Overview

This course highlights the foundational issues and recent developments in respect to the development and regulation of capital and securities markets. Particular emphasis will be placed on the immediate effect of the COVID-19 crisis and on the recovery period to follow. The impact of the crisis on the development and regulation of capital markets and the expected aftermath will be discussed in the context of topics selected from the areas listed below.

Format

The seminar will be delivered through 5 live on-Line sessions via Zoom videoconferencing platform. Each session will last approximately 3.5 hours and will start at 8:30am Washington DC time (Eastern Standard Time). We expect the class to be highly interactive and will include presentations, case studies and exercises.

Course Outline

Legal, Regulatory and Institutional Framework

• Institutional structure related to market's needs
• Government regulation: securities laws, securities exchange commissions, central banks, ministries of finance
• Stock exchanges: rules and regulations, self or external regulation, membership and listing standards
• Corporate governance
• Transparency
• Prospectuses

Development of Capital Markets

• Policy issues affecting development of capital markets
• Managing risks and responding to crises in Capital Markets

Role of Participants in Capital Markets

• Regulators, financial institutions, accountants/auditors, government
• Issuers of securities in capital markets
• Investors in capital markets: individuals and institutional players
• Professionals: brokers, dealers, underwriters
• Financial intermediaries: commercial banks, merchant banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, pension funds
• Initial public offerings (IPOs)

Course Advisor

Mr. Paul Freedman is Counsel at the AES Corporation, a global energy company. Mr. Freedman was previously Chief Counsel for Credit Programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and has substantial government and private sector experience in capital markets transactions in developed countries and emerging markets. He worked on the first non-sovereign bond offerings in several developing countries, and he played a leading role in the structuring and negotiation of USAID’s partial credit guarantees for bond offerings and bank loans in over 40 developing countries.