Credit Suisse launched its annual Middle East Speaker Series. The first of the annual Speaker Series took place in Dubai, in collaboration with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and INSEAD Business School. Speakers included Stanislav Shekshnia, Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD, Robert Z. Aliber, Professor Emeritus of International Economics and Finance, Chicago Booth, and Marvin Zonis, Professor Emeritus of Business Administration, Chicago Booth.
Dubai, May 26, 2010 – The inaugural Credit Suisse Middle East Speaker Series attracted significant interest from investors, clients, government officials and professionals from the region’s financial community. The forum, held at Emirates Towers in Dubai, featured leading speakers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and INSEAD Business School, offering participants an expert perspective on subjects as diverse as the future of global banking, corporate governance in family businesses and ties between the Middle East and emerging markets.
The interactive forum also provided participants an opportunity to network with the speakers, enabling them to gain further insight into the discussion topics. Going forward, the Speaker Series is planned as an annual event that will encourage leading global speakers to present views, initiate dialogue and exchange information with participants from the financial industry.
The initiative corresponds with Credit Suisse’s commitment to the areas of education, leadership, and sustainability. Credit Suisse has been a strong advocate of leveraging knowledge, expertise and resources globally and locally.
Speaking at the event, Brady W. Dougan, Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse, said, “Banks are the key facilitator of global economic integration. They act as an intermediary between old and new economies. Global financial services providers like Credit Suisse play an important role for wealth creation and increasing prosperity around the world, but they also bear a significant responsibility by providing governments, companies and individuals with access to capital, evaluating risks and ensuring that capital is deployed in the most efficient way. However, the financial crisis has also demonstrated a need for further strengthening the global financial system as a whole - in order to ensure that also for the future, the economies around the globe can rely on a robust, stable financial and operational environment. The foundations for these changes are being laid right now in the aftermath of the crisis.”
He said that in addition to globalization and technological development, emerging markets have been the most important drivers of growth in the past 20 or 25 years, and will remain so in the future. “Dynamic markets like the Middle East are clearly one of the most important strategic priorities for Credit Suisse,” he added.
Stanislav Shekshnia, Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD, spoke on corporate governance in the family business context, especially in Europe, Middle East and Asia. He cited the separation of ownership, oversight and management in the hands of key players in the organization system as one of the important characteristics of a successful family business.
The tension between meritocracy and blood posed a challenge in managing a family business. “We have a tendency to associate meritocracy with professional management and family with loyalty and engagement and ownership attitude. The best companies are ones that manage to combine these two,” he said.
Speaking on “The Future of Banking”, Robert Z. Aliber, Professor Emeritus of International Economics and Finance, Chicago Booth, said it would be influenced by a number of factors, prime among them being the continuation of credit cycles and costs triggered by regulatory changes.
He said the outlook for banking will depend on whether credit cycles continue or abate. If cycles continue, the political response to budgetary costs of failure of large financial institutions is likely to be an increase in regulation. This will in turn seek to limit the trading and other activities of traditional banks.
“The costs of regulation reduce the rates of return that banks can pay on their IOUs. The result is that the production of the IOUs is likely to move toward the legal jurisdictions that have the least severe regulation. Thus, banks headquartered in countries that have the lowest interest rates, or lower costs of capital, will be able to pay the highest interest rates on their deposits,” he added.
Marvin Zonis, Professor Emeritus of Business Administration, Chicago Booth, said in his talk on “The Middle East & North Africa: Deepening Ties with Other Emerging Markets” that while global economic growth was returning, emerging markets were expanding more rapidly. The Arab world, especially the Gulf, has the capacity to play a far larger role in other emerging markets and the global economy, he said.
“This is necessary if the Arab world is to offer greater opportunities to its own citizens – especially young people. But it is also necessary if international partners are to make progress on shared challenges, from assisting fragile and post-conflict states, to promoting peace, to addressing climate change,” he added.
