Cleveland Fed Hosts Policy Summit on Consumer Finance, June 11-12

Discussions to address financial policy reform, foreclosed properties, mounting household debt, payday lending, and financial education

Who: Government officials, bankers, community and economic development practitioners, researchers, regulators, and educators

What: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's Community Development Policy Summit
Consumer Finance: Crossing the Divide

Where: Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center, 127 Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio

When: June 11, 2008 11:45 a.m. - 5:15 p.m. (reception to follow)
June 12, 2008 8:30 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.

Registration Fee: $150/person; $120/person for members of nonprofit organizations. Deadline for registration is June 4, 2008.

Background Information
Crunch or crisis? No matter how you view the current financial landscape, times are tough. The nation’s mortgage lending crisis, an overall tightening of credit, and a sluggish economy have implications not only for consumers, but for community leaders, bankers, regulators, and policymakers as well. How do we successfully "cross the divide" and safely reach financial security?

Join local and national experts at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Community Development Policy Summit for lively discussions on getting foreclosed properties back in circulation; policy responses to unfair and deceptive lending practices; the effectiveness of financial education; mounting household debt; new approaches to wealth creation; an innovative reality game for homeownership counseling; and regulating payday lending.

Kelvin Boston, executive producer and host of PBS’s “Moneywise,” will deliver the keynote address on the relationship between financial education and financial success.

Featured speakers and panelists also include Randall Kroszner, member, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; and Richard Cordray, Treasurer, State of Ohio.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that along with the Board of Governors in Washington DC comprise the Federal Reserve System. Part of the US central bank, the Cleveland Fed participates in the formulation of our nation’s monetary policy, supervises banking organizations, provides payment and other services to financial institutions and to the US Treasury, and performs many activities that support Federal Reserve operations System-wide. In addition, the Bank supports the well-being of communities across the Fourth Federal Reserve District through a wide array of research, outreach, and educational activities.

The Cleveland Fed, with branches in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, serves an area that comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia.

Media contact

Doug Campbell, doug.campbell@clev.frb.org, 513.455.4479