How Does a Successful Financial Data Organization Overcome the Barriers to Change?

The COVID-19 crisis highlighted weaknesses in the financial data that banks, regulators, and the public depend on to evaluate financial risks. But efforts to modernize financial data face resistance and collective-action problems. Chief data officers at financial institutions and their regulators need to meet their internal data challenges while cooperating on improving standards and adopting new technologies.

This session will discuss the goals of a modern financial data organization and the bureaucratic and political barriers to change. The speakers have worked through similar problems of data standardization, data sharing, and data collection across different types of organizations, public and private. They will discuss their experiences setting data priorities and strategies and building support for change, both internally and from external stakeholders. Topics will include mandates, funding, institutional setting, and necessary legal authorities.

Panelists:

• Linda Powell, Global Head of Data Governance, Citibank; former Chief Data Officer, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; former Chief Data Officer, Office of Financial Research
• Hudson Hollister, CEO, HData; founder and former President, Data Foundation
• John Bottega, President, EDM Council; former Chief Data Officer, Bank of America; former Chief Data Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Moderated by:

• Greg Feldberg, Research Scholar and Director of Research, Yale Program on Financial Stability, Yale School of Management