2nd US-CEE Connection Weekend
Towards a sustainable world or a dangerous utopia? US & EU perspectives on ESG
About the Event
On June 28-29, 2024, UJ and CUA had pleasure to host lawyers, business people, government officials to consider the past, present, and future potential and challenges of ESG and sustainability. Programs took place in the Jagiellonian University's beautiful Collegium Novum just off the main square with a Friday reception and Saturday lunch in other historic Kraków venues.
Keynote Speakers
The Honorable Hester Peirce
Securities and Exchange Commissioner (SEC)
Read Last Year's SpeechHester M. Peirce was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was sworn in on January 11, 2018. Prior to joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
She was a Senior Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where she advised Ranking Member Richard Shelby and other members of the Committee on securities issues. Commissioner Peirce served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins. She also worked as a Staff Attorney in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. Commissioner Peirce was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) and clerked for Judge Roger Andewelt on the Court of Federal Claims. Commissioner Peirce earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Case Western Reserve University and her JD from Yale Law School.
The Honorable Phyllis Borzi
Former Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security in the Labor Department
A former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) from 2009 until 2017, overseeing approximately 700,000 private-sector retirement plans and 2.3 million group health plans as well as additional welfare benefit plans that together provide benefits to approximately 150 million Americans.
She represented the Department of Labor (DoL) in implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). She was instrumental in important pension regulations, including the DoL’s Department’s 2016 rule extending Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary duties to financial advisors to pension plans and retirement investors and the 2020 rules on ESG investments and proxy voting by pension plan fiduciaries. Ms. Borzi headed the U.S. delegation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Working Party on Private Pensions and Insurance from 2009-2017. From 1995-2009, Ms. Borzi was a research professor in the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and practiced law at a Washington, D.C. law firm. From 1979 to 1995, she was Pension and Employee Benefit Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and Labor. She is a nationally recognized expert in pension and health benefits, the author of numerous articles and a frequent speaker on these issues both in the U.S. and globally. She graduated from Catholic Law where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review and now serves on the law school’s Board of Visitors.
Jacek Jastrzębski
Chair of the KNF Board, Associate Professor at University of Warsaw
One of the leading Polish specialists in law and finance. He has a legal background as a graduate and professor at the Faculty of Law and Administration of University of Warsaw, as well as economic background as a graduate of SGH Warsaw School of Economics.
He has also completed a prestigious ‘Professional LL.M.’ legal programme at University of California, Berkeley (United States). Jacek Jastrzębski combined his work in banking with his academic and scientific activities. For more than ten years he served as Deputy Director of the Legal Department at Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski. He has been employed as Professor at the Department of Civil Law of the Faculty of Law and Administration at University of Warsaw. In 2017, he was recognised in ‘Legal 500’s GC Powerlist: Central and Eastern Europe’, a list of the most influential lawyers in Central and Eastern Europe. As part of his scientific activity, he deals with civil law, commercial law and financial market law, and he is an author/co-author of more than 80 scientific publications. His PhD and habilitation dissertations have received awards from Państwo i Prawo monthly. He participated, as a speaker and host, in a series of national and international conferences, including events regarding financial market.
Agenda
Friday
June 28, 2024
Pre-conference events
Informal Roundtable for Speakers and Other Invited Guests
The Roundtable gives speakers and other invited participants an opportunity for an informal exchange of thoughts. Possible topics include ESG concerns and controversies in the US, Poland, and Europe more generally as well as positions currently taken by stakeholders and interest groups on both sides of the Atlantic.
Facilitated by: Prof. Sarah Duggin, The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law (Catholic Law), Professor of Law (Ret.) and Director, Compliance, Investigations & Corporate Responsibility Program
Registration
Main Program
Welcomes
Consul Jeff Burnett (US Consulate in Krakow)
Dean Prof. Jerzy Pisuliński (UJ)
Dean Prof. Stephen Payne (Catholic Law)
Dean of Attorney-at-Law Bar, Dr Marcin Sala Szczypiński
Opening Keynote Lecture
Prof. Jacek Jastrzębski, Chair of the KNF Board (Polish Financial Supervision Authority); Associate Professor at University of Warsaw
Panel #1: Conceptualizing ESG and Sustainability
This panel addresses multiple perspectives on defining sustainability including philosophical, religious, and international law perspectives on sustainable development. Panelists also consider overarching questions like what is/should be encompassed in ESG, purposes sought to be served, and relative effectiveness of contemplated approaches in achieving those goals.
