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About
Agenda
Speakers

18 months after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the financial markets have registered significant changes in their own processes and in the customer relationship management. The prompt upgrade to the new reality represented the new competitive advantage of the companies that managed to maintain their quota. The 2021 edition of the ISF International Conference is focused on the impact of the pandemic crisis on the financial services sector and especially on financial literacy and national certifications, which continue despite social restrictions. Adapting communication messages to the online environment, transforming on-site training and certification activities to online platforms - are these measures enough to reinvent financial education in times of financial crisis and uncertainty?

The Institute of Finance Studies is pleased to invite you to the 7th edition of the International Conference Quality in financial sector. How to improve the level of knowledge of consumers?”. This year’s event is organized as a mixed event on November 18th 2021, between 10.00 and 14.00 - online for foreign guests and on-site for a limited number of participants. The event is opened to representatives of national decision-makers, professional associations, practitioners and other stakeholders.

 

THE AGENDA OF THE EVENT

The topics proposed for the 2021 edition include, among others:

 

Analysis of the current situation of non-banking financial markets in Romania and identification of the main structural problems arising from the analysis of the regulatory framework

Measures to adapt the activity of financial institutions in the context of the intensification of cyber incidents

Increasing the attractiveness of the Romanian capital market for foreign investors and issuers and financing the economy

Financial stability on the non-banking financial markets in Romania

Artificial Intelligence and Big Data

European approaches to private pension systems

Perspectives of the professional certification process in the non-banking financial sector

Digitalisation of insurance - how close are we towards achieving this goal?

Implications of special legislation in the financial services market (GDPR, AML and ESG)

Sessions from the event:

 

10.00-11.00 Plenary session

Speeches of honor (ASF, EIOPA, ESMA, international partner and local professional associations)

Interventions based on proposed topics

11.00-12.00 Debate on financial markets

12.00-13.30 Debate on financial education

 

 

EVENT AGENDA

 

 

10.00-11.00 Plenary session

 

Moderator Ligia Munteanu

 

Professor Nicu MARCU PhD., President of the Financial Supervision Authority

Professor Leonardo BADEA PhD., Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Romania

Valentin IONESCU, President of the Institute of Financial Studies

Horia BRAUN ERDEI, President of the Board of Directors of Erste Asset Management

Gerke WITTEVEEN, CFO NN Life Insurance

Adrian MARIN, President of UNSAR

11.00-12.00 Session 1

 

Paula HODSON, Director of Educational Services and Development, Insurance Institute of Ireland: Video Intervention

Radu HANGA President of the Bucharest Stock Exchange

Professor Marian SIMINICĂ PhD., Executive Director of the Institute of Financial Studies

Alexandra SMEDOIU, Partner of Deloitte Romania

Dorel DUŢA, President of UNSICAR

Launch of the Journal of Financial Studies: Assoc. Professor Georgiana-Raluca LĂDARU PhD., Research Coordinator and RSF, ISF

 

12.00 13.20 Session 2 - Discussion panel on Financial education

 

Moderator Iancu Guda

 

Alexandru CIUNCAN, General Director of UNSAR

Daniel APOSTOL, Director of Communication A.S.F.

Viorica PĂCURAR, National Sales Director of NN Life Insurance

Mihnea BĂRBULESCU, Executive Director of Erste Asset Management

Cătălin CÂMPEANU, Deputy Director of the Institute of Financial Studies

The event takes place online on ISF social media channels: facebook, linkedin

 

Event partners:

 

Institutional: Financial Supervisory Authority

Platinum: NN Life Insurance and EAM

Partner: UNSAR

Media partner: DIGI24


Nicu Marcu

Prof. Nicu MARCU PhD.
President

Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF)

President of ASF- In June 2020, Mr. Nicu Marcu was appointed, by the Parliament of Romania, President of the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF). As President of ASF, he is also a member of the National Committee for Macroprudential Supervision (CNSM). Mr. Nicu Marcu's professional experience includes positions with management and coordination responsibilities such as Vice President of the Court of Accounts of Romania (CCR), Secretary General and Director of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF). Mr. Marcu also held the positions of President of the National Integrity Council, General Director of the General Directorate of Budget-Finance and European Funds in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development. Mr. Nicu Marcu also led, as President, the activity of the Commission for education, science, youth and sports in the Chamber of Deputies. With a didactic and research activity of 20 years in the field of economic university education, Mr. Nicu Marcu held the position of Vice-Rector and then member of the Senate of the University of Craiova, currently being professor of the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and Director of the Doctoral School. Economics II within the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies. A graduate in Economics and Law, Mr. Nicu Marcu holds a PhD in accounting. He is the author and co-author of several books and articles published in specialized magazines, both in the country and abroad.

