On 26 January 2021, CFA Society Portugal and CFA Institute hosted a joint webinar to discuss the Portuguese presidency and road to European recovery post-COVID-19.

The event brought together an impressive group of high-level policy makers and attendees had the unique opportunity to hear these individuals discuss political priorities in the European Union.

Marcos Soares Ribeiro, CFA, President, CFA Society Portugal opened the event and João Nuno Mendes, Secretary of State for Finance made the keynote speech. Other speakers included the three presidents of the Portuguese regulators and the former vice-president of the European Central Bank.

The local society attracted almost 250 participants to the webinar (a record for CFA Society Portugal) and secured widespread media coverage in the Portuguese media.

Feedback from journalists, regulators, senior finance professionals, members, and universities was overwhelmingly positive, and the event made a huge impact locally.

Marcos Soares Ribeiro said, "This event was a milestone in the life of CFA Society Portugal and a major achievement in the execution of our strategic plan, as it was instrumental to raise awareness of our CFA brand in Portugal and forge closer engagement with local regulators and the government. I must highlight that our collaboration with the CFA Institute staff was key to deliver such high profile initiative."

The webinar consisted of two panel discussions. After the second panel, the winner of the second edition of the CFA Society Portugal Journalism Award was announced by Nicolau Santos, President at at Agencia Lusa.

Panel 1

Topic: Ensuring financial stability in Covid-19 times: What is the role of regulators to address the threats to the stability of the EU banking system?

Panellists:

• Mário Centeno, Governor, Banco de Portugal
• Vítor Costâncio, former Vice-President of the European Central Bank
• Luís Silva Morais, Chair of CIRSF (Centro de Investigação sobre Regulação e Supervisão Financeira)

Moderator: Raul Marques, ex-President of APAF and member of its Advisory Board

Panel 2

Topic: EU Sustainable recovery: How Portugal will steer the new Capital Markets Union agenda?

Panellists:

• Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, Chair, CMVM
• Margarida Corrêa de Aguiar, President, ASF
• João Pratas, President, Associação Portuguesa de Fundos de Investimento, Pensões e Patrimónios

Moderator: Josina Kamerling, Head, Regulatory Outreach, EMEA, CFA Institute

Watch the recordings of the panel discussions here:

• Part 1
• Part 2