Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) at Harvard Law School Hosts 20th Anniversary Japan Gala, Announces Organizational Changes

BOSTON, Oct. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Program on International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School hosted a special, 20^th anniversary, invitation-only gala on October 19, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan, that will be followed by the annual U.S.-Japan symposium in Odawara over the weekend. The first symposium was held in 1998 to address the then severe problems in the Japanese financial system. PIFS also hosts four other annual Symposia between the U.S. and China, Europe, India and Latin America.

The U.S.-Japan symposium has involved such recognizable figures in international finance as Haruhiko Kuroda, Governor of Bank of Japan, Wilbur Ross, U.S. Commerce Secretary, and Larry Summers, President Emeritus and Charles W. Eliot University Professor of Harvard University. 

The gala and symposium celebrate the continued cooperation between American and Japanese financial officials, financiers and academics, and their ongoing efforts to address bilateral and global financial issues. The symposium has also served to foster important relationships between the financial leaders of both countries. In recent years, symposia topics have included the future of large global banks as well as the rise of China and its implications for Japan, the U.S. and the global financial markets. 

At the gala, PIFS announced its forthcoming separation from Harvard Law School as Hal S. Scott, Nomura Professor and Founder and Director of PIFS, transitions to his new role as Emeritus Professor at Harvard in June 2018. The program will move forward as an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) entity, with Harvard Law School becoming a non-financial sponsor of future symposia. Scott will continue to lead PIFS.

Discussing the change, Scott said, "My vision for the future of PIFS is to strengthen the role of the symposia as a place for academics, government and industry to meet worldwide and address critical problems. PIFS has also begun to play a critical role in providing executive education programs for financial officials from around the world."

Harvard Law School and PIFS will also partner in expanding PIFS' executive education programs, which now includes a program with IOSCO, the International Organization of Securities Commissions. 

For any inquiries regarding the gala, symposium or restructuring of the Program on International Financial Systems, please contact Whitney Vasey (wvasey@law.harvard.edu).