New Rules for Financial Consumer Protection: Policymaking at the Frontier 

New insights on consumer behavior are helping inform better financial consumer protection policies across the globe, better equipping policymakers to address the needs of consumers. This is all the more important given the widely varying state of financial markets globally, with optimism in some emerging markets verging on “bubbling” enthusiasm, while financial consumers in some countries in Europe and elsewhere face serious challenges in managing their household finances in the face of economic recession.

So is this a time for concern in financial consumer protection, a time of opportunity, or more likely a bit of both?

Join former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Michael Barr and leading consumer protection policymakers from across the globe for an open discussion of how best to move forward with financial consumer protection and financial capability in the increasingly multi-polar global economy. Panelists will discuss how to incorporate insights on consumer behavior into policies that shape the financial landscape consumers live in everyday.

Featuring Opening Remarks by Piyush Tantia, Executive Director of ideas42 and a Keynote by Michael S. Barr

Copies of Professor Barr’s latest book, No Slack: The Financial Lives of Low-Income Americans, will be available for purchase. A reception will follow the presentation.

About the Presenter: Professor Michael S. Barr, has been a member of the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School since 2001. He was on leave from 2009-2010, serving as the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, and was a key architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Professor Barr conducts large-scale empirical research regarding financial services and researches and writes about a wide range of issues in financial regulation. Recent books include No Slack: The Financial Lives of Low-Income Americans (Brookings Press, 2012), Insufficient Funds

About the host organizations:

ideas42 (www.ideas42.org) is a non-profit behavioral consultancy and research lab grounded in the understanding that all good work is predicated on asking the right questions. They are the leading voice on behavioral research globally, and have a strong track record researching and publishing on behavioral research strategies to protect consumers and advising policymakers on behavioral approaches to policy issues.

CGAP (www.cgap.org) is an independent financial inclusion research and policy organization housed at the World Bank. CGAP has been conducting research and technical assistance for consumer protection policymaking focused on the base of the pyramid for several years in markets across the globe, incorporating consumer and behavioral research as a key ingredient to their diagnostic and advisory services in this area.