New IMF / JVI / Yale Course on Financial Crisis Management

In September 2024, the JVI, in collaboration with the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department and the Yale Program on Financial Stability, launched a new course on Financial Crisis Management in Vienna. This partnership marked the first instance of a leading U.S. university engaging with JVI and IMF in a joint training activity. The course targeted mid-level to senior officials from central banks, regulatory bodies, and financial safety net institutions who hold key roles in financial crisis preparedness and management within their jurisdictions.

Participants benefitted from a blend of lectures, workshops, banking crisis case studies, and a final crisis simulation exercise for a fictitious CESEE country, allowing them to apply the acquired knowledge to real-world scenarios. The presence of IMF and Yale experts provided a strong foundation for the course, offering deep insights into applied tools for crisis preparedness, containment and intervention. Key topics included identifying weak banks, operational preparedness, resolution strategies for systemic and non-systemic banks and distressed asset management, contributing towards a thorough understanding of crisis management. The course also featured a high-level guest lecture by Fernando Restoy, Chair of the Financial Stability Institute, who shared reflections on bank failure management sixteen years after the Global Financial Crisis.

An integral component of the course was the attendance at a high-level conference on “Building Resilience and Managing Financial Crises” held on September 18, 2024 in Vienna, organized in collaboration with the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB), SUERF and the Yale Program on Financial Stability. The event featured a keynote speech from Tobias Adrian, Financial Counselor of the IMF, and panel discussions with international crisis management experts, addressing timely issues such as digital bank runs and the too-big-to-fail reform agenda. The conference allowed participants to gain cutting-edge insights from leading financial experts and to network with international peers in the field of crisis management.

Participant feedback on the course was very positive, with many praising the structure, practical focus, and expert guidance offered throughout the program. Participants particularly appreciated the group exercises and crisis simulations, which allowed them to tackle complex crisis scenarios and refine their decision-making skills. The collaboration with Yale was also highly appreciated, marking a promising start to future joint efforts between JVI, IMF, and Yale.

Maximilian Fandl, Senior Economist, JVI