The Vienna Initiative was launched in January 2009 with the initial aim to ensure financial stability in emerging Europe by addressing the outflow of capital from local subsidiaries of large cross-border banks in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Over time, the Vienna Initiative has evolved from a temporary crisis-mitigation platform to a permanent forum for discussions, where competent policymakers and industry representatives share views on specific issues from different perspectives.
This year’s Vienna Initiative Full Forum will be hosted by the Bank of Lithuania and held on 6–7 May 2024 at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius. It is organised together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, European Central Bank/Single Supervisory Mechanism, and the European Commission.
The Vienna Initiative Full Forum in Vilnius will bring together high-level representatives of central banks, international organisations, major cross-border banking groups and other financial sector stakeholders to discuss the current economic developments in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, as well as challenges encountered by financial institutions amidst high economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
The agenda of this year’s Forum encompasses a wide range of topics, including high level discussions on key challenges for policymakers, banking competition landscape in the region, implications of high interest rates, challenges and opportunities of digital banking, etc.
Registration by invitation only.
Programme
May 6 – Full Forum
|
From 12.30am |
Registration |
|
|
OPENING |
||
|
1.00pm-1.10pm |
Opening remarks Gediminas Šimkus, Chair of the Board, Bank of Lithuania |
|
|
1.10pm-1.15pm |
Welcoming remarks Gintarė Skaistė, Minister of Finance, Republic of Lithuania |
|
|
1.15pm -1.20pm |
Setting the scene Boris Vujčić, Governor, Croatian National Bank |
|
|
SESSION 1: KEY CHALLENGES FOR POLICY MAKERS (live broadcast) Chaired by Boris Vujčić, Governor, Croatian National Bank |
||
|
1.20pm -2.15pm |
Panel discussion: Jasmina Selimović, Ph.D., Governor, Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina Madis Müller, Governor, Bank of Estonia Gediminas Šimkus, Chair of the Board, Bank of Lithuania Boštjan Vasle, Governor, Bank of Slovenia |
|
|
2.15pm -2.30pm |
COFFEE BREAK |
|
|
SESSION 2: STOCK-TAKING OF THE ECONOMIC SITUATION IN THE CESEE |
||
|
2.30pm-3.25pm |
Macroeconomic outlook for the CESEE region |
|
|
SESSION 3: ASSET QUALITY: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITES AHEAD (closed session) |
||
|
3.25pm -3.45pm |
Results from the latest ECB stress test |
|
|
3.45pm -4.30pm |
Panel discussion: are banks well-placed to support the recovery? |
|
|
4.30pm-4.40pm |
COFFEE BREAK |
|
|
SESSION 4: GREENING THE FINANCIAL SECTOR (closed session) |
||
|
4.40pm -5.00pm |
Climate change and financial stability: a regulatory perspective |
|
|
5.05pm-5.15pm |
Greening the Financial Sector – update on the Vienna Initiative Working Group on Climate Change |
|
|
5.20pm-6.00pm |
Assessing climate risks – are banks and SMEs finally equipped? Panel discussion |
|
|
END OF 1st DAY |
||
May 7 – Full Forum
|
from 10.00am |
Registration |
|
OPENING (closed session) |
|
|
10.30am-10.35am |
Opening remarks and summary of Day 1 Boris Vujčić, Governor, Croatian National Bank |
|
SESSION 5: BANKING COMPETITION IN THE CEE (closed session) |
|
|
10.35am-11.35am |
Panel discussion |
|
11.35am-11:50 am |
COFFEE BREAK |
|
SESSION 6: TAKING STOCK: A YEAR OF BANKING WITH HIGH RATES (closed session) |
|
|
11.50am-12.05pm |
Interview: Banking on high interest rates: profitable or dangerous? |
|
12.05pm -1.00pm |
Panel discussion: Ending 15 years of low profitability, a regional perspective |
|
1:00pm-2:30pm |
LUNCH |
|
SESSION 7: NEW AGE OF DIGITAL BANKING: CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES (closed session) |
|
|
2.30pm -3.00pm |
Interview |
|
3.00pm -3.45pm |
Panel discussion: Improving the Fintech – Commercial Bank – authorities dialogue |
|
CONCLUDING REMARKS AND NEXT STEPS (closed session) |
|
|
3:45pm-4:00pm |
Concluding remarks and next steps Boris Vujčić, Governor, Croatian National Bank |
|
END OF PROGRAMME |
|