UT Dallas to Co-Sponsor Forum on Risk

The Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance at UT Dallas will co-sponsor a Hong Kong forum for companies grappling with worldwide financial challenges like the subprime meltdown.

The event, “Risk Management for Globally Interconnected Enterprises,” is scheduled for March 15 at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The agenda features talks by financial and risk-management experts, scholars and executives who share an interest in the field.

The Asia-Pacific Center for Corporate Governance Studies at Hong Kong Polytechnic is sponsoring the forum with the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance (IECG), which is based at the UT Dallas School of Management.

“We’re an economically and politically interconnected world today, so when problems occur in one part of the globe, they’re going to affect other places, too. For example, the subprime loan crisis in the U.S. has affected values of securities around the globe. This problem is not going to go away soon and will undoubtedly intensify,” said IECG Director Dr. Constantine Konstans. “At this forum, we’re going to be looking at solutions and best practices in the risk management of such events.”

The forum’s keynote speaker will be Walter John Smiechewicz, an author, speaker and risk-management consultant. Formerly a senior managing director at Countrywide Financial Corp., Smiechewicz will talk about “The Impact of Risk on Global Strategy.” Other speakers will include Vernon Moore, executive director at CITIC Pacific Ltd.; and Carol Luu, partner of Enterprise Risk Services at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

Session topics include: “Determination of Risk Capacity/Appetite for a Global Enterprise,” “Measurement and Reporting of Risk in Interconnected Organizations” and “Enterprise Risk Management Applied on a Global Basis.”

In addition, a panel discussion will feature Dennis Jennings, a former Public Company Accounting Oversight Board deputy director and an IECG director-in-residence; Angelina Kwan, chief operating officer for Cantor Fitzgerald; Patrick Rozario, a Grant Thornton partner; and Kevin Wong, executive director at COSCO Pacific Ltd. The panelists will offer perspectives on measuring and reporting risk in interconnected global enterprises.

Between 150 and 200 CEOs and senior managers from Hong Kong-based companies are expected to attend the forum, as well as their counterparts from China and other parts of Asia.

The IECG conducts research and presents programs focused on enhancing the abilities of corporate directors, senior officers and institutional investors to protect and promote stakeholders’ interests in an effective and ethical manner.

---