IMF Conference
Global Financial Markets Confront the War in the Middle East and Amplification Risks
Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Venue: Lefaga, Samoa
November 13, 2018
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Time |
Program |
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8:30 - 9:00AM |
Registration |
|
9:00 - 9:05AM |
Prayer |
|
9:05 - 9:15AM |
Welcome Address |
| 9:15 - 9:25AM |
Opening Remarks |
| 9:25 - 9:50AM | Opening Remarks and Scene Setter Presentation Mr. Kenneth Kang, Deputy Director, Asia Pacific Department, IMF |
| 9:50 - 10:30AM | Photo Session and Coffee Break |
| 10:30 - 11:30AM |
SESSION 1: FINTECH FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION: MOBILE PAYMENTS, MICRO-SAVINGS/-INSURANCE This session will present and discuss FinTech solutions for financial inclusion, with a focus on mobile money and payments, including across borders. It will also consider how FinTech could extend micro-finance, -savings, and -insurance to the underserved population of the Pacific, including women and those in remote areas. Furthermore, panelists will elaborate on how to incentivize the implementation of mobile payments solutions. [Moderator] Mr. Kenneth Kang, Deputy Director, Asia Pacific Department, IMF [Speakers/Panelists] Mr. Faisal Ahmed, Chief Economist, Bangladesh Bank Professor Njuguna Ndung'u, Executive Director, African Economic Research Consortium/former Governor Central Bank of Kenya Mr. Bram Peters, Program Manager, Pacific Financial Inclusion Program, UNDP Pacific Office |
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11:30 - 1:00PM |
SESSION 2: CUTTING-EDGE FINTECH FOR CROSS-BORDER REMITTANCE TRANSFERS This session will emphasize distributed-ledger technologies (DLT)/blockchain innovations and their potential for facilitating cross-border remittances payments. It will also focus on how these innovations can address some of the ‘de-risking’ concerns by facilitating customer identification and due diligence processes to ensure compliance with anti-money-laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements. [Moderator] Ms. Lotte Schou-Zibell, Chief of Finance Sector Group, ADB [Speakers/Panelists] Mr. Boon-Hiong Chan, Global Head, Market Advocacy, Deutsche Bank, Singapore Mr. Sagar Sarbhai, Head of Regulatory Relations APAC and Middle East, Ripple, Singapore Mr. Joseph Thompson, CEO, AID-Tech Mr. Nick Giurietto, CEO/MD, Australian Digital Commerce Association |
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1:00 - 2:00PM |
Lunch |
|
2:00 - 3:30PM |
SESSION 3: CRYPTO ASSETS AND THEIR REGULATION [Moderator] Mr. Tommaso Mancini Griffoli, Deputy Division Chief, IMF, Monetary and Capital Markets Department [Speakers/Panelists] Mr. John Schindler, Senior Associate Director, Federal Reserve Bank, United States of America Mr. Melchor T. Plabasan, Deputy Director, Bangko Sentral, Philippines Mr. Thammarak Moenjak, Director, Financial Institutions Strategy department, Bank of Thailand Mr. Ben Cohn-Urbach, Senior Specialist, Australian Securities and Investments Commission Mr. Sultan Korean, Banking Commissioner, Marshall Islands |
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3:30 - 4:15PM |
SESSION 4: PROSPECTS OF CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCIES This session would discuss benefits and risks of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as a potential way forward. The session would also share a few practical country experiences as well as current state of development of CBDC. [Moderator] Mr. Masudur Nizami, Financial Sector Specialist, Asian Development Bank (Sydney Office) [Speakers/Panelists] Mr. Tommaso Mancini Griffoli, Deputy Division Chief, IMF, Monetary and Capital Markets Department Mr. Lindsay Boulton, Assistant Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia |
| 4:15 - 4:30PM | Coffee Break |
| 4:30 - 5:15PM |
SESSION 5: CONCLUDING SESSION: THE WAY FORWARD This session would conclude the seminar and take stock of the findings and lessons from the previous sessions. It would also offer an opportunity to discuss actions needed to implement lessons learned. [Moderator] Ms. Alison Stuart, Division Chief, Small States Division, Asia Pacific Department, IMF [Speakers/Panelists] Mr. Faisal Ahmed, Chief Economist, Bangladesh Bank Dr. Sione N. Kioa, Governor, National Reserve Bank of Tonga Ms. Lotte Schou-Zibell, Chief of Finance Sector Group, ADB |
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5:15 - 5:30PM |
Concluding Remarks |
