NEWS

New School of Law center is ‘banking’ on success of April program

By EMILY CRAMER
UNC-CH News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law’s Center for Banking and Finance will draw some of that industry’s foremost officials to its fifth annual Banking Institute this spring to discuss important issues for bankers and their lawyers.

The two-day conference will take place in Charlotte on April 5 and 6. Bank of America Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Hugh McColl, Comptroller of the Currency John D. Hawke Jr. and former Chairman of the U.S. House Commerce Committee Tom Bliley are among those slated to speak at the institute. Panelists will also cover topics such as cross-border financing, privacy and technology.

The Banking Institute is an important event for both the UNC-CH School of Law and the regional banking law community because it furthers the center’s mission to keep both students and practicing lawyers informed about the constant changes in banking law, said center director Lissa Broome.

"We are trying to reach out in the areas of teaching, scholarship and service to the banking and law community," she said. "Banking law is a complex and continuously changing subject. We need to devote time to making sure we have up-to-date research materials, and we need to keep attorneys updated."

The center itself grew out of the success of the first Banking Institute, Broome said. She said the board of advisers of UNC-CH’s School of Law recognized the opportunities for continuing education that the institute offered to lawyers and students and, thus, supported the center as a permanent addition to the school. She also added that the center is only one of a handful of its kind, and that it is particularly relevant because it operates within the second-largest banking state in the nation.

Since its official establishment in July 2000, the center has worked to advance teaching in banking and finance by offering programs such as "Practitioners in Residence," which places practicing attorneys in classrooms to keep students current on the most recent developments in the field.

The center also advises the North Carolina Banking Institute, a student-edited legal journal formed in 1996 by a coalition of attorneys, faculty and UNC-CH law students. Currently, about 300 law schools, law firms and financial institutions subscribe to the journal, which is published annually in the spring.

And the center is co-sponsoring a conference on the "New World of Financial Services" with the Securities Industry Association in New York City on Feb. 27. Featured speakers include Roger W. Ferguson, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

The 2001 Banking Institute will begin on April 5 at 10:45 a.m. in the Hilton Charlotte and Towers. Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with bank counsel, private practitioners, regulators and students of UNC-CH’s School of Law. For more information, call (919) 962-7815.

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(Cramer is a senior journalism and mass communication major from Panama City, Fla.)