2015 Ethics in Finance—Robin Cosgrove Prize

Washington, D.C.
IMF HQ2, Conference Hall 1, 3:00 - 4:30 pm

September 21, 2015

Ethics—the set of moral values and behaviors guiding society—play a key role in the growth and stability of the economy, and in finance in particular. Good ethics, through nurturing consistent and reliable behaviors, are necessary for building the trust that helps facilitate transactions, especially in an increasingly complex business world. In contrast, poor ethics erode trust in the financial system, leading to a breakdown of transactions—and worse, bank runs and financial instability.

The 2008 global financial crisis continues to shadow the discussion of ethical problems in the financial sector. Ethics in finance go beyond uprooting outright fraud, dishonesty, and the flagrant violation of laws and rules. They focus on the excessive and reckless risk taking to pursue personal gains regardless of losses and damages borne by others and the society.

The solutions are broad, ranging from laws, regulations, compliance, governance, and remuneration structure, to changes in culture and individual behaviors.

The International Monetary Fund will host the Cosgrove Foundation for a discussion of these crucial issues and a prize-winning ceremony for the winners of the Robin Cosgrove prize, on September, 21st 2015.

The "Ethics in Finance—Robin Cosgrove Prize" was established in 2006 to commemorate the life of Robin Cosgrove, an investment banker who passed away at a young age, and to advance his belief that young professionals in finance should seize the opportunity to influence ethical standards in the world of finance. The Prize is based at the Observatoire de la Finance, a not-for-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. The mission of the Prize is to stimulate innovative ideas for promoting ethics and integrity in the finance sector.

