The objective of WIFPR roundtables is to bring together experts from different disciplines, in particular law and finance, to have open discussions on issues in financial policy and regulation.
Topic: Basel III Endgame
On November 7, 2023, WIFPR held a roundtable on Basel III Endgame. The roundtable focused on the proposed rule from the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on revised capital requirements on large banks.
Topic: Anti-Money Laundering: Opportunities for Improvement
On October 11, 2023, WIFPR held a roundtable on anti-money laundering. The roundtable focused on a white paper from Kate Judge (Columbia Law School) and Anil Kashyap (Chicago Booth) that sets forth principles for improving anti-money laundering policy.
Topic: Payment for Order Flow and the Retail Trading Experience
On May 1, 2023, WIFPR held a roundtable on payment for order flow (PFOF) and the retail trading experience. The roundtable focused on a white paper from Tom Ernst (University of Maryland) and Chester Spatt (Carnegie Mellon) that investigates PFOF in equity and options markets and proposes a series of policy changes to mitigate issues with PFOF.
Topic: Operator-Regulator Conflict in Payment Systems
On February 13, 2023, WIFPR held a roundtable on the operator-regulator conflict in payment systems. The roundtable focused on a white paper from Aaron Klein (Brookings) that argues that America’s payment system is slow in adopting better payment technology due in part to the structural conflicts between the Federal Reserve’s role as regulator of America’s payment systems and operator of its own system and regulator of banks’ safety and soundness.
Topic: Cross-border Payments
On May 20, 2022 WIFPR held a roundtable on cross-border payments. The roundtable focused on a white paper from Christina Parajon Skinner (Wharton) on how to streamline the process of customer due diligence in cross-border payments.
Topic: SPACs
On February 11, 2022 WIFPR held a roundtable on Special-Purpose Acquisition Company (SPACs). The roundtable focused on a white paper from Robert Jackson (NYU Law School) and John Morley (Yale Law School) on how SPACs act effectively as investment companies, but do not comply with the requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940. The other side of the legal theory proposed by the authors is that SPACs are different from regular investment companies in that they intend to merge with an operating company after a period of time.
Topic: Central Bank Digital Currency and Central Bank Independence
On September 10th, 2021 WIFPR hosted a roundtable on the future of central bank digital currencies and the question of central bank independence. The roundtable included officials from agencies such as the Federal Reserve, Bank of England, IMF and experts from think tanks and other academic institutions.
Topic: Payments, Antitrust, and Infrastructure
On October 26, 2021, WIFPR hosted a roundtable discussing the future of anti-trust regulations, payment systems, and infrastructure. The roundtable focused on a white paper from Joshua C. Macey (University of Chicago Law School) on the tradeoffs between market power and financial risk in payments systems.