Special Events

Capital Market Competitiveness: Burnishing Tokyo's Image in the Face of Global, Asian Challengers, February 2009

The Japan Society and PIFS co-hosted a Socratic panel discussion in Tokyo on February 12, 2009. Through an analysis of foreign market practices, 12 high-level panelists from Japan, the U.S., Asia, and the UK, drawn from government, industry, and academia, discussed Tokyo's relative global competitiveness and examined strategies for making Tokyo's capital markets more accessible to foreign companies.

Enforcement in the U.S. & Japan, with Lessons from the UK, February 2008

The Japan Society and PIFS co-hosted a Socratic panel discussion in New York City on February 1, 2008. Professor Scott moderated the Socratic dialogue. Professor Scott's report on the socratic panel is now available.

The Current State of Corporate Governance in the Global Marketplace, December 2005

On December 6, 2005, PIFS, Standard & Poor's, and BusinessWeek co-hosted a panel discussion entitled "Mandating Integrity and Transparency: The Current State of Corporate Governance in the Global Marketplace." Markets, ultimately, revolve around investor trust, a fragile commodity that, in recent years, has been sorely tested following a wave of well-publicized corporate scandals in North America, Europe, and Asia. A panel of experts engaged in a Socratic discussion and considered the following questions:

• How well have corresponding regulatory and legislative attempts at raising standards for corporate governance succeeded in restoring investor confidence, and at what cost?
• Can requirements be applied unilaterally across geographic and cultural boundaries?
• What is the proper role for independent directors? For outside auditors? For shareholder activism?

The panel considered the above questions in light of their applicability to the world's three major securities markets and one of the largest developing markets, China.

Panelists included:

• Paul S. Atkins, Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Dr. Rolf-E. Breuer, Chairman, Deutsche Bank Supervisory Board
• John A. Byrne, Executive Editor, BusinessWeek
• George S. Dallas, Managing Director and Global Practice Leader, Standard & Poor's
• Pierre Delsaux, Acting Director for Free Movement of Capital, Company Law and Corporate Governance, European Commission
• Guido Ferrarini, Professor of Business Law, University of Genoa
• Richard Kilgust, Global and U.S. Regulatory Affairs Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Jay W. Lorsch, Louis E. Kirstein Professor of Human Relations, Harvard Business School
• Elaine La Roche, Independent Non-Executive Director, China Construction Bank; Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, Linktone
• Masatsugu Nagato, Managing Executive Officer Americas, Mizuho Corporate Bank
• Eric D. Roiter, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Fidelity Management and Research
• Jochen Sanio, President, German Federal Supervisory Authority
• Sarah Ball Teslik, Chief Executive Officer, Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.

The discussion was moderated by PIFS Director Hal Scott. Standard & Poor's President Kathleen A. Corbet and BusinessWeek Executive Editor Joyce A. Barnathan extended welcome and opening remarks.

The event was made possible through the sponsorship of Standard & Poor's and BusinessWeek.

Regulation of U.S. Capital Markets, March 2005

On March 7, 2005, PIFS and Standard and Poor's co-hosted a panel discussion entitled "The Current State of Regulation of the Capital Markets: Too Much, Too Little, or Just Right?" A panel of experts engaged in a Socratic discussion on the impact of regulation on the U.S. capital markets. The discussion integrated case studies to focus on specific industry issues. The case studies included the SEC's National Market System proposal, the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley, IPO allocation rules, the adoption of international accounting standards, and the independence of research analysts.

Panelists included:

• Brandon Becker, Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr
• Roel Campos, Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Peter Clapman, Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel, Corporate Governance, TIAA-CREF
• Robert Glauber, Chief Executive Officer and President, NASD
• Kenneth Griffin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Citadel Investment Group
• John Grout, Technical Director, The Association of Corporate Treasurers
• Richard Herring, Jacob Safra Professor of International Banking, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
• Suzanne Nora Johnson, Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs
• Richard Ketchum, Chief Regulatory Officer, Regulation, New York Stock Exchange
• Marc Lackritz, President, Securities Industry Association
• Thomas Lehner, Director, Public Policy, The Business Roundtable
• William McDonough, Chairman, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
• William Parrett, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

The panel discussion was moderated by PIFS Director Hal Scott. Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan extended a welcome greeting, followed by opening remarks offered by Vickie A. Tillman, Standard & Poor's executive vice president.

The event was made possible through the sponsorship of Standard & Poor's.

Media Coverage of the Panel Discussion
CFO Magazine, Tim Reason

Global Adoption of International Accounting Standards, February 2003

NASD and PIFS presented the first symposium in NASD's International Securities Symposium Series, which addresses key issues related to transparency and efficiency in the capital markets. The symposia provide a forum for leaders from the financial services industry, important policy makers, and international experts to engage in critical analysis and discussion of selected topics of the day.

NASD's inaugural symposium, "Global Adoption of International Accounting Standards," focused on one of the pivotal challenges facing markets today: establishing a set of internationally accepted standards governing companies' reporting of their financial performance. The symposium was held at Harvard Law School on February 3, 2003, and began with remarks by Howard Davies, Chairman, Financial Services Authority, and Robert Glauber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NASD. Hal Scott (Director of PIFS) moderated.
Symposium participants featured global thought leaders, including:

• Ray Ball, Professor, Chicago Graduate School of Business
• Henrik Bjerre-Nielsen, Director General, Danish Financial Supervisory Authority
• Sir Brian Corby, Chairman (retired), Prudential Assurance Company
• Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Peter R. Fisher, Under Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury
• Robert Herz, Chairman, Financial Accounting Standards Board
• Lewis B. Kaden, Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Leo C. O'Neill, President, Standard & Poor's
• Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
• Hardwick Simmons, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NASDAQ
• Sir David Tweedie, Chairman, International Accounting Standards Board