OECD/US TREASURY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FINANCIAL EDUCATION
7-8 May 2008 - Washington DC, USA
The high-level international conference is co-organised by the OECD, as part of its on-going project on financial education, and the US Department of the Treasury. The main objective of this conference is to seek to advance and elevate dialogue on financial education in the international arena, share experiences, and discuss best practices, including OECD’s international principles and good practices, and look at applied research. The conference will notably cover national strategies on financial education; effective and innovative tools; issues related to credit opportunities and challenges; retirement savings and risk awareness on large-scale catastrophes; as well as challenges related to youth and underserved groups in respect of financial access and literacy. This event will convene a wide international audience of high-level governmental officials and experts from public authorities and regulatory and supervisory bodies, as well as senior private sector representatives and academics from OECD and non-OECD countries.
This event will be transmitted live between 8.30am and 6.00pm (ET) on 7 and 8 May 2008 see link to webcam below:
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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FINANCIAL EDUCATION
Taking Financial Literacy to the Next Level: Important Challenges and Promising Solutions
Washington, D.C, May 7-8, 2008
Hosted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Day 1 - 9:00 AM-5:30 PM
Registration 8:30 AM-9:00 AM
9:00 AM
Introductory Remarks
- OECD Deputy Secretary-General, Mr Pier Carlo Padoan
Introduced by Mr. Dan Iannicola, Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education, United
States
9:30 AM-11:00 AM
I - NATIONAL STRATEGY: CREATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
Chair: André Laboul, Head of Financial Affairs Division, OECD
- Chris Pond, Director of Financial Capability, FSA, United Kingdom
- Dan Iannicola, Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education, Department of the Treasury,
United States
- Paul Clitheroe, Chair, Financial Literacy Foundation, Australia
- Diana Crossan, Retirement Commissioner, New Zealand
Speakers will cover the different types of national strategies that have been created; approaches and
objectives; challenges and opportunities; roles of government, private sector and non-profit
organizations; and evaluation of impact.
Coffee Break 11:00-11:15 AM
11:15 PM-12:30 PM
II - TOOLS I: DIVERSE APPROACHES
Chair: Ursula Menke, Commissioner, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Canada
- Jeanne Hogarth, Manager for the Consumer Education and Research Section of the Division of
Consumer and Community Affairs, Federal Reserve Board, United States
- Annamaria Lusardi, Professor, Dartmouth College/Harvard Business School, United States
- Alison O’Connell, OECD Consultant on Methodology to Evaluate Financial Education Programs,
New Zealand
Speakers will address practical techniques to reach people of all ages through a variety of means to
support and ensure the efficiency of financial education programs. Each tool presented represents a
viable policy option for providers of financial education independent of the issue addressed or
whether the provider is from the private or public sector.
Lunch 12:30 PM-2:00 PM
1:30 PM - Guest Speaker
Martin J. Gruenberg, Vice Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Chair of
the Executive Council and President of the International Association of Deposit Insurers
2:00 PM-3:30 PM
III - RETIREMENT SAVINGS: NEW REALITIES FOR CONSUMERS
Chair: Mr. D. Swarup, Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, India
- Nicolas Blancher, Deputy Division Chief, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, IMF
- Ambrogio Rinaldi, Chair of the Working Party on Private Pensions, OECD, and Director COVIP,
Pension Funds Supervision Commission, Italy
- Annika Sunden , Research Associate at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Chief
of the Research Unit at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and OECD Consultant
- Jeffrey Dominitz, Senior Economist, RAND, United States
Speakers will cover demographic changes; shrinking welfare budgets; shift from defined benefit to
defined contribution plans; challenges in developing long term care markets; strategies for increasing
participant enrollment; strategies to promote pension plans among citizens; roles of government &
private sector (including employers); and behavioral research.
