Banking and Finance (10:00 a.m.)
What is the future of banks. Financial institutions are currently on the brink of their greatest evolutionary crisis. For the first time, they have to face growing competition from small tech financial companies, and will soon have to face internet giants with their large client bases and capital greater than Wall Street's largest banks. Also, the sector has to deal with the reality of zero interest rates and increased regulatory burdens that change the conditions of the game and doing business. As a result, banks are faced with a choice whether to be competitive and protect themselves through regulation or to be open, embrace synergy and share the market and profits.
Cahill on how banks must change to survive. Antony Cahill is Managing Director Europe Regions, Visa. Previously, he had worked in Australia’s banking sector, serving as COO at NAB, among other positions he held. In the opening interview in the banking and finance block, Adam Czerniak, PI's chief economist and director for research, will ask him what open banking is and how banks approach the concept of sharing data with technology companies. They will also jointly consider what the bank of the future should be like and what the competitive advantages of commercial banks over fintechs might be. They will also talk about the difficult role of regulators who, on the one hand, must ensure a level playing field and, on the other, guarantee the security of the financial system.
Skiba on how to compete with new players. Leszek Skiba has been managing Bank Pekao since April 2020 (first, he served as the bank’s acting president, and on February 4, 2021, he was appointed head of Pekao). Previously, he had been deputy finance minister (from 2015) and was responsible, among other things, for supervising the country's macroeconomic policy. During the Risks and Trends, Piotr Sobolewski, PI's senior analyst for the financial sector, will talk to him about the biggest risks for traditional banking, including record-low interest rates and the growing competition from fintechs, bigtechs and challenger banks. He will ask why banks accelerated the digitisation of their processes only during the pandemic, and how they must change so that new rivals do not take over their customers.
Kuna, Sokołowska and Wincewicz-Price on the future shape of the financial sector. In the last part of the banking and finance block, we will talk to three observers of trends in the financial sector – Microsoft Polska’s Weronika Kuna, who deals with relations with the public administration sector and the government, and had previously served as a financial sector specialist at the NBP, Horum’s Marzena Sokołowska, who specialises in providing IT services for the financial sector as well as Agnieszka Wincewicz-Price, head of the behavioural economics team at the Polish Economic Institute and an economic philosopher. They will discuss with Adam Czerniak what the relationship between banks, fintechs and bigtechs might look like, how new technologies are transforming the way the financial system works, and how innovative financial services are changing the world.
World (3:00 p.m.)
How to restore transatlantic ties. Joe Biden's presidency began at a difficult time – after the election that divided American society and after Donald Trump’s supported stormed the Capitol. The new US president wants to restore American leadership in the world, restore the important role of international organizations and strengthen transatlantic relations. However, it faces unprecedented tasks and challenges. Biden must deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, face the rise of China, which emerged stronger from the health crisis, and is trying to replace America as a global superpower, and block the traditionally aggressive Russia with the support of Congress. Will Europe help him achieve those tasks? Will appealing to democratic values enough to recreate the status of the Western world?
Donfried on whether partners will respond to America's call. Karen Donfried has been the head of the Washington-based German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) since 2014. Previously, she had worked as a European affairs analyst at the US National Intelligence Council and had served as special assistant to US President Barack Obama on the National Security Council. Interviewed by Piotr Łukasiewicz, PI’s analyst for security and international affairs, she will talk about whether the EU, which has just signed an investment agreement with China, will help America in its most important rivalry and whether Europeans, disappointed by America's isolationism in recent years, will want to resume their collaboration with the US in the global game. Both will also consider whom Biden will invite to the summit on democracy and what the president's approach to Central Europe will be. 
