• World Finance Banking Symposium
    Riga, Latvia - December 14-16th, 2026
    Latvia

World Finance Banking Symposium

  • Location

    University of Latvia

  • Date

    December 14-16th, 2026

About the Conference

Overview

Riga is a city where centuries old heritage blends seamlessly with artistic excellence and architectural beauty. Its UNESCO listed Old Town, filled with Gothic spires, merchant houses, and winding cobblestone lanes, reflects more than 800 years of cultural evolution. At the same time, Riga shines as the Art Nouveau capital of Europe, home to more than 800 ornate buildings that create one of the world´s richest and most striking Art Nouveau ensembles.

Rooted in its past as a major Hanseatic trading hub and a bridge between Northern and Eastern Europe, the city has long been a meeting point of cultures, ideas, and commerce. Its historic elegance is complemented by a walkable, vibrant urban atmosphere, where medieval landmarks, parks, and lively public spaces offer a welcoming setting for exploration.

At the heart of Riga´s cultural life stands a thriving arts and music scene, led by the renowned Latvian National Opera and Ballet a magnificent 19th century neoclassical building celebrated for world class performances and supported by numerous theatres, museums, and galleries that enrich the city creative spirit.

THE UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA

The University of Latvia consistently retains the position of the national, leading and most influential higher education institution in Latvia. In terms of the total number of students, the University of Latvia is also the largest in the country. It is the largest comprehensive university in Latvia with a prominent standing both in the development of the entire education system and in the overall growth of the country's economy.

UL is a modern centre of academic and professional studies, which, along with research in natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, technical sciences and medicine provides opportunities to acquire various types and levels of higher education to the residents of Latvia and other countries. UL has a crucial role in the development of society's academic traditions, national economy, education, environment and health protection, Latvian language and culture. The opinion of the University of Latvia substantially contributes to the public administration decision-making.

Program Proceeding online

Keynote Speakers

Ludovic Phalippou

Oxford's Said Business School (United Kingdom)


100 words:Ludovic is a Professor of Financial Economics at Oxford's Said Business School, author of "private equity laidbare." Recognized as one of the "40 Most Outstanding Business School Profs Under 40 In The World" byPoets&Quants (2014). His widely cited research appears in leading academic journals and media like TheEconomist and Financial Times. He collaborates with major investors (Norway fund, Dutch pension funds) andhas led private market research at Blackrock. He's developed a Big Data-driven private equity index with JPMorgan. At Oxford, Ludovic teaches courses on Wealth Management, Valuation and Private Equity. He alsocreated several executive programs, including an online course on Private Markets.350 words:Ludovic is Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Oxford Said Business School. He authored«private equity laid bare» andis the host of a podcast series with the same name. Hehas been named as one of "The 40 Most Outstanding Business School Profs Under 40 In The World" by thebusiness education websitePoets&Quants in 2014. He specialises in the areas of private equity that are of interest to investors and potentialinvestors, such as risk management, legal and governance issues, liquidity and measurement of returns.RealDealsmagazine listed him as one of the 20 most influential individuals in private equity in Europe. Hisresearch papers have been widely cited in academia, in the press, in practitioner publications, and in regulatorycircles. His work has been published in each leading academic journals in Financial Economics (Journal ofFinance, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial Economics).Ludovic has strong links with senior practitioners in the industry, routinely speaks at practitioner conferences,and appears in the media internationally (The Economist, Financial Times). He worked with several largeinstitutional investors on their private equity investment decisions and benchmarking systems, including Norwaysovereign wealth fund, Dutch pension funds (APG, ABP, PGGM), government bodies overseeing public pensionfund systems (Dutch Ministry of Finance, Pennsylvania Treasury). Ludovic also acted as head of private marketresearch at Blackrock Investment Institute, where he developed a model to forecast private market returns forportfolio optimization programs. Ludovicalsodevelopedan innovative listed private equity index that uses BigData and a Natural Language Processor in collaboration with JP Morgan. At Oxford, Ludovic teaches AssetManagement, Valuation in Private Markets,and Private Equity forsenior executives and Master students (MBA,MFE,MLF,EMBA). Ludovic has also taught and co-developed a variety of executive education courses,including customized programs for leading consulting companies and asset managers and a particularly popularonline executive education program called ?Oxford Private Markets Investments Programme. Ludovic has twomain hobbies: tasting great wines, and racing road bike; but never enjoying these at the same time.

Proceedings (Springer) - SCOPUS

Optional: Publish a Short Version of Your Paper in Our SCOPUS-Indexed Proceedings Book

The World Finance  & Banking Symposium, in collaboration with Springer, will publish an annual book or proceedings titled Advances in Banking and Finance - Proceedings of the World Finance & Banking Symposium. This publication offers participants an opportunity to enhance their CV, as it will be indexed in SCOPUS. Submitted papers must be formatted to a maximum of 8 pages, including references.

One to two weeks after the conference, we will send a call for papers to all participants, along with submission guidelines, formatting requirements, and the final deadline for inclusion in the proceedings. Please note that publication is optional, and only those who submit the final version following the call for papers will have their work included.