World Alliance of International Financial Centers concludes AGM in Casablanca

BRUSSELS, Oct. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) concluded its first AGM in Africa from 19 to 21 October 2022.

Hosted by Casablanca Finance City (CFC), the AGM was attended by almost 40 member & observer representatives. With COP 27 a few weeks away also in North Africa, a core focus of the AGM was around the work financial centers are conducting independently and collectively with regards to the green transition, circular economy and sustainable finance.

WAIFC members took part in CFC Talks -discussing the role and future of financial centers, a series of roundtables covering sustainability, innovation & FinTech, institutional meetings and ending the trip participating in Casablanca Sustainable Finance Dialogue. The climax of the trip was a tour of Rabat, where members met H.E. Mohcine Jazouli, the Minister of Investment of the Kingdom of Morocco, and learned more about the development of Morocco and the wider African economy (see here). Members highlighted their willingness to strengthen synergies with Morocco and Africa overall.

WAIFC members elected new board members and approved applications from Jersey Finance and Finance Malta as the newest members, taking the total membership to 21. Members paid tribute to Jennifer Reynolds who conducted her final AGM as Chair, completing a successful two year tenure. Keiichi Aritomo, Executive Director of FinCity Tokyo, was elected the new Chair, being the first Chair from an Asian Financial Center. Lamia Merzouki, Deputy General Manager at CFC, will become Vice Chair and Nicolas Mackel the new Treasurer, replacing Frédéric de Laminne. All participants thanked the outgoing Chair, Treasurer, and board members for their efforts and achievements in developing the association with the new posts commencing January 2023. Finally, the board approved a new project on Supply Chain Finance, suggested by FinCity.Tokyo.

Also concluding at the AGM was the inaugural WAIFC Young Academic Award 2022 seeking new perspectives from the next generation of researchers. After receiving 49 applications from 26 countries and 45 academic institutions, leaders from financial centers judged that the winner of this cohort was Tristan Caballero-Montes from Belgium, on his paper - "Integrating Market Conditions into Regulatory Decisions on Microfinance Interest Rates: Does Competition Matter?" Second place were Harshini Moonisamy from Mauritius and Paul Momtaz from Munich and third place was Victor Saint-Jean from Paris. Harshini also won the social media award. Read about the finalists and their papers here.   

Members expressed their gratitude to CFC for their hospitality and commended the foresight of the government of Morocco in developing CFC, given that Casablanca will be amongst the leading African financial centers that shall see growth over the coming decades. The next meeting of members will be in London in April by invitation of TheCityUK. 

Commenting on the AGM, Jennifer Reynolds, Chair of the WAIFC Board of Directors, stated:

"After leading our members for the past two years, I am left believing that only through collaboration and cooperation with bodies such as WAIFC will we be able to address the big questions facing society today. I thank all members for the work they take on outside of their normal activities to strengthen international cooperation between financial centers and exchanging ideas that help economies prosper".

Saïd Ibrahimi, CEO of Casablanca Finance City, said:

"CFC was honored to host the WAIFC AGM in Africa and showcasing the development and contribution the centre has been making to serve Casablanca, Morocco and the wider African economy. We thank all members for the ideas we exchanged during this AGM and hope to see members back in 2023".

Dr. Jochen Biedermann, Managing Director of WAIFC, added:

"We thank CFC for their hospitality and eventful agenda which supported our 2023 strategy. Projects undertaken by our members concluded at CFC such as the Young Academic Award, other projects continue to be discussed such as the Future of Financial Centers. It is a testament to our increasing member's contributions and collaboration that enables us to come together to provide a platform that can drive sustainable growth for our members and define the role financial centers can play towards their economies."

Media Contact:
Abdulrahim Osman, Press Officer WAIFC, +49 69 94 41 80 92, [email protected] 

SOURCE WAIFC AISBL