The United States Treasury and the World Bank have successfully co-hosted the International Retail Debt Management Symposium on October 19th, 2022. The Symposium is sponsored by the International Retail Debt Management Conference (IRDMC) core countries and held biennially. The core IRDMC membership includes Brazil, Canada, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
This year’s event brought together 26 countries with seasoned retail programs and those looking to establish or review existing programs. The Symposium provided a forum for debt managers to discuss current issues and trends such as product development, distribution channels, market research, and the use of new technology.
This year’s topics included (i) the impact of ESG factors on retail debt programs; (ii) the changes brought by technological innovation; (iii) the costs and benefits of issuing new retail instruments; and (iv) the case of retail instruments dedicated to pension savings.
The 2022 edition of the Symposium was organized by the Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice in collaboration with the Macroeconomics, Trade & Investment Global Practice. It was held on a hybrid format.