Why is the chair called “Stewardship of Finance”?
Stewardship implies service to the community. The financial sector should be useful to society instead of causing economic crises through ignorance and greed. The chair should help to improve both the reputation and the actual working of the industry. Finance is essential, but people now see it as a monster taking money from them. We have to go back to the pre-1867 situation, when speculation was forbidden in Belgium. A second remedy for the current problems is also found in the past: an international monetary union similar to that set up at Bretton Woods after the Second World War.

You experienced the coming of the financial crisis first-hand.
I worked in the American financial world as a pricing specialist from 1998 to 2007 and realised in 2002 that the financial bubble was bound to explode soon. but it took me a long time to find a publisher for the book about my predictions because they all thought I was delusional. The Crisis of American Capitalism finally appeared in 2007, and, unfortunately, history proved me right.

What does Stewardship of Finance entail?
There will be 15 lectures per year over five years, all of which can be freely attended. They should stimulate students from various disciplines to comprehend ethical financial services and implement them once they start working in the financial sector. There is also research: PhD students will examine finance from the perspective of different scientific disciplines. This should lead to new insights about the ethics and morals of insurance and financial management specifically.

The chair is sponsored by six major insurance companies, right?
Yes, that shows that certain actors in the industry are striving to develop their activities sustainably and responsibly and that the chair is not just an academic project. During five annual panel discussions, Belgian and international participants from the financial industry and from politics will be involved in a broad discussion. Among our guests are European Union trade commissioner Karel De Gucht and former head of Belfius Insurance, Guy Roelandt. We will also organise several conferences.