The first CUHK-RCFS Conference on Corporate Finance and Financial Intermediation took place on 3-4 June 2019. It attracted 100 participants from the academia and the financial sector to exchange their insights and build connections.

Jointly organised by the Department of Finance at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School and the Review of Corporate Finance Studies (RCFS), the two-day conference comprised six to seven research paper presentations and a keynote address each day. The presentations were followed by stimulating discussions on a variety of topics on corporate finance and financial intermediation.

The presenting authors of research papers came from universities and financial institutions in Hong Kong and worldwide, including Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Singapore, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Prof. Sudipto Dasgupta, Professor of Department of Finance at CUHK Business School shared, “This conference attracted more than 300 high quality submissions that were dual reviewed and only 13 papers could be accepted for this two-day event. The acceptance rate is 4 percent – more stringent than even the top conferences.”

Keynote addresses were delivered by Prof. Anjan Thakor, the John E. Simon Professor of Finance, Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis. He is one of the founders of the modern theory of financial intermediation and his keynote address was on “Climate Risk: Investor and Firm Effects”. Prof. Laura Starks, President of the Society of Financial Studies, delivered the other keynote address. She is also the Charles E. and Sarah M. Seay Regents Chair in Finance, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin and his topic was on “Ethics, Economic Incentives and Higher Purpose in Banking”.

The Review of Corporate Finance Studies is a journal under the umbrella of the Society of Financial Studies, which teams up with a small number of departments worldwide to organise joint conferences. The journal aims to publish research of the highest quality in the field of corporate finance.