 

 

 
Prof. Leonardo BADEA PhD.
Deputy Governor
National Bank of Romania

 

Mr Leonardo Badea is the Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Romania since October 2019. From June 2017 to October 2019, Mr Badea was the President of the Financial Supervisory Authority in Romania. With an experience of more than 20 years in economic higher education, Mr Leonardo Badea was vice-rector of the University of Valahia in Târgovişte and Dean of the Faculty of Economics within the same university. Mr Badea was consecutively appointed as senator and deputy in the Romanian Parliament, holding the positions of Secretary of the Committee on Budget - Finance, Banking and Capital Market in the Senate of Romania and of Chairman of the Committee on Budget - Finance in the Chamber of Deputies. Mr Leonardo Badea holds a PhD in Accounting from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and has been a PhD supervisor in Finance at the West University of Timisoara since 2017. Mr Leonardo Badea has a vast research activity as author and co-author of an important series of publications with international visibility. Mr Badea is also a member of the Editorial Council of the Theoretical and Applied Economics journal and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Review of Financial Studies (edited by the Institute of Financial Studies).

 

Valentin Ionescu

Valentin IONESCU
President of ISF, General Director - General Insurance Directorate ASF

 

Valentin Ionescu General Director of General Insurance Directorate ASF and President of Institute of Financial Studies. He has been active for 18 years in various private companies in the country and abroad, in the field of investments in the capital market. In the ASF he held the position of Director of the Directorate for Strategy and Financial Stability. He also held the position of Director of the Integrated Supervision Directorate (2013 - 2014) and Director of the Insurance Regulatory Authorization Directorate (2017-2019). The professional activity also includes positions such as General Manager of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, Member in CA at Sibex, SIF Moldova (2012 - 2013) and Chairman of the Central Depository CA, but also international experience - Euro Invest Bank Gmbh Austria (Head of Sales, 2009 - 2010) and Wood & Co Czech Republic (Senior Sales Trader, 2007-2009). Mr. Valentin Ionescu graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies, Faculty of Commerce, has an MBA from CNAM Paris and a Certificate in Finance from George Town University US. He is an active member of various committees of ESMA and EIOPA. Attends as a guest at the CNSM meeting

 

Horia BRAUN ERDEI
Executive President (CEO)
Erste Asset Management Romania

 

Horia Braun-Erdei is the Executive President (CEO) of Erste Asset Management Romania. An experienced professional in investment management, with a career of 19 years in the financial sector, of which 5 in the National Bank of Romania (macroeconomic modeling and forecasting), 6 in the field of private pension fund management, he managed the assets of the largest private pensions in Romania), 3 in the banking field (he held the position of chief economist of the Romanian Commercial Bank) and 6 in the fund management segment.

 

 

Gerke Anno WITTEVEEN
CFO
NN Life Insurance

Gerke Witteveen has extensive experience in Finance and Risk Management roles within the insurance industry. He joined NN Romania in 2016 as Chief Financial Officer and next to his position at NN, Mr. Witteveen is curently the vice-president of the UNSAR, the Romanian insurance association.

 

   

Paula HODSON
Director of Insurance Institute of Ireland 

 

