Amec Investors Forum 2018

Six weeks are left for Brazil’s presidential elections (the first round of voting will be on October 7), which are expected to be one of the most disputed elections in recent years. With this in mind, the theme of the 2018 Amec Investors Forum, held last Wednesday (August 22), was “Proposals for the Development of the Capital Markets” and one of the forum’s highlights was the panel to discuss the presidential candidates’ proposals for the development of the capital market in the long term. The following guests attended the event: Gustavo Franco, coordinator of Partido Novo’s economic program; José Marcio Camargo, from the MDB Party; Marcio Pochmann, one of the coordinators of the PT Party’s campaign, and Mauro Benevides, responsible for the PDT Party’s economic program
“The capital markets have been always swept aside [in political discussions] and we want to bring it to fore”, explained Mauro Rodrigues da Cunha, Amec’s CEO. The objective was not only to learn more about the economic experts’ proposals, but also provide them with the opportunity to understand which aspects are important for the development of the capital market in the market participants’ opinion. “Amec and its partner entities presented their views on the factors that affect the capital market and that can be embraced by all political parties,” Cunha said.
The discussion agenda included controversial issues. Hélio Zylberstajn, researcher at the Institute of Economic Research Foundation (Fipe) from the University of São Paulo (USP), addressed topics related to the social security reform. Amarilis Sardenberg talked about the stakeholders’ views. Amec discussed corporate issues and the attorney João Laudo de Camargo, coordinator of the Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance in Rio de Janeiro, addressed polemical issues involving the regulatory bodies (described in further details below). “There is no silver bullet that will solve all the problems. Our ability to build a healthy market depends on a number of correlated matters,” Cunha pointed out.
The forum had an exclusive panel to address issues related to listed state-owned companies, the ultimate symbol of the merger of the public administration and the capital market. The debate was led by Fernando Soares, responsible for the Secretary of Coordination and Governance of State-owned Enterprises (SEST) of the Minister of Finance; Hans Christiensen, senior economist at OECD, and José Guimarães Monforte, Chair of Eletrobras’ Board. The panel was followed by presentations delivered by Daniela da Costa, Portfolio Manager at Robeco, who addressed stewardship issues and the role of investors in building a healthy market; and by Eliane Lustosa, Investment Director at the Brazilian National Bank for Social and Economic Development (BNDES).
Marcelo Barbosa, Chairman of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), delivered the opening speech, and João Manoel Pinho de Mello, Secretary for Productivity and Promotion of Competition of the Ministry of Finance, closed the event with a speech about the legacy the ministry will leave to the next government in the capital market sphere.