As the campus community was preparing for the end of an academic year, Professor Clas Wihlborg, in conjunction with the Argyros School, had the pleasure of hosting Chapman’s 2nd Conference on Money and Finance, titled the Systemic Risk and the Organization of the Financial System.

Prominent finance industry leaders from around the world converged at Chapman University for the two-day conference which included a keynote address by Thomas Hoenig, vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Thomas Hoenig, vice chairman of the FDIC, delivers his keynote address at Chapman University’s Sandhu Conference Center.

Hoenig became director in April 2012, and prior to that served as Chief Executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from 1991 to 2011. In 2010, he served as voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee.

In his keynote address, Hoenig revealed that the banking industry now is less competitive “than at any time in recent history.” Hoenig continued to share how Wall Street is dominated by big banks that remain “too-big-to-fail” which leads many investors to believe that the big banks would be bailed out even if they failed.

Hoenig concluded his keynote address and opened the floor for an engaging question and answer session. To learn more of Hoenig’s remarks, watch the keynote address video online.

After the keynote address, the conference featured various sessions where speakers and attendees discussed global liquidity, stock vitality, cleaning mechanisms and any national and international matters affecting the risk on another major financial crisis.

Additional conference speakers included representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the New York Federal Reserve Bank, major Orange County financial institutions and leading academics including Chapman’s Nobel Laurete in Economics, Vernon Smith.

For more information on the Systemic Risk and the Organization of the Financial System Conference or to review the conference presentations and papers, please visit the conference website.

Display image at top/From left to right: Interim Dean Tom Turk, Conference Coordinator and Professor Clas Wihlborg, and Vice Chairman of the FDIC Thomas Hoenig meet before the conference begins. Photo courtesy of Livi Dom.