Coffee Break 3:30 PM-4:00PM
4:00 PM-5:30 PM
IV- RISK AWARENESS: ENHANCING EDUCATION AND PROTECTION OF HOUSEHOLDS ON LARGE-SCALE RISKS
Chair: Manuel Aguilera-Verdusco, Chair of the Comisión Nacional de Seguros y Fianzas CNSF,
Mexico, Chair of the OECD Insurance and Private Pensions Committee
- Dr. Rebekah Green, Risk Red, OECD Consultant
- Dr. Erwann Michel-Kerjan, Managing Director, Wharton School Risk Center, University of
Pennsylvania, Chairman of the OECD High-Level Advisory Board on the Financial Management of
Large-Scale Catastrophes, United States
- Katsuo Matshushita, General Manager of the International Department, General Insurance
Association of Japan, Japan
- Semih Yücemen, Professor and Director, Earthquake Engineering Research Centre, Member of
Management Board, Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool, Turkey
Speakers will cover transfer of a large variety of risks to individuals; particular issues related to
large-scale risks; challenges of and strategies for promoting risk awareness; roles of compulsory
insurance and new insurance tools (micro insurance); roles of government, private sector and nonprofit
organizations; and evaluation of impact.
6:00 PM
Reception hosted by the OECD
7:00 PM - Guest Speaker
Albert R. Ramdin, Assistant Secretary-General, Organization of American States
Day 2
9:30 AM - 6:15 PM
9:30 AM - Guest Speaker
James Flaherty, Minister of Finance, Canada
10:00AM-11:45 AM
V- CREDIT: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Chair: Thomas Wieser, Director General for Economic Policy and Financial Markets, Federal
Ministry of Finance, Austria, Chair of the OECD Committee on Financial Markets
- Bruno Levesque, Principal Administrator Financial Education, OECD
- Mary O’Dea, Consumer Director, Irish Financial Regulator, Ireland
- Faith Schwartz, Executive Director, HOPE Now Alliance, United States
- Jane Nash, Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs ANZ, Australia
- Pete Crear, Chief Executive Officer, World Council of Credit Unions
Speakers will cover the role of financial education in the credit granting process. More specifically,
speakers will identify some best practices in this area and discuss the role of specific stakeholders,
such as the governments, financial institutions, counseling and credit reporting agencies. Finally, this
session will address the recent subprime credit crisis in respect of its financial education component.
Coffee Break 11:45 AM-12:00 Noon
12:00 AM-1:15 PM
VI - TOOLS II
Chair: Dan Iannicola, Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education, United States
- Daniel Kosicki, Policy Officer, DG Internal Market and Services, European Commission
- Marcin Polak, Education Now Foundation, Poland
- Kathleen M. Floyd, Executive Director, The Stock Market Game, United States
Speakers will address practical techniques to reach people of all ages through electronic and
innovative means. Each tool presented will represent a viable policy option for providers of financial
education independent of the issue addressed or whether the provider is from the private or public
sector.
Lunch 1:15 PM-2:15 PM
2:15 PM-4:00 PM
VII - YOUTH FINANCIAL LITERACY: DEVELOPMENT, DELIVERY AND EXECUTION OF PROGRAMS
Chair : Erik Pointillart, Chair of the Institut pour l’Éducation Financière and General Director
Caisse d’Epargne, France
- Shaun Mundy, Former Head of Financial Capability Department, Financial Services
Authority, and OECD Consultant, United Kingdom
- Koid Swee Lian, Consumer and Market Conduct, Director, Bank Negara, Malaysia
- Dara Duguay, Director of Citi's Office of Financial Education, Citigroup, United States
- Roy Thomasson, Chief Executive Officer, Young American Business Trust, Organization of
American States
- Klaus Wertenbroch, Professor of Marketing, INSEAD
Speakers will cover youth financial literacy levels; ways to ensure higher level of literacy and
capability; role of school programs and challenges to getting financial education into the school
system; tactics to get around these challenges; role of other tools such as teaching techniques -
experiential learning- and strategies for building effective motivation and student engagement; the
roles of government, private sector, partnerships, and non-profit organizations; and research.
