Tag: GMF

To begin day four, Jason Gould and Richard Choi, shareholders at the Carlton Fields Jorden Burt (CFJB) law firm, shared their insights about regulation and litigation in the financial services sector. CFJB surveyed many firms to investigate fraud in the financial industry. They are typically capable of breaking the fraudulent company down rather than putting the executives in the jail. They also shared some great thoughts about document preservation amid concerns of privacy security. Surprisingly, they hold a view that litigation is complicated and time-wasting.

Next, we departed for Capitol Hill, where Congresswoman Ann Wagner, (R-MO) was waiting for us. As a member of the Committee on Financial Services, she skillfully introduced us to the Retail Investor Protection Act (RIPA), transportation issues, human trafficking, as well as other legislation that has been implemented to protect access to affordable investments for middle class families.

In the afternoon, we welcomed Michael Spratt, Assistant Director of the Division of Investment Management at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Jim Wigand, former Director of the Office of Complex Financial Institutions at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) with warm applause. Mr. Spratt offered a detailed description of the SEC’s role in Federal Securities Law with specific examples such as the 1933 Act, Dodd-Frank, etc. Mr. Wigand portrayed a big picture view of the role of the FDIC, and benefits that the FDIC has brought to depositors.

Guest Bloggers: Yali Ning, Huilin Liu, Xinong (Roy) He (GMF 2015)

This is the fourth in a series of 10 blogs chronicling the experiences of 31 Global Master of Finance (GMF) dual degree students during their two week long immersion course in Washington, DC and New York. Each blog will be written by a small subset of students during their experience.

Today we started off with a bang! Former Congressman Michael Oxley (R-OH) himself, of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, stopped by to talk with us about his role as a financial reformer, his life, and his career, as well as answer all of our many questions. We were intrigued to learn about his previous life as an FBI special agent as well!

Next we departed for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Being at the headquarters of one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world was truly inspiring. Moreover, it added an additional perspective to finance outside of the traditional financial industry.

We then departed to Georgetown for lunch. The weather was good, the Potomac was scenic, and the food was delicious!

In the afternoon, we were fortunate to hear from Sarah Ellerman from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to illustrate the function and responsibility of the agency, and the recent development of trade agreements with other countries or regions. Specifically, she explained the reasons for initiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with 11 other countries and answered questions relating to this issue. She also addressed her opinion on other trade agreements such as the Trade & Investment Framework Agreements and Trade in Services Agreement.

Later, Joanna Pearl from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) helped us understand the CFPB and the Office of Enforcement. Ms. Pearl talked about the mission of the agency and their unique integrated approach to implementing regulations. In addition, she gave us several examples of how CFBP helps consumers harmed by illegal practices.

Guest bloggers: Freddy Shen, Solomon Tsegaye, Lin Shuo (GMF 2015)

This is the third in a series of 10 blogs chronicling the experiences of 31 Global Master of Finance (GMF) dual degree students during their two week-long immersion course in Washington, DC and New York. Each blog will be written by a small subset of students during their experience.

To begin the second day of our Washington D.C. Immersion course, we enjoyed a great presentation about the Export Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) by its Chief Banking Officer and Senior Vice President, Claudia Slacik. We learned that the main objective of the EXIM is to promote job creation in the United States by providing financial support to buyers of U.S. products–thus demand for labor would increase.

The EXIM does not usually make direct loans to the buyers; instead, it serves as an insurer to guarantee the repayment of the loan, and thereby local banks are willing to loan to the buyer. EXIM did an amazing job in that 164,000 jobs have been created during the last year, and we are looking forward to seeing the development of the secondary market that would increase EXIM’s liquidity.

We were given the chance to take a site visit and have a close look at the World Bank Group. It was an awesome speech that gave us an idea about what the World Bank has achieved and its primary objective—to eliminate poverty. We believe it is good to have a non-profit organization like the World Bank Group to help middle- and low-income countries.

We were also very lucky to have Mr. Jared Bernstein, former Chief Economic Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, present an interesting talk. He shared his insights on economic and fiscal policy making in the Obama Administration, as well as trends in employment and earnings, international comparisons, and the analysis of financial markets. It was an intellectually enlightening conversation and we have learned a great deal throughout the day.

Guest bloogers: Miao Lin, Langjie Lu, Xinyi Huang (GMF 2015)

This is the second in a series of 10 blogs chronicling the experiences of 31 Global Master of Finance (GMF) dual degree students during their two week-long immersion courses in Washington, DC and New York. Each blog will be written by a small subset of students during their experience.

Monday, May 18 marked the first day of our Immersion Course at the Brookings Institution. The course was kicked off by an introductory address about the U.S. Government by our host, Ian Dubin. We discussed the various intricacies of the U.S. Government’s three branches, mainly focusing on the legislative branch. We role-played various scenarios that involve the congressmen or senators coming to agreement on various issues for a bill to become a law.

This is the first in a series of 10 blogs chronicling the experiences of 31 Global Master of Finance (GMF) dual degree students during their two week long immersion course in Washington, DC and New York. Each blog will be written by a small subset of students during their experience.

Next, David Wessel, Director of the Hutchins Center for Fiscal and Monetary Policy, provided an introduction to the different regulatory regimes in the U.S. We also had a candid Q&A session after his talk, during which the students discussed the effects of fiscal and monetary policy on the economy.

After a short lunch break, we had two more presenters: Patricia Kao and Winthrop Hambley. Ms. Patricia Kao is the Director of the Office of Financial Institutions Policy and the Office of Domestic Finance within the Department of the Treasury. During her presentation, she introduced us to the structure and mission of the U.S. Treasury. She then explained how the Dodd-Frank Act helps the Treasury to regulate financial markets.

Our last speaker, Winthrop Hambley, has been working for the Federal Reserve for 26 years, and currently sits on its Board of Governors. Mr. Hambley introduced the structure of the Federal Reserve System, the traditional method that the Fed has been using to regulate financial markets, as well as the new, nontraditional method that the Fed started to use after the 2008 economic crisis, and the potential risks that the Fed may encounter in the future.

Guest bloggers: Yibo Wu, Dibbasatya Ghosh, Hao Han (GMF 2015)

Studying at Singapore Management University thanks to the dual-degree Global Master of Finance program offered me the great opportunity to gain exposure to the Asian lifestyle and education system. Not only is this program fostering my business acumen but it’s helping me build a stronger understanding of business trends within this part of the world; hence I decided to engage myself beyond the classroom and pursue a part-time internship.

Guest Blogger: Marco Iachini, Global Master of Finance, Class of 2015

After a few weeks of networking, online research, and emails, I was able to secure a position with a local start-up at the end of the fall semester. The Singaporean government strongly supports entrepreneurship—thus it’s very common to find local start-ups, especially in the financial technology sector.

The company I interned for created a finance-related phone app which was still in the pre-revenue phase, so I found myself wearing different hats on a daily basis. I wrote daily and weekly market summaries, helped with the marketing and social media strategy, and lastly, I learned how to use Cran-R to gather and analyze data in order to formulate new trading strategies.

Despite my availability being fairly limited, this opportunity gave me a chance to understand how to build a company from the ground up, and gave me insight into the startup world. Moreover, I had the chance of working alongside local successful finance professionals from which I learned many valuable lessons.

As my time in Singapore is coming to an end and I find myself preparing for my return to Olin, I think of how much I’ve learned from this internship and how useful it was for me inside the classroom and during job interviews. It gave me a chance to learn new skills, improve my business acumen, and most importantly, made me a more valuable professional. For these reasons, I strongly recommend to future GMF candidates: try finding an internship, as it will likely be an enriching experience especially here in Singapore!