New York Stock Exchange Chief Economist and Commissioner McCreevy speak at TCD Conference on International Finance

Posted on: 12 June 2006

The New York Stock Exchange’s chief economist, Dr Paul Bennett, was the keynote speaker at the 4th INFINITI Conference on International Finance at Trinity College, on 12-13 June. The conference was hosted by TCD’s Institute for International Integration Studies (IIIS) and was opened by the EU Commissioner for the internal market, Charlie McCreevy, at 9am on Monday 12 June in the Walton Theatre (Arts Building, TCD).

Commissioner McCreevy discussed the importance of globalisation in financial services and the critical role of education in underpinning these in the EU economy. Dr Bennett spoke on risk to the markets and also analysed recent financial crises and how political action can help or hinder their resolution.

The keynote speech was given by Professor Mark Flannery of the Warrington College of Business, the University of Florida, who discussed his recent research into firms’ capital structure choices in relation to debt or equity.

The former Polish finance minister, Grzegorz Kolodko, was joined in a round table discussion with the ex-Slovenian finance minister, Dušan Mramor and Labour TD, Ruairí Quinn, to discuss the role of political action in international financial crises.

More than 200 delegates from 50 countries participated at the conference where 140 papers in all areas of finance were discussed. These papers included the following topics:

Are Euro Interest Rates led by FED Announcements?

The advantages of introducing an exchange rate target in the statutes of the European Central Bank.

Financial Integration of New EU Member States.

Stock Markets Turmoil: Worldwide Effects of Middle East Conflicts.

Modelling Systemic Risk in the Russian Banking Sector.

Do Multinational Enterprises Contribute to Convergence or Divergence? A Disaggregated Analysis of US FDI.

The Relative Risk Performance of Islamic Finance: A New Guide to Less Risky Investments.

Have European Stocks Become More Volatile?

Uncertainty as a Determinant of Mood Confusion in Investor Decision-Making: Evidence from the International Weather Effect in World Stock Markets.