Paula Hodson is the Director of Education and Development at The Insurance Institute of Ireland. Paula began her insurance career in 1985 as a Trainee Underwriter in Allianz and was promoted to manage the not-for-profit business for the organisation, including education, medical and religious order business. Paula achieved her ACII in 1991 and then studied marketing for four years with the Marketing Institute of Ireland. In 1996 she joined American Company St. Paul when they set up in Ireland, managing Healthcare Business. In 1998 Paula obtained a Higher Diploma in Medico-Legal Risk Management from UCD. In 2001 St. Paul was acquired by Travelers Insurance, and Paula took on the role as Deputy General Manager with responsibility for marketing, sales, broker management and compliance. In 2007 Paula became President of The Insurance Institute of Dublin and was only the third female President to hold this distinguished role. Paula completed her Fellowship of the Chartered Insurance Institute (FCII) in 2012 before joining The Insurance Institute of Ireland team, where she has responsibility for relationship management, business development and education. She is also on the Board of The Insurance Institute of Ireland and the European Financial Insurance Certification Organisation. Paula is a Certified Insurance Director graduating in 204 and is a member of the programme Alumni. In 2019 Paula completed a Masters in Education and Training from Griffith College, Dublin. In November 2021, Paula was appointed Chairperson of The European Financial Certification Organisation (eficert) which was founded in November 2002. The members of eficert are associations and institutes that actively represent the insurance industry’s educational interests and ideals in the respective countries.  Eficert is the largest professional and educational organisation for insurance intermediaries, claims handlers and underwriters in Europe.

 

Adrian MARIN
President - UNSAR
CEO - Generali Romania

 

Mr. Adrian MARIN joined the Generali team in 1996 as an underwriter and subsequently held numerous management positions within the company, from underwriting to damages, thus gaining in-depth experience of the key processes of an insurance company.
In 2008 he was appointed to the Board of Directors, as Executive Director, and in 2011 he took over the position of CEO of Generali Romania. Starting with 2014, Adrian Marin also became President of the Supervisory Board of Generali Pensii.
Due to an active and long-term involvement in the National Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies in Romania, in 2016 he was elected its President.

 

Radu HANGA
Chairman of the Board of Directors of BVB

 

Radu Hanga was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of BVB in 2020. Previously, between 2017 and 2020, he was a member of this board. Since 2020, he is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Romanian Fund Managers (AAF). Before, between 2015 and 2020, Mr. Hanga was President of AAF. He has extensive experience in the financial markets and attended the Strategy Execution Program (INSEAD), the MBA Program (IDE), postgraduate studies in Business Administration (European Institute for Business Administration UBB), specialization courses International Financial System (IBR in partnership with Chartered Institute of Bankers Scotland), Erasmus Program (University of East London). Mister. Hanga began his career in the financial markets in 1997, as an analyst at the brokerage firm SSIF Broker (BRK), and in 1999 he joined the team of Banca Transilvania (TLV), as a capital market officer (1999 - 2002). He has held several positions within the companies in the Banca Transilvania Financial Group, including vice president of the Board of Directors of BT Securities (2001-2005), head of the Capital Market Department at Banca Transilvania (2002-2013), CEO of BT Asset Management (2005-2013), Executive Director of Group Strategy-Coordination at Banca Transilvania (2013-2017) and Senior Advisor of the Board of Directors of Banca Transilvania (2017-2020). Mr. Hanga was also a member of the Board of Directors of other listed companies such as Boromir Prod (2013 - 2017), SIF Moldova (2013 - 2017) and SIF Oltenia (2017 - 2020).

Prof. Marian SIMINICĂ PhD.
Executive Director ISF

 

Prof. Marian SIMINICĂ PhD. activates at the University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, teaching courses on Economic-Financial Analysis and Financial Diagnosis of the company . He is a PhD supervisor in Accounting. He has a rich experience in university management, holding the position of Vice Dean of the Faculty (2008 - 2012), responsible for scientific research and quality assurance of education, as well as Dean, in 2012 - 2016. He was Vice President of the Board of the Association Romanian Faculties of Economics (2012-2016). He is a member of several professional associations in the economic field, respectively: expert evaluator ANEVAR, being General Secretary of the association in the period 2016-2017; expert accountant, CECCAR member; tax consultant, CCFR member. Since 2014 he is Vice President of the Romanian Society of Economic - Financial Analysis (SRAEF). Since 2017 he is a member of the CNATDCU Commission "Economic Sciences and Business Administration", and since 2018 a member of the Commission of permanent experts ARACIS, contributing to the external evaluation of numerous undergraduate and master's degree programs in economics. He has extensive experience in scientific research materialized in the publication of 7 books and university textbooks, over 60 articles in specialized journals, including 12 articles in Web of Science indexed journals, participation in national and international conferences, participation in scientific research contracts as a grant director or member of the research team. He is a reviewer for several Web of Science indexed journals and a member of the editorial board for several indexed journals in International Databases. The main research directions are: financial performance and business risks; sectoral economic-financial analyzes; business behavior research models.