Release Date 24 June 2013

The world's financial issues and latest research will be debated and presented by leading scholars from around the world at Henley Business School, University of Reading, this week.

Professor John Campbell, Chair of the Economics Department at Harvard University, is the keynote speaker for the 2013 European Financial Management Association (EFMA) annual meeting. The event is one of the largest and most prominent academic conferences on finance in Europe and this year it will be hosted by Henley Business School's ICMA Centre on 26-29 June.

Professor Campbell will talk on the timely topic of ‘Understanding Volatility Risk'. Plenary session organisers and speakers include Dr Co-Pierre Georg, Deutsche Bundesbank, on ‘Transparency and Systemic Risk', and Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, on ‘Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance'.

Dr Simone Varotto, Senior Lecturer in Finance at the ICMA Centre and Chair of the 2013 EFMA conference, said: "With large parts of the world enduring huge economic problems it is vital that leading financial experts across the globe have the forum to debate, as well as hear from researchers who are at the forefront of understanding and tackling the issues the sector faces. 

"We have been overwhelmed at the number of submissions we have received and the line-up of speakers is extremely exciting. Listening to Professor Campbell alone discuss finance is a privilege, never mind the hundreds of other great financial minds that will be gathered at Reading."

The conference programme includes 252 research papers that will be presented by authors from 36 countries and five continents. Among the 84 parallel sessions there will be ones completely dedicated to the financial crisis, bank regulation, risk management, corporate governance and management compensation.

The opening ceremony of the conference will be held on 26 June at the Reading Town Hall and will be hosted by MP Rob Wilson. All delegates and guests will convene for a gala dinner on 28 June which will take place at the majestic Henley Business School's Greenlands Campus, one of the selected venues visited by HM Queen Elizabeth II for her Jubilee celebrations last year.

The ICMA Centre - Henley Business School gratefully acknowledges the help and support of the conference sponsors and award sponsors including, among others, the Bank of England, the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) and the New York Stock Exchange - Euronext.

For more information about the conference email efma2013@icmacentre.ac.uk

ENDS

For all media enquiries please contact James Barr, University of Reading Press Officer on 0118 378 7115 or by email on j.w.barr@reading.ac.uk

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Notes to Editors

Professor John Campbell is the Morton L. and Carole S. Olshan Professor of Economics at Harvard University. He has published over 80 articles on various aspects of finance and macroeconomics, including fixed-income securities, equity valuation, and portfolio choice.

Professor Campbell served as President of the American Finance Association in 2005 and as President of the International Atlantic Economic Society in 2009. He is a Research Associate and former Director of the Program in Asset Pricing at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

ICMA Centre

Part of the triple accredited Henley Business School, the ICMA Centre was formed as the first active collaboration between the securities industry and a university finance department. We offer a range of undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education, as well as professional and policy development research and consultancy. The ICMA Centre's aim is to deliver the highest standard in financial markets focused teaching, learning and research. Our unique integration of theory with practice is achieved through the use of the Centre's three state-of-the-art dealing rooms. All equipped by Thomson Reuters, the terminals run the latest industry simulation software as well as the Centre's own simulation software platform; ICTrader. 

Research that will be presented and discussed at the conference has been authored by top finance academics and industry practitioners.   Represented academic institutions are Harvard University, Stanford Law School, Stern School of Business, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Boston College, Cornell University, Wharton, INSEAD, University of Carlos III, Bocconi