High-Level Seminar: Investor Relations: A Tool for Crisis Prevention
and the Institute of International Finance
IMF Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Meeting Hall A & B
November 5-6, 2001
By initiating a dialogue with market participants during periods of tranquility, countries can help stabilize access to international capital markets during more turbulent times. This sentiment was echoed in the April 2001 communiqué of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the IMF, which stated, "The prospects for emerging market economies depend critically on maintaining investor confidence...". In addition to informing market participants about changing performance and policies, regular contacts can provide policymakers with insights about evolving market perceptions.
The seminar builds on efforts by the IMF and the IIF in this important area of crisis prevention. The IMF established earlier this year a Working Group of the Capital Markets Consultative Group on Creditor-Debtor Relations to address the issue of relations between authorities and their investors and creditors, and provide recommendations for setting up investor relations programs. Over the past two years, the IIF has worked with a number of major borrowing countries in assisting them to adopt investor relations programs suitable for their specific circumstances. In addition, the IIF established in January 2001 the Working Group on Crisis Prevention, which aims to help advance implementation of key crisis prevention measures, including investor relations.
The objectives of the joint seminar are threefold. First, it introduces investor relations concepts to officials of Fund member countries that have substantial access to global capital flows. Second, it examines relevant experience with investor relations techniques in a systematic fashion and helps participants identify techniques that suit the circumstances of their countries. Third, it places the challenges of investor relations for emerging market authorities in the context of the evolving nature of private capital flows to emerging markets and the constantly changing financial instruments and market practices.
Monday, November 5
8:30 a.m.-9:00 a.m. | Registration |
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9:00a.m.-9:30 a.m. | Opening Session Welcoming Remarks Ms. Anne Krueger, First Deputy Managing Director, IMF Mr. Charles Dallara, Managing Director, Institute of International Finance Creating an Investor Relations Office: A Step Toward Implementing a Proactive Strategy of Investor Relations |
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9:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. | Session I: Investor relations as a tool of crisis prevention Speakers: Mr. Frank Savage, Chief Executive Officer, Savage Holdings LLC; Mr. Robert Pozen, Vice Chairman, Fidelity Investments Moderator: Ms. Meg Lundsager, Alternate Executive Director, IMF |
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10:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Session II: The perspective of investors and lenders
Mr. Douglas E. Smee, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Country Risk Management, Citigroup, Inc. Moderator: Ms. Sabine Miltner, Director, Institute of International Finance, Inc. |
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11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Session III: Corporate investor relations practices
Speakers: Mr. Cees Maas, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer, ING Group Moderator: Mr. Mohsin Khan, Director, IMF Institute |
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2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Session IV: The role of investor relations in recent cases
Brazil during Argentine crisis in 2001 Argentina 2001 Moderator: Mr. William Cline, Deputy Managing Director and Chief Economist, International Institute of Finance |
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4:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. | Turkey 2001 Speakers: Dr. Marco Annunziata, Senior Economist, Deutsche Bank AG Mr. David Lubin, Chief Emerging Markets Economist, HSBC Ms. Susan Schadler, Deputy Director of the European I Department, IMF Moderator: Mr. William Cline, IIF |
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Tuesday, November 6, 2001 |
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9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. | Session V: Investor relations practices by leading emerging market authorities | ||||
Mexico Speaker: Mr. Rodrigo Brand, Economic and Financial Research Director and Head of Foreign Media Relations, Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, Mexico Korea Speaker: Mr. Dong-Kyu Shin, Director General, International Finance Bureau, Ministry of Finance and Economy
South Africa |
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11:15 a.m. - 12:15 a.m. | Session VI: "Best practice" for investor relations | ||||
Speakers: Mr. George Handjinicolaou, Managing Director and Head of emerging markets and Foreign Exchange Americas, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Dr. Klaus Friedrich, General Manager and Chief Economist, Economic Research Department, Dresdner Bank AG Mr. William Streeter, Managing Director, Public Finance and Global Project Finance, Fitch Ratings, Ltd. Moderator: Mr. Matthew Fisher, Assistant Director, International Capital Markets Department, IMF |
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12:15 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. | Concluding Remarks Mr. Gerd Häusler, Director, International Capital Markets Department, IMF |