiko Kuroda, vice minister of finance for international affairs in the Ministry of Finance.
During the final day of the symposium, the invitation-only guests will continue to discuss the topics from the previous day. Participants will include Professor Takatoshi Ito of the University of Tokyo; Thierry Porté, president of Morgan Stanley Japan; Yasuhiro Maehara, general manager of the Bank of Japan; and Richard Fuchs, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The Harvard Law School Program on International Financial Systems was founded in 1986. It was established to conduct research linking law, economics, and finance. In the past 16 years it has published books, held symposia, educated students and provided technical assistance to a variety of countries.
Related Links: