Member Views

Time for China to Use Its Influence with Putin to Create Room for Peace

"If China wants to lead," writes BWC vice-chair Bill Rhodes in an op-ed for the South China Morning Post, "the country should do so on Ukraine by creating pressure for and room for a deal, rather than siding with the aggressor and sliding into being an active military supplier to Russia."

Zennon Kapron

BWC welcomes new member Zennon Kapron, founder and director of Kapronasia, one of Asia's leading financial technology research and consulting firms. Prior to Kapronasia, Zennon was the Asia Pacific Financial Industry Manager and Global Banking Industry Manager for Intel. At Intel, he helped position and sell Intel-based architecture to financial services firms globally. Before Intel, Zennon worked at Citi at a number of different technology management roles, culminating in his role as CIO for Citigroup Portugal.

Offensive Friendshoring and Deteriorating US-China Relations

BWC member Hung Tran writes for the Atlantic Council that "the increasingly offensive use of an offensive US friendshoring policy will make it more challenging to manage US-China strategic competition, and make a military conflict—with disastrous global consequences—more not less likely."

Africa Stock Markets Test Run Revival Formula

Most frontier African stock markets lagged in 2022, but a revival is likely on renewed privatization policies, cross-border integration, currency rationalization, and bank rotation from forced bond allocation into equities, writes BWC member Gary Kleiman.

The Next World Bank President Has a Huge Task on Their Hands

"From climate change to reconstruction, the institution has failed to tackle a range of urgent challenges," writes BWC board member Afsaneh Beschloss. Whoever succeeds Malpass will do much to decide whether this fabled institution ultimately perishes or survives, she argues.

The IMF Should Enhance the Role of SDRs to Strengthen the International Monetary System

BWC member Edwin M. Truman on the role of the SDR in the international monetary system: "The SDR has proved itself as a crisis instrument." He proposes "regular annual SDR allocations, along with measures to make the SDR more attractive to critics."

Geoffrey Okamoto

BWC would like to welcome new member Geoffrey Okamoto, former First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, and former Acting Assistant Secretary for International Finance and Development for the United States Department of the Treasury.

Geoffrey is a managing director at Goldman Sachs, based in New York City. He leads the firm’s efforts on international public policy, coordinating cross-jurisdictional issues, and engaging with global policymakers. Geoffrey also assists clients on matters involving global economic and financial developments.

Crypto Regulation: From Crisis to Opportunity

In 2022 the global financial markets were rattled by a series of adverse developments in the crypto segment, which culminated in the FTX meltdown and the multiple ripple effects the markets are likely to continue to grapple with in the course of this year. The implications of the crypto debacle, while clearly negative in the near term, also concern the longer-term trajectories of market development and regulation.

Lessons of the FTX Collapse

The collapse of FTX in many ways is an example of the problems associated with a weakly regulated financial enterprise, as much as it is a demonstration of the problems associated with crypto finance in its current state. 

As a financial enterprise, the bankruptcy of FTX shows the major failings that can arise in an organization with an exceptionally weak governance structure as regards internal financial controls, record-keeping and the oversight of an independent board of directors. There also appear to have been shortcomings in the scope and scrutiny of its outside auditors.

The Downturn in the Dollar is Not Just About Rates

BWC advisory council member Rebecca Patterson argues in a piece for the Financial Times that "to understand the most recent dollar weakness — and more importantly, where it is likely to be headed next — events outside the US will matter as much or more than what happens within its borders."