Developing, developed country policymakers meet at global dialogue on financial inclusion

AFI and the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (FS) will co-host the “Developing and Developed Country Perspectives on Financial Inclusion: A Global Dialogue” in Frankfurt, Germany on 28 June.

The conference follows increased interest from both AFI member institutions and policymakers from high-income countries to engage in peer exchange on specific policy and regulatory domains relevant to their objectives to further financial inclusion.

The meeting will convene more than 80 policymakers and regulators, as well as financial sector stakeholders, from developed and developing countries. The event will be supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Transport, Urban and Regional Development, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

It will be AFI’s first financial inclusion event to be held in a developed nation.

The conference will connect AFI members with peers from developed countries to exchange ideas on relevant financial issues, and to identify opportunities for joint activities and mutual learning.

There will be three panel discussions covering: “Financial inclusion in developed economies: Lessons learned, new trends and current challenges”; “Global standards and financial inclusion”; and “Policies for small and medium enterprise (SME) finance.”

The opening panel discussion, moderated by Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Professor Njuguna Ndung’u, will focus on financial inclusion success stories from developing economies, how developed economies measure financial inclusion, reasons for financial exclusion, potential policy responses to financial exclusion, the future of bank finance versus capital market finance, lessons learned from government interventions, and whether or not full financial inclusion genuinely contributes to the realization of full economic inclusion.

The second session on global standards and financial inclusion will highlight international standards developed by the Standard-Setting Bodies (SSBs), their importance to financial inclusion, and how the SSBs and AFI members can best work together to drive financial inclusion policy that is consistent with the financial stability and integrity mandates of SSBs.

Additionally, the panel will serve as a follow up to the 5th Annual G-24-AFI Policymakers’ Roundtable held in Washington D.C. on 17 April 2013 during the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At the Roundtable, AFI and G-24 members agreed to propose the joint development of an extended risk framework with the SSBs, taking full account of the risks for financial and socio-economic stability posed by financial exclusion, including over-indebtedness and inadequate consumer protection.

The final session will seek to identify relevant lessons for developing, emerging and high-income economies on the role of policymakers and regulators in SME finance. The session will provide an opportunity for AFI members and representatives from high-income countries to learn firsthand from each other about successful policy interventions in the field of SME finance.

Outcomes from the meeting will help shape discussions at the 2013 Global Policy Forum (GPF), taking place from 10-12 September 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Conclusions will also enable AFI members to arrive at a decision on how to move forward with partnerships with developed nations.