Programme 1: Making an Exit
The first episode of "The Future of Finance" asks whether the recent bank bailouts are likely to work and to find out, it looks for clues from the past. Japan and Sweden each battled their own banking crisis in the 90s – one was decisive and enjoyed a swift exit, the other dithered and faced a lost decade. Insiders from both these countries recount the lessons they learned, while economists assess which of the two paths we are likely to follow in the future.


Programme 2: The Buck Stops Where?
The second episode of The Future of Finance assesses why it was that boards of directors and investors of failed financial institutions were unaware of or unable to stop the risks. Contributors reflect on what needs to change and how to end the culture of greed.


Programme 3: Bubble Trouble
The third episode of The Future of Finance travels to Japan and Iceland to examine the biggest asset bubbles of our time. Behavioural economists shed light on how human failings make bubbles inevitable while monetary policy experts weigh in on how to better control them.


Programme 4: Breaking the Mould
Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf joins presenter Geoff Cutmore in studio to discuss some of the proposed solutions to fix finance. Should we break up banks considered too big to fail? Should we have a global regulatory body? A new global currency? And more fundamentally, how great is the danger that two opposing political attitudes towards financial markets namely, the west and China further complicate the future?

The Future of Finance: New Rules, Same Game?

As 2009 progresses financial institutions are in the midst of transformation. Almost the entire global financial system is now underpinned by billions of tax payers’ dollars. There is a new relationship between finance and the state. Even after governments unwind equity stakes and exit debt guarantees, an indelible mark will be left on the sector and more widely on the corporate world. CNBC asks what the new normality will look like for business.


THE PANEL
Dr. Hatem El Karanshawy
Founding Dean. Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies

Paul Atkins
Former SEC Commissioner

Dr. Philippa Malmgren
President and Founder of Canonbury Group

Robert Gray
Chairman Debt Finance & Advisory, HSBC

FRONT ROW VIP CROSS EXAMINERS
Sir John Stuttard
Vice Chairman Advisory Board, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Julie Meyer
Founder & CEO, Ariadne Capital

George Shehadah
CEO, Amwal

Professor Michael Ong
Illinois Institute of Technology

Dr. Linda Yueh
Fellow, Economics Oxford