Brussels, Wednesday, September 12, 2012
PRESS RELEASE
VUB chair promotes the stewardship of finance
‘Stewardship of Finance’ is the name of a new chair founded by Vrije Universiteit Brussel and sponsored by six major insurance companies. The chair is meant to promote the notion of a stewardship of finance. VUB Rector Paul De Knop believes it is crucial that the financial sector is examined from an ethical perspective. ‘The current financial crisis has shown that a moral reflection is most certainly necessary.’ The famous Belgian anthropologist, Paul Jorion will give the first of 15 guest lectures on the theme in the academic year 2012-2013.
The Stewardship of Finance chair will run for five years, and will focus on research as well as on education. For this chair Vrije Universiteit Brussel received the financial support of six insurance companies which strive to develop their activities in a sustainable and responsible manner. The chair starts on Thursday 4 October 2012. Doctorandi will examine the theme of ethical financial services from the perspective of various scientific disciplines including economics, law, philosophy, mathematics and actuarial science. The research has to give rise to new insights about the ethics and morals of financial activities, more specifically of insurance and financial management.
The chair is founded on two pillars: research and education. Students from various disciplines will learn to think about the stewardship of finance during a series of lectures; knowledge which they will be able to subsequently implement once they start working in the financial sector themselves. ULB professors will also participate in the project and will encourage their students to attend.
Paul Jorion
The chair has called on the services of Paul Jorion for the lectures. A renowned social anthropologist, Jorion has worked in the European and American financial industry for several years. He writes columns, among others, for the economic supplement of the authoritative newspaper, Le Monde. His recent book, Le Capitalisme à l’Agonie also received a lot of attention worldwide. Jorion has taught at the universities of Brussels, Cambridge and Paris VIII among others. During the academic year 2012-2013 he will give 60 hours of guest lectures. The lectures will take place at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, on Thursdays at 3 p.m. In the course of the academic year 2012-2013 the lecture will be followed by a round-table, on five occasions, with Belgian and international panel members. Several other conferences will also take place in the margin of the chair.
Chairman
The chairman of this chair is Professor of economic and financial law, Michel Flamée, who also serves as a special representative for insurance supervision and is an auditor with the National Bank of Belgium. Professor Koen Byttebier of the Faculty of Law and Criminology will be in charge of coordinating with the partners and faculties involved. The project will also benefit from an active contribution by ULB.
Insurance companies
The six insurance companies which have agreed to support the chair are AG Insurance, Allianz, Baloise Insurance, Belfius Insurance, Ethias and P&V Groep.
On Thursday 4 October 2012 at 3 p.m. Paul Jorion will give his inaugural lecture for the chair. The title of the lecture is: “Why Stewardship of Finance?” This lecture will take place on campus Etterbeek of Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Aula Q. (About this location:
http://www.vub.ac.be/infoover/campussen) Journalists and other people who are interested to attend are more than welcome.
Information about the content of the lectures
Paul Jorion, 0033 6 27 25 63 35, pauljorion@gmail.com
Information about the chair
Koen Byttebier, 0477871061, koen.byttebier@vub.ac.be
Press relations Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Sicco Wittermans, phone 02-629 21 37 or 0473-96 41 37
Sicco.wittermans@vub.ac.be