Coffee Break 4:00 PM-4:15 PM
4:15 PM-5:45 PM
VIII - UNDERSERVED GROUPS: GREATER FINANCIAL ACCESS THROUGH EDUCATION
Chair: Christopher F. Egan, U.S. Ambassador to the OECD
- John Bryant, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Operation Hope, Vice-Chairman, U.S. President's
Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, United States
- Olivia Davids, Head of Consumer Education, Financial Services Board, South Africa
- Guillermo Zamarripa, Head of the Banking, Securities and Savings Unit of the Ministry of Finance
and Public Credit of Mexico, Mexico
- Susan L. Rutledge, Regional Coordinator on Corporate Governance and Financial Consumer
Protection, World Bank Programs
Speakers will cover challenges in enhancing financial capability of most vulnerable groups and
unbanked; innovating products; tying financial education to asset building programs; effective
delivery strategies; role of government, the private sector, non-profit organizations, and local
networks; and evaluation and results.
5:45 PM-6:15 PM
IX - WRAP UP SESSION
- Secretary of the United States Treasury, Henry M. Paulson, Jr
Introduced by Carolyn Ervin, Director for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, OECD
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BACKGROUND MATERIAL
Publications
US Treasury Department (2006), Taking Ownership of the Future: The National Strategy for
Financial Literacy
OECD (2005), Improving Financial Literacy: Analysis of Issues and Policies
OECD (2008), Financial Education and Awareness of Insurance and Private Pensions
Instruments
OECD Recommendation on Principles and Good Practices for Financial Education and Awareness,
2005
OECD Recommendation on Good Practices for Financial Education relating to Private Pensions,
2008
OECD Recommendation on Good Practices for Enhanced Risk Awareness and Education on
Insurance Issues, 2008
Material
OECD consultant reports, (2008)
OECD International Gateway for Financial Education (www.financial-education.org)
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GOVERNMENTS AND INDUSTRY SHOULD INVEST MORE IN FINANCIAL EDUCATION, WARNS OECD
29/04/2008 - Many people have a poor understanding of the financial issues that affect their lives, according to OECD analysis. To help them, OECD countries have agreed new good practices on financial education relating to private pensions and insurance that call on governments and business to work together to improve financial literacy in order to give people the tools they need to secure their future.
“We need to find a better balance between the increasing complexity of financial products and services and people’s capability to understand them,“ said André Laboul, head of OECD’s Financial Affairs division. “Every cent or penny invested by governments and business in raising awareness and education today will make a huge difference in years to come.”
Surveys conducted in OECD countries and some non-member economies show that people often overestimate their understanding of risks and are typically not saving enough to secure an adequate retirement income. With the growing shift to defined-contribution pension schemes in OECD countries, which transfer longevity and investment risks to households, better financial education and awareness is essential to assure an adequate level of retirement income for millions of individuals.
Building on the OECD principles on financial education and awareness released in 2005, the good practices say that governments have a responsibility to educate and promote a “culture” of financial responsibility among their citizens and, in particular, young people.
The pensions and insurance industry should make financial education central to its governance responsibilities to customers and investors. Steps they should take range from using simple, jargon-free language to providing unbiased information and advice that are clearly distinguished from marketing, promotion and advertising. Media campaigns to raise awareness of pensions and insurance issues and risks should be run, notably targeting vulnerable people such as immigrants or those with few savings.
The good practices, related to private pensions and insurance, will be presented at an international conference which is open to the media, organised by OECD and the US Treasury, in Washington D.C, from 7 to 8 May 2008. Government officials and experts from national authorities and regulatory and supervisory bodies, as well as senior private sector representatives and academics from OECD and non-OECD countries, will attend.
To promote enhanced visibility and co-operation on financial education , the OECD has launched a new website, the OECD International Gateway for Financial Education, www.financial-education.org, designed to act as a central international source of information on the issue. The Organisation has also set up an international network of public experts on financial education, which will meet for the first time in Washington D.C. on May 6, in advance of the conference.
For further information or to register for the conference, journalists should contact Spencer Wilson in the OECD’s Media Division (tel. + 33 1 45 24 81 18). |
