Important dates

Deadline for Submission: June 1, 2018
Notification of Acceptance: June 30, 2018
Early Registration Deadline: July 15, 2018
Conference dates: September 10-11, 2018

Keynote Speaker

Franklin Allen, Professor of Finance and Economics and Executive Director of the Brevan Howard Centre at Imperial College London.

Aim and Topics 

In this third annual meeting of IWFSAS, the feature topic is financial innovation, including financial technology (“Fintech”). We welcome theoretical and empirical contributions on Fintech and financial innovation and their impact on the structure and stability of the financial system, in addition to the topics of general interest to IWFSAS.

Besides dominating the recent financial news, Fintech has also attracted a lot of interest from policymakers and academic researchers. Lael Brainard, member of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, mentions in a recent speech that: “Fintech has the potential to transform the way that financial services are delivered and designed as well as the underlying processes of payments, clearing, and settlement.” Investments in Fintech initiatives have dramatically increased and we are witnessing the emergence of new financial players and instruments that are disrupting the existing business models of banks and other financial institutions. In developing countries, Fintech is helping to improve access to financial services, whether via mobile payments, crowdfunding platforms or other financial innovations offered to households and entrepreneurs. It can be seen as an effective way to accelerate financial inclusion and improve the quality of life of the unbanked or under-banked populations. In this context, and in light of the ongoing challenges faced by policy makers and regulators to make the financial system safer and more resilient, it is critical to understand whether Fintech and other financial innovations have beneficial or harmful effects on financial stability and how we can balance the growth enhancing effects from these innovations with the potential for more complex risks in the financial system.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Financial innovation and its impact on the structure of the financial system;
• Fintech and systemic risk and contagion; 
• Financial innovation, access to financial services and financial inclusion;
• Crypto currencies, distributed ledgers and block-chain 
• Regulatory challenges of crypto currencies and other fintech innovation;
• New emerging forms of finance and financial stability; 
• Crowdfunding and alternative finance solutions; 
• Robo-advisors and the use AI in investing; 
• High frequency trading and systemic risk; 
• Financial innovation, sustainable finance and impact investing;
• Financial innovation and Sustainable Development Goals 

Scientific Committee 

Toni Ahnert, Financial Stability Department, Bank of Canada
Christina Atanasova, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University
James Barth, Auburn University & Milken Institute

Thorsten Beck, Cass Business School, City, University of London
Sami Ben Naceur, International Monetary Fund

Jose Berrospide, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Arnoud Boot, University of Amsterdam

Narjess Boubakri, American University of Sharjah
Barbara Casu, Cass Business School, City University London

Susan Christoffersen, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto 
Martin Cihak, International Monetary Fund 
Meryem Duygun, Nottingham University

Merwan Engineer, University of Victoria
Vihang Errunza, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University 
Giovanni Ferri, LUMSA University, Rome

Franco Fiordelisi, University of Rome III

Ron Giammarino, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia 
Claudio Giannotti, LUMSA University, Rome 
Claudia Girardone, Essex Business School, University of Essex

Iftekhar Hasan, Fordham University

Panu Kalmi, University of Vaasa

Michael King, Ivey Business School, Western University 
Alfred Lehar, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary
Donato Masciandaro, Bocconi University

Nadia Massoud, Melbourne Business School, the University of Melbourne 
Donal McKillop, Queen’s University, Belfast

Vikas Mehrotra, University of Alberta
Alistair Milne, Loughborough University
Camelia Minoiu, International Monetary Fund

Usha Mittoo, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

Philip Molyneux, University of Sharjah, UAE
Edwin Neave, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University

Barry Quinn, Queen’s University, Belfast

Jean Roy, HEC Montreal School of Business
Reinhard Schmidt, Goethe University, Frankfurt

Stuart Snaith, Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria

Benoit Tremblay, HEC Montreal School of Business
Santiago Carbó Valverde, CUNEF, Spain
Thierry Warin, HEC Montreal School of Business

Clas Wihlborg, Chapman University

James Wilcox, University of California at Berkeley

Jonathan Williams, Bangor Business School, Bangor University

John Wilson, University of St-Andrews