Moderator: Dr. Wojciech Bańczyk
Panelists:
Ewa Całus, MBA, Plenipotentiary of the Kraków City Mayor for Environmental Education
Dr. Agnieszka Hajos-Iwańska, Advocate (Tech transactions, VC, compliance, ESG), partner at B2RLaw
Dr. Maciej Grodzicki, Assistant Professor, Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Management and Social Communication
Mary Graw Leary, Professor of Law, Catholic Law
Dr. Hab. Małgorzata Podrecka, Vice-President Management Board, Legal Service, Compliance, Sustainability, & Corporate Responsibility, CAN-PACK S.A.
Prof. Piotr Szwedo, Head of the Centre for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Jagiellonian University
Jakub Wiech, Editor in Chief, Energetyka24.com
Reception
Saturday
June 29, 2024
Registration
Information meeting about the UJ-CUA American Law Program for those interested
Main Program
Opening Remarks
Bogdan Klich, Senator, Republic of Poland
Where is responsibility for and interest in ESG investment located in the US government?
A dialogue between the Honorable Phyllis C. Borzi & Professor Jack Murphy
Panel #2: Differing EU and US Approaches to Promoting ESG goals
Many US lawyers are not aware of what the EU is doing regarding ESG. Conversely, some in the EU are surprised by currents in the US including efforts within some states to block ESG directed investment, e.g. in pension funds. This panel provides the basics of where each side is, and explores the differing premises and politics that underlie the differing approaches.
Moderator: Łukasz Chyla
Panel #2 Keynote lecture:
The Honorable Hester M. Peirce, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner
Panelists:
The Honorable Phyllis C. Borzi, Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security of the US Department of Labor (2009–2017), Catholic Law Board of Visitors
Annette Capretta, Chief Counsel, Investment Company Institute (ICI) Global, Washington, DC
Jacek Jastrzębski, Chair of the KNF Board (Polish Financial Supervision Authority); Associate Professor at University of Warsaw
Beata Tylman-Nowakowska, Director of Primary Market Department, Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW)
Małgorzata Szewc, Vice President of the Management Board, Polish Association of Listed Companies (SEG)
Coffee Break
Keynote Lecture
Jurand Drop, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Finance
Panel #3: Competing visions of corporate interests and ESG goals
It is important to focus on competing visions regarding the rationale for regulation in capital markets and debates about corporate purpose in smaller incorporated ventures as well. Discussion during this panel includes the debate about relative effectiveness of differing approaches to corporations to push toward ESG goals.
Moderator: Łukasz Chyla
Panelists:
Prof. Katarzyna Bilewska, Commercial Law Chair, University of Warsaw. Partner, BLSK Legal
Christopher D. Christian, Financial Services Partner, Dechert LLP, Catholic Law Board of Visitors
Dana M. Muir, University of Michigan, Robert L. Dixon Collegiate Professor of Business, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business
Prof. Jack W. Murphy, Director, Securities Law Program, Catholic Law
Karolina Opielewicz, Board Member, Polish Chamber of Commerce
Zofia Piwowarek, ESG Chapter Leader, Santander Bank Polska
Sandwich Break
Panel #4: Law and Business Perspectives on Practice Challenges in Meeting ESG Requirements
This panel builds on the first three panels and talks about practical consequences for businesses and their in-house and outside legal counsel who must deal with compliance with current and contemplated ESG regimes in the US and EU.
Moderator: Dr. Gaspar Kot
Panelists:
Mateusz Jurczyk, Amcham, Branch Director, Krakow & Katowice
Mariusz Mielczarek, Amazon, Regional Director CEE for Public Policy
Dr. Karolina Panfil, Assistant Professor, University of Warsaw
Dr. Maximilian Piekut, LL.M., Counsel, SSW
Seweryn Szwarocki, Polish Economic Society, Chief Executive Officer ESG+ Consulting
Mariusz Wawer, 3M, Head of Government Relations & ESG, East Europe Region
Thanks
Leah Wortham, Professor Emerita of Law, CUA Director of CUA-UJ Cooperative Programs