Meridian and Visa Host Chinese Government Agencies for Farewell Evening

On the evening of July 24, 2014, Meridian and Visa Inc. cohosted a small salon dinner for members of a senior Chinese Government delegation from the financial sector, which included representatives from The People’s Bank of China, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the State Information Center, Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureaus, and the National Development and Reform Commission. Dr. QI Jianming, Deputy Director General of Banking Supervision with the China Banking Regulatory Commission, served as head of the delegation.

The evening at Meridian featured an informal, off-the-record conversation around the topics of prudential regulation and supervision of financial systems. Ambassador Stuart Holliday, Meridian’s President and CEO, and Visa’s David Zhang co-chaired the evening’s discussion on financial system oversight from both domestic and international perspectives. In attendance were guests from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, the Institute of International Finance, the Coalition of Services Industries, and the Information Technology Industry Council, among others.

The delegation was visiting the U.S. as part of a three-week training program sponsored by Visa Worldwide, and for which Stanford University Graduate School of Business was the academic partner, with Meridian providing on-the-ground support and coordination. The first week of programming began at Stanford, with modules ranging from successful business models to credit and liquidity risks. One highlight was a session on “Global Economic Climate and U.S.-China Relations” with Former U.S. Secretary of State, George Shultz. The second week included meeting with various businesses and agencies, including Ripple Labs, a San Francisco-based startup, Bank of America, and Crowdtilt, the world’s largest funding platform, as well as the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The third and final week was spent in Washington, DC, with cultural outings and meetings at think tanks, government agencies and international financial institutions. The delegation was honored to meet with Maryland Congressman John Delaney, and Nevada’s Congressman Steven Horsford, who both serve on the House Financial Services Committee. The training program is now in its third year.