Invested: The OMFIF Podcast

In a tumultuous year for the global economy, China stands out for its strong recovery. However, 2020 also saw increasing Sino-American antagonism and questions over Chinese influence. China clearly has visions for the new world order and is playing an increasingly important role in the international landscape, but what are its political and economic aspirations? Stephanie Segal, senior fellow at CSIS; Dave Rank, former Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Beijing; and Gerwin Bell, lead economist for Asia at PGIM Fixed Income join Mark Sobel, OMFIF’s US chairman, to discuss China’s position in the global political and economic system and what it means for the US.

The infrastructure sector is evolving, putting greater emphasis on sustainability, digitalisation and the use of data to inform planning decisions. OMFIF’s Kat Usita speaks to Richard Threlfall, global head of infrastructure for KPMG, and Imad Fakhoury, global director of the infrastructure finance, PPPs and guarantees group of the World Bank, about their views on these developments.

Lady Suzanne Heywood and Lords Meghnad Desai and Norman Lamont join John Orchard, OMFIF’s chief executive officer, to discuss her book on her late husband, What Does Jeremy Think?: Jeremy Heywood and the Making of Modern Britain. The book, as much a moving biography as it is an exploration of the machinery at the heart of the British government, covers Jeremy’s time with four prime ministers, as principal private secretary, cabinet secretary, Downing Street permanent secretary and head of the home civil service. Jeremy’s career spanned from the exchange rate mechanism crisis, when he was at Lord Lamont’s side as PPS, through to the fraught Brexit negotiations which dragged on past his untimely passing. Suzanne reflects on these and other major events which dominated her home life as much as they did UK political history and considers what they tell us about how the UK state functions. 

OMFIF’s Ellie Groves, deputy head of programming and Europe manager, and Natalia Ospina, research assistant, give an overview of OMFIF’s varied activities during a challenging first quarter of 2021. OMFIF podcasts, meetings and publications tackled a problem many are asking: how to achieve a sustainable recovery from Covid.

We also covered themes related to the Digital Money Institute, ranging from the legislation of cryptoassets to the release of Diem. The Sustainable Policy Institute’s activities covered ESG, ways to boost sustainable investment and the European Union’s green deal.

The upcoming quarter will bring further insightful meetings, podcasts and publications, which will delve into sovereign debt management, green bonds, the US-China relationship and much more.

Katie-Ann Wilson, programmes manager, fintech and emerging markets at OMFIF, joins Jan Ceyssens, head of the digital finance unit at the European Commission, and Asen Kostadinov, strategy manager at Copper.co, to delve into the intricacies of cryptoassets and the legal frameworks proposed by the European Union. The discussion touches on the global cryptoasset market, growth of non-fungible tokens, need for regulatory clarity, and the rise of stablecoins, such as Diem.

 

OMFIF's 8th annual Gender Balance Index found that fewer than 1% of leading global financial institutions have achieved gender balance. The report looked at 540 institutions, including central banks, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and commercial banks. While some progress has been made, the numbers do not point to success. Patricia Haas-Cleveland, OMFIF’s president, US operations, and Forbes contributor Carmen Niethammer discuss the report's findings and their implications.

Bhavin Patel, head of fintech research at OMFIF, is joined by Judd Caplain, global head of banking and capital markets at KPMG, and Olivier Dang, global chief operating officer for the wholesale digital office at Nomura.

They discuss digitalisation trends and how new initiatives can be successful, as solutions and architectures require more focus and finesse than simply bolting on new pieces of technology. They further review how banks must negotiate a multitude of shifting factors — from changing customer behaviours to economic headwinds, intensifying competition, regulatory pressures and technological disruption.

Otmar Issing, former chief economist at the European Central Bank and Lord Mervyn King, former Governor at the Bank of England discuss the current monetary policy landscape. Discussing the ECB’s role in Covid-19 crisis response and the long term path back to normalising monetary policy. King and Issing consider the changing role for central bank’s in tackling the climate agenda, questioning if this is the appropriate agenda for central bankers to take on.

Alessandro Rivera, director general of Italy’s treasury and this year's chair of the G20 finance deputies, joins Mark Sobel, OMFIF US chairman, for this OMFIF podcast. Rivera discusses the key priorities for Italy’s G20 presidency, presenting his country's agenda for financial regulation, international financial architecture and international tax issues. He also offers his perspective on the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors gathering. Other topics covered include digitalisation, the climate agenda, providing vaccines to emerging markets and low-income countries and building up resilience ahead of future crises.

Patricia Haas Cleveland, OMFIF’s president of US operations, is joined by Stephen Stonberg, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Bittrex Global, to delve into the many intricacies of blockchain, crypto and digital currencies. They discuss the impact of Covid-19, the tokenisation of stocks and the benefits of this, how the development of crypto and the future of money will affect traditional finance and, among others, the possibility of central bank digital currencies coexisting alongside cryptocurrencies.