September 21, 2015
3:00–3:05 pm	Welcome Remarks by Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, IMF Christine Lagarde is the eleventh Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Born in Paris in 1956, Christine Lagarde completed high school in Le Havre and attended Holton Arms School in Bethesda (Maryland, USA). She then graduated from law school at University Paris X, and obtained a Master’s degree from the Political Science Institute in Aix en Provence. After being admitted as a lawyer to the Paris Bar, Christine Lagarde joined the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie as an associate, specializing in Labor, Anti-trust, and Mergers & Acquisitions. A member of the Executive Committee of the Firm in 1995, Christine Lagarde became the Chairman of the Global Executive Committee of Baker & McKenzie in 1999, and subsequently Chairman of the Global Strategic Committee in 2004. Christine Lagarde joined the French government in June 2005 as Minister for Foreign Trade. After a brief stint as Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, in June 2007 she became the first woman to hold the post of Finance and Economy Minister of a G-7 country. From July to December 2008, she also chaired the ECOFIN Council, which brings together Economics and Finance Ministers of the European Union. As a member of the G-20, Christine Lagarde was involved in the Group's management of the financial crisis, helping to foster international policies related to financial supervision and regulation and to strengthen global economic governance. As Chairman of the G-20 when France took over its presidency for the year 2011, she launched a wide-ranging work agenda on the reform of the international monetary system. In July 2011, Christine Lagarde became the eleventh Managing Director of the IMF, and the first woman to hold that position.
3:05-3:10 pm	Video Message by the Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury Born in 1956 in London, the Most Revd Justin Welby was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied history and law. For 11 years - five in Paris and six in London – he worked in the oil industry, becoming group treasurer of a large British exploration and production company. He focused mainly on West African and North Sea projects. During this period he became a lay leader at Holy Trinity, Brompton in London, having been a council member at St Michael’s Church in Paris. His father’s family were German Jewish immigrants who moved to England to escape anti-Semitism in the late 19th century, and integrated quickly. His British ancestors, on his mother’s side, include several clergymen.
3:10-4:10 pm	Discussion between panelists on ethics in finance Moderator Sean Hagan, IMF General Counsel Sean Hagan is General Counsel and Director of the Legal Department at the International Monetary Fund. In this capacity, Mr. Hagan advises the Fund’s management, Executive Board and membership on all legal aspects of the Fund’s operations, including its regulatory, advisory and lending functions. Mr. Hagan has published extensively on both the law of the Fund and a broad range of legal issues relating to the prevention and resolution of financial crisis, with a particular emphasis on insolvency and the restructuring of debt, including sovereign debt. Prior to beginning work at the IMF, Mr. Hagan was in private practice, first in New York and subsequently in Tokyo. Mr. Hagan received his Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center and also received a Masters of Science in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Panelists Lee Buchheit, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Lee Buchheit Lee C. Buchheit is a partner based in the New York office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. Mr. Buchheit’s practice focuses on international and corporate transactions, including Eurocurrency financial transactions, sovereign debt management, privatization and project finance. Mr. Buchheit is the author of two books in the field of international law and more than 40 articles on professional matters. He has served as an adjunct professor at the School for International and Public Affairs of Columbia University (1994-97), as a visiting professor at Chuo University in Japan (1997-98), as a Lecturer on Law at the Harvard Law School (2000), as a Visiting Lecturer in Law at the Yale Law School (2005), as an adjunct professor of law at Duke University Law School (2006-07), and as an adjunct professor of law at New York University Law School (2008). Mr. Buchheit is a Visiting Professorial Fellow in the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at the University of London. Mr. Buchheit was recognized by the Financial Times' U.S. Innovative Lawyers Report as one of the ten most Innovative Individuals of 2012 for his work on the Greek debt restructuring. In 2010, Mr. Buchheit received International Financial Law Review's inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to international finance. He is also recognized by Chambers USA,The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, IFLR 1000: The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms, The Legal 500 U.S. and the Legal Media Group Guides as one of the best banking lawyers in the United States. Mr. Buchheit joined the firm in 1976 and became a partner in 1984. From 1987 to 1990, he was resident in the Hong Kong office; from 1979 to 1982, in the London office; and from 1976 to 1979, in the Washington, D.C. office. He received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1975 and a Diploma in International Law from Cambridge University in 1976. Mr. Buchheit received an undergraduate degree from Middlebury College. Mr. Buchheit is a member of the Bars in New York and Pennsylvania. Sarah Dahlgren, Executive Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Sarah Dahlgren executive vice president and member of the Bank's Management Committee, became head of the Financial Institution Supervision Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York effective January 1, 2011. Ms. Dahlgren had been the executive vice president of the Special Investments Management Group since January 2010. The Financial Institution Supervision Group at the New York Fed is responsible for supervising and regulating all state member banks, financial holding companies and other bank holding companies, and foreign banks operating within the Second Federal Reserve District. It is also heavily involved in the development of supervisory policies and procedures, both domestically and internationally, and processes applications by banking organizations to expand their activities. Ms. Dahlgren had previously led the American International Group (AIG) monitoring team as a senior vice president since September 2008. Ms. Dahlgren joined the New York Fed as an examiner in July 1990. She has held various positions within the Financial Institution Supervision Group, including responsibility for the relationship management function, with oversight responsibility for the Group's portfolio of domestic and foreign banking organizations. Prior to that, she had oversight responsibility for the Group's information systems and technology exam programs, as well as its Year 2000 readiness efforts. In addition, Ms. Dahlgren was responsible for the Bank's Credit Risk Management Function. Ms. Dahlgren holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a master's degree from Duke University. Paul H. Dembinski, Professor University of Fribourg, Switzerland, Director of Fondation Observatoire de la Finance, and Co-President of the Cosgrove Prize Paul H. Dembinski , economist and political scientist by training, educated in Poland, in Switzerland, in Cameroon and in the UK (St Anthony College, Oxford). Dembinski is Professor at University of Fribourg where he holds the Chair of International Competition and Strategy in the Department of Management. Expert to international organisations, Paul H. Dembinski teaches also occasionally at many universities in Europe and outside. Amongst the latest books: PME en Suisse: Profils et Defis (Ed. Georg, 2004) Enron and the World of Finance: A case study in ethics (co-editor, Palgrave, London, 2005); Finance: Servant or Deceiver? (Palgrave, London 2009), in French, Spanish and Polish); Pratiques financiers – regards chrétiens, (editor; Desclée de Brouwer, Paris, 2009); The role of large corporations in democracy and society (co-editor; Palgrave, London, 2011); Beyond Financial Crisis: Towards a Christian Perspective for Action, (Caritas in Veritate, 2014); Ethique et responsabilité en Finance – Quo Vadis? (Editions Revue banque, 2015). Initiator and Executive Director of Foundation of the Observatoire de la Finance (1996) www.obsfin.ch which mission is to promote awareness of ethical concerns in financial activities and the financial sector. Paul H. Dembinski is also the editor of the French/English academic review Finance & the Common Good/Bien Commun (1998). In 2005, Paul H. Dembinski helped to establish the “Ethics in Finance – Robin Cosgrove Prize” which every second year honours outstanding essays by authors under 35 in the field of ethics in finance. Paul H. Dembinski is Co-President of the global Jury and vice president of the Polish one. In 2011 Paul H. Dembinski joined the Board of Rentes Genevoises, and in 2012 he has been appointed Chairman of that Board. Born in Cracow, Poland, in 1955, Paul H. Dembinski is married, father of three and grand-father of two. He works in F/E/D/S/P. Sally Dewar, Managing Director, Head of Regulatory Affairs for Europe, Middle East and Africa, J.P. Morgan Sally Dewar is the EMEA Head of Regulatory Affairs at J.P. Morgan and is a member of the global senior management team. Based in London, Ms. Dewar provides advice and support on a range of regulatory policy and strategic issues, and is currently focused on the firms' culture and conduct agenda, governance initiatives, regional control oversight and advocacy efforts around regulatory reform. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in June 2011, Ms. Dewar spent 10 years at the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK. She was most recently a member of the FSA Board where her role was Managing Director of Risk. In this role she was responsible for the FSA’s policy direction, risk management processes, governance and markets oversight - including responsibility for the UK Listing Authority and the supervision of regulated markets and related infrastructure. Ms. Dewar studied pure Mathematics and French at UMIST, now part of the University of Manchester, before joining KPMG where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Ms. Dewar lives in Surrey with her husband and two children.
4:10-4:30 pm	Announcement of 2015 winners and brief acceptance speeches Cosgrove Prize manager Paul Dembinski to announce the winners with Dr. Carol Cosgrove-Sacks, co-founder of the Cosgrove Prize. Prize winners to deliver brief acceptance speeches. Dr Carol Cosgrove-Sacks, Robin’s mother, lives and works in Geneva. She was formerly Director of Trade in the United Nations in Geneva (1994-2005); since 2006 she is a Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges; a Professor at the Europa Institute, University of Basel; and the Senior Advisor on International Standards Policy to OASIS, the global eBusiness standards organisation.
4:30-5:30 pm	Cocktail reception

Conference