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5th Conference on Financial Development and Stability
Keynote Speaker 2020
Dr. John Laker, Chair, Banking and Finance Oath
Dr. Laker was Chairman of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) over an 11–year period to 30 June 2014. As Chairman, Dr. Laker was APRA’s representative on the Payments System Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the Council of Financial Regulators, the Trans-Tasman Council on Banking Supervision, and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. He was also a founding director of the Centre for International Finance and Regulation. An economist by training, Dr. Laker had an extensive career in the RBA prior to his appointment to APRA. He has also worked for the Commonwealth Treasury and the International Monetary Fund.
Currently, Dr. Laker is Chair of ING Bank Australia, Deputy Chancellor of the University of Technology Sydney, and member of the Consultative Panel of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). He is Chairman of the Board of the Banking and Finance Oath and a director of Cancer Council NSW and Cancer Council Australia. He is also lecturing at the University of Sydney and undertaking advisory work for the International Monetary Fund as a member of its Experts Panel.
Dr. Laker was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2008 for his services to financial regulation.
Panelists 2020
Pascual O’Dogherty, Secretary General, Association of Banking Supervisors of the Americasof ASBA
As of January of 2019, Pascual O’Dogherty became Secretary General of the Association of Banking Supervisors of the Americas (ASBA).
Before joining ASBA, he was General Director of Financial Stability at Mexico’s central bank. During his 30 plus years at Banco de Mexico, he had different responsibilities in the areas of Financial Stability, Financial System and Central Bank Operations. He also was Executive Secretary of the Mexican Financial Stability Council as well as member of the boards of the Mexican National Banking and Securities Commission and the Insurance Commission. Internationally, he represented Banco de Mexico at the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the FSB Task Force on Resolvability and the BCBS Task Force on Sovereign Exposures. He has also served as consultant for the IMF and the World Bank.
O’Dogherty received a bachelor’s degree in economics from ITAM and completed his doctoral studies in economics at Northwestern University.
Babak Abbaszadeh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Toronto Centre
Babak Abbaszadeh joined Toronto Centre for Global Leadership in Financial Supervision (or Toronto Centre) as President and CEO in June 2010.
Babak is responsible for the organization’s strategy, capacity building programming, operational activities, and outreach. Babak also oversees the Centre’s collaboration with central banks, supervisory authorities, international development agencies, FSB, international standard setting bodies, International Financial Institutions and regional development banks. With 30 years of experience in public policy and implementation in the public and private sectors, Babak has held leadership roles in highly regulated sectors such as financial services, energy, and natural resources financing including at Sun Life Financial, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). He was also a former chief of staff to Cabinet Ministers in Canada.
Juan Carlos Crisanto, Deputy Chairman of FSI-BIS
As Deputy Chairman, Juan Carlos manages the day-to-day activities of the FSI. His primary area of responsibility is to oversee the outreach initiatives of the Institute and FSI Connect, the online learning and information tool of the BIS. In addition, he is responsible for supporting the Chairmanregarding the policy-related work of the FSI. During 2012-13, Juan Carlos was seconded to the Secretariat of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). His work focused on: assessing the implementation of Basel III in BCBS member countries; supervisory issues pertaining to systemically important banks; and governance arrangements regarding the BCBS.
Juan Carlos joined the BIS in August 2001. Before that, he served as Head of the Regulation Department of the Peruvian Banking, Insurance and Pension Funds Authority (SBS). Juan Carlos holds an undergraduate degree in Law from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) and a Master's degree from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE).
Jorge Castaño, Chair of Colombia's Financial Superintendence
The Financial Superintendent, Jorge Castaño Gutiérrez, has dedicated a large part of his life to academic training and research on issues related to the Colombian financial system. Castaño has mainly developed his professional carrier in the Financial Superintendency of Colombia - SFC for about 15 years, which has allowed him to consolidate extensive experience in the regulation and supervision of the financial system.
His technical character and professional qualities led him to become the first Superintendent elected since May 2017 after the Colombian Government's meritocracy process following the OECD's best standards. Castaño was confirmed in office for the period 2018 - 2022.
His leadership has allowed the SFC to position itself as one of the Superintendencies with the best international regulation and supervision standards in banking, insurance, and the securities market.
He has served as Director of the Guarantee Fund for Financial Institutions - FOGAFIN. He has a significant career as an undergraduate and postgraduate teacher at the Faculties of Law and Finance of the Externado de Colombia University and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Superintendent Castaño is a lawyer from the Externado de Colombia University with a specialization in Financial and Stock Market Law from the same university and a Master's in Economic Development from the Carlos III University of Madrid.
Kevin Cowan, Vicepresidente del Consejo de la CMF
Commissioner Cowan holds an Economic and Business Degree from the Universidad Católica de Chile and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was Executive Director for Chile and Ecuador at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Regional Economic Advisor for the Andean countries at the IDB. He also held various positions at the Central Bank of Chile, including Director of the Financial Policy Division.
In 2016, he was a member of the Advisory Group convened by the Minister of Finance to make proposals to amend the General Banking Law. In addition to his role as commissioner, Mr. Cowan currently lectures at the Universidad Adolfo Ibañez.