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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Policymakers, Business Leaders Discuss Financial Markets at Annual Conference

Policymakers%2C+Business+Leaders+Discuss+Financial+Markets+at+Annual+Conference

The Financial Markets Quality (FMQ) conference, hosted by Georgetown University’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, highlighted leaders in global finance and their perspectives on the latest developments in the financial field.

The annual FMQ conference addresses urgent current financial issues –– including fintech, digital assets and capital raising –– and advises attendees on best practices for the coming year. At the Oct. 14 conference, the 14th in its history, speakers included Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Gary Gensler and CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group David Schwimmer, among others. Panelists sought to explore five key topics: market structure, environmental responsibilities, digital assets, cryptocurrencies and financial policy.

The event sought to bring together policymakers, business executives and scholars to find interdisciplinary solutions to these ongoing issues, according to Reena Aggarwal, the founding director of the Psaros Center and a finance professor within the McDonough School of Business (MSB).

“Recent events have raised a number of questions about the quality of financial markets and the right approach to financial regulation in a rapidly changing world,” Aggarwal wrote to The Hoya. “Part of our mission at the Psaros Center is to convene consequential conversations that promote smart solutions to complex problems.”

This year marked the first in-person FMQ conference since the COVID-19 pandemic, with around 400 people joining the event, both from the university and the Washington, D.C. community. Attendees had the opportunity to ask the speakers questions, according to Aggarwal.

The conference involved a series of discussions that each focused on a different area of financial market activities. Aggarwal said a highlight of the day was the discussion of new issues for which policymakers are still developing legislation, such as the panel on market structure, which covered changes in trends regarding individual investors.

“For example, crypto regulation was not on the radar until recently; it was during COVID that participation by retail investors increased significantly raising renewed interest in market structure and conflicts of interest,” Aggarwal wrote. “These are all issues that policymakers are working on and therefore we addressed them at FMQ this year.”

The conference’s final session was a pre-recorded discussion about crypto legislation with Lummis and Gillibrand, who introduced the Responsible Financial Innovations Act earlier this year, which creates a framework for regulating new financial technologies, according to Gillibrand.

“Digital assets, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have experienced tremendous growth in the past few years and offer substantial potential benefits if harnessed correctly,” Gillibrand wrote in a statement to The Hoya. “It is critical that the United States plays a leading role in developing policy to regulate new financial products, while also encouraging innovation and protecting consumers.”

Georgetown University | Georgetown University’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy hosted senators, business executives and leading scholars to discuss pressing market issues in global finance at their annual conference.

Multiple panels covered the topic of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing and disclosure, according to Aggarwal. ESG investing emphasizes environmental responsibility, transparency and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within financial corporations.

Several speakers gave “fireside chats,” in which they discussed distinct financial topics, one-on-one with a moderator. These speakers included Gensler, Schwimmer, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Rostin Behnam, Schwimmer and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) President and CEO Robert Cook.

A roundtable featuring CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero and SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda (GSB ’92) focused on financial market regulation and policy. The CFTC and SEC are both U.S. government agencies that regulate various aspects of financial markets.

The bill seeks to clarify newer features of finance including the digital asset market and provide guidelines, according to Abegail Cave, press secretary for Lummis.

“Today, the global market cap for digital assets is $929 billion. This is a massive industry that lacks clear guidelines for innovators and protections for consumers,” Cave wrote to The Hoya. “Digital assets are not going away, so it is time to fully integrate them into our existing financial structure.”

Aggarwal said she believes the FMQ conference helps to facilitate conversations and generate new ideas, especially around aspects of financial markets that are currently advancing, and that her personal highlight of the day was the discussion of new issues for which legislation is still being developed.

“Many of the issues we discussed are relatively new and policymakers are trying to figure out how best to approach regulation,” Aggarwal wrote. “For example, crypto regulation was not on the radar until recently; it was during COVID that participation by retail investors increased significantly raising renewed interest in market structure and conflicts of interest; requirements for climate disclosure is also a relatively new issue.”

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