The 1st International Conference on Finance, Innovation, and Sustainable Growth in Emerging Markets(FISGEM 2026) jointly organized by the King Saud University, Telfer School of Management. University of Ottawa, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris School of Business, IRD, France and Universita Cattoica de Sacro Cuor with the support of CRECC Research Center (Paris School of Business), Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne, WinVeston Capital (Saudi Arabia), and OneHealthAI (France) will take place on February 2 and 3, 2026, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hosted by the College of Business Administration, King Saoud University.
This prestigious event brings together leading scholars, policymakers, and industry experts to explore cutting-edge research and trends in finance, innovation, and sustainable development, with a special focus on emerging markets.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
FIGSEM 2026 WHITE BOOK
Main Sponsor
Co-Founders and Presidents
Saad Alzoba Alshammari, PhD Finance, King Saud University
Saalshammari@ksu.edu.sa
Khaled Guesmi, CRECC - Paris School of Business
k.guesmi@psbedu.paris
Executive Board
Keynotes Speakers
Lucia Alessi, Team Leader at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
Lucia Alessi is Team Leader at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, where she leads research supporting EU policymaking in the field of finance. Her expertise spans banking and financial stability, corporate finance, and the evolving domains of digital and sustainable finance. From 2007 to 2015, she worked at the European Central Bank (ECB), serving in several Directorates General, including Research, Economics, and Macroprudential Policy & Financial Stability. During this period, she contributed to projects on systemic risk and the design of early warning systems for financial crises, including sovereign crises. Her recent research focuses on sustainable finance, with