Emerging Funding for the Real Economy

CMS is pleased to invite you as our guest to the third edition of the ‘Emerging Funding for the Real Economy’ day-long conference organized by The Associates.

We are delighted to announce that Dr. George Friedman, Chairman and CEO of Geopolitical Futures, will join the event as Guest Speaker in the Opening Session. The event will continue with dedicated sessions on banking, covered bonds, private equity, and capital markets and investment opportunities.

With a strong focus on Romanian economy, this conference brings together perspectives from representatives from key authorities, financial institutions, companies and commenters, and encourages open and constructive dialogue on the real economy’s funding value chain. Participants are of course welcome to engage in debates and the exchange of ideas. Please find attached the working agenda for reference – you can also find more information about the event here.

Preliminary Agenda

8:30 – 9:00 Registration and Welcome Coffee

9:00 – 10:45 Opening Session: Local and regional views

Geopolitical risks and their implications for Eurozone growth. Impact of the migrant crisis on CEE. How will Romania respond to the new geopolitical situation?

How ECB and Fed policies impact the CEE markets? Degree of convergence of CEE countries towards Western Europe – what is the impact of the slow pace of convergence?

Macroeconomic Trends: Romania vs CEE countries. Monetary policy and fiscal constraints in Romania comparative to CEE economies

How will Romania be able to sustain the current growth trend? What can we expect to be growth drivers for the year ahead?

Invited Keynote Speaker:

• George Friedman, Founder and Chairman, Geopolitical Futures

Speakers:

• Senior Representative, Minister of Economy, Commerce and Relations with the Business Environment, Government of Romania
• Enache Jiru, Secretary of State, Minister of Public Finance, Government of Romania
• Bogdan Olteanu, Deputy Governor, National Bank of Romania
• Antonia Colibasanu, Partner, Regional Director for Eurasia, Stratfor
• Florin Ilie, Co-Head of Financial Markets and Head of Financial Markets Sales, ING Bank Romania
• Ionut Dumitru, Chief Economist, Raiffeisen Bank Romania and President, Fiscal Council of Romania

10:45 – 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:00 Panel I: Challenges of the banking sector and their impact on the real economy

What are the consequences of the ECB QE’s policy on Romanian financial market? Interest rate policies for the new economic situation.

Higher capital requirements, increased regulation, high NPLs, low interest environment – how do we face these challenges?

Consolidation of the banking sector – how far are we?

Despite high liquidity environment do banks have risk appetite to finance the real economy? Do companies need funding or capital?

Banking Union and the Resolution Directive

Speakers:

• Simon Dayes, Partner and Head of Banking & International Finance in SEE, CMS
• Tibor Pandi, CEO, Citi Romania
• Mihaela Bitu, Deputy CEO, ING Bank Romania (TBC)
• Catalin Cretu, Country Manager, Romania, Croatia and Malta, Visa Europe
• Mihail Ion, Executive Director, Corporate Banking, Raiffeisen Bank
• Dorin Badea, Executive Director, Head of Treasury, Capital Markets, Financial Institutions and Export Credit Agency, EximBank Romania

12.00 – 12:15 Coffee Break

12.15 – 13:45 Parallel Panel II A: Private Equity focus

Factors that influenced venture capital investment activity in Romania.

What do investors see as the main incentives for private equity investment in Romania versus other CEE countries?

Challenges in the acquisition of privately-held business

Which sectors are most profitable for private equity investors?

Trends in M&A transactions and best practices.

Recent deals - case studies. Availability of funding – private equity funding?

What does the future hold/what’s next?

Speakers:

• David Butts, Managing Partner, Co-Head of International Private Equity, CMS
• Mona Neagoe, Partner & Country Manager Romania, Pedersen & Partners
• Serban Roman, Country Manager Romania, Enterprise Investors
• Yilmaz Karakas, Investment Manager, ADM Capital
• Marius Ghenea, Investment Director, 3TS Capital
• Ioana Filipescu, Managing Partner, Filipescu Visa
• Iulian Mangalagiu, CEO, Brikston Construction Solutions

12.15 – 13:45 Parallel Panel II B: Covered bonds roundtable

Discussion on the new legislative framework for Covered bonds: Law no. 304/2015 and secondary legislation issued by the National Bank of Romania.

Speakers:

• Cristina Reichmann, Partner, Head of Capital Markets, FIS and Structured Finance, CMS
• Luca Bertalot, Secretary General, European Mortgage Federation
• Richard Kemmish, Senior Consultant, EBRD
• Veronica Raducanescu, Deputy Director, National Bank of Romania
• Cristian Stefan, Director, National Bank of Romania
• Mirela Ciuvat, ASF (TBC)
• Andreia Radu, Senior Investment Officer, IFC (TBC)
• Stefan Nanu, Director of State Treasury, Ministry of Finance of Romania
• Alexander Zeidler, Covered Bonds VP – Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s

13.45 – 14.30 Networking Buffet

14:30 – 16:00 Panel III: Investment opportunities, strategies and challenges in the current market conditions

What is the current investment environment situation?

How to cope with the challenges of a low interest environment?

Which is the optimal allocation mix in the current market conditions?

Where is Romania on innovation of investment practices?

Structural reforms and particularly improvements in SOEs. Case studies and lessons learnt.

How to embrace the Capital Market Union‘s opportunities and challenges in a local / regional context?

Speakers:

• Victor Vlad Grigorescu, Minister of Energy, Government of Romania
• Raluca Tintoiu, CEO, NN Pensii
• Dragos Neacsu, CEO, Erste Asset Management
• Horea Popescu, Partner, CMS Cameron McKenna
• Mihai Marcu, Chairman of the Board, MedLife (TBC)
• Senior Representative, London Stock Exchange & ELITE Program(TBD)
• Senior Representative, Bucharest Stock Exchange(TBD)
• Senior Representative, SOE Company

Please confirm your participation to Adela Anghel (office@theassociates.ro /+40 723 145 546) by 31 March 2016 in order to benefit from this free guest pass.