NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The editors of the Wall Street Journal will convene over 100 leading international financial experts and policy makers in the United Kingdom for the second Future of Finance Initiative, a unique, open conference focused on the most urgent priorities for global economic recovery. The Journal's Future of Finance Initiative is designed to ensure that many perspectives are heard at this critical time, as governments are in the midst of decisions that will redefine the international financial system. The summit will be held Dec. 7-8, at the South Lodge Hotel in West Sussex, United Kingdom.
This conference will bring together leading CEOs and financial executives, top fund managers, officials from G-20 nations and prize-winning economists to debate and ultimately agree on the priorities for international financial regulation and coordination. The participants will work both as a group and within four concurrent task force sessions, each facilitated by a top Wall Street Journal editor, to address key financial issues in depth.
"The immediate crisis has passed, but decisions made now will have an enormous impact on the future of the global financial system," said Robert Thomson, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Company. "We chose to host the second Future of Finance Initiative in the U.K. because the debate on reform is most intense in Europe. Given the exceptional caliber of talent at this conference, the Journal will ensure that different views on highly complex issues will be shared, discussed, refined and widely respected."
An international group of editors from The Wall Street Journal will moderate the discussions throughout the two-day meeting, including: Gerard Baker, deputy editor-in-chief; Thorold Barker, editor, Heard on the Street column; Nikhil Deogun, deputy managing editor; Stephen Fidler, European finance editor; Alan Murray, deputy managing editor and executive editor, online; Robert Thomson, managing editor and editor-in-chief, Dow Jones & Company; David Wessel, economics editor; and Patience Wheatcroft, editor-in-chief, Europe.
This December session builds on the Journal's inaugural Future of Finance Initiative held in Washington, D.C., in March, where participants included U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and private sector experts including Robert Rubin, and Stephen Schwarzman.
Selected participants in the Journal's upcoming Future of Finance Initiative in the United Kingdom include:
* Damon Buffini, chairman, Permira * Rt Hon Alistair Darling, MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer * Sir Howard Davies, director, London School of Economics and Political Science * Robert Diamond Jr., president, Barclays PLC & chief executive officer, Investment Banking & Investment Management * Richard Gnodde, co-chief executive officer, Goldman Sachs International * Anshu Jain, head of global markets and member of the Management Board, Deutsche Bank * Alessandro Profumo, chief executive officer, UniCredit Group * Emmanuel Roman, co-chief executive officer, GLG Partners * Roustam Tariko, chairman, Russian Standard * Peter Sands, group chief executive, Standard Chartered Bank * Myron Scholes, chairman, Platinum Grove Asset Management; Nobel Laureate in Economics; Professor of Finance Emeritus, Stanford University * Eraj Shirvani, managing director, Credit Suisse and chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association * George Soros, chairman, Soros Fund Management, LLC * Michael Spencer, chief executive officer, ICAP plc * Paul Volcker, chairman, President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve
The results of the second Future of Finance Initiative will be published in a Journal Report on Dec. 14. For more information and an expanded list of participants at The Wall Street Journal Future of Finance Initiative, please go to http://futurefinance.wsj.com.
About The Wall Street Journal
Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company is the world's leading business publication and holds 33 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism. The Wall Street Journal has a print and online circulation of more than 2 million, reaching the nation's top business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. The Wall Street Journal boasts the largest individually paid circulation out of the top 25 U.S. newspapers. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with a global audience of 3.8 million, include The Wall Street Journal Asia and The Wall Street Journal Europe. The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com is the leading provider of business and financial news and analysis on the Web with more than one million subscribers and 26 million users per month. WSJ.com is the flagship site of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, which also includes MarketWatch.com, Barrons.com and AllThingsD.com. In 2009, the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the 10th consecutive year. The Wall Street Journal Radio Network services news and information to more than 350 radio stations in the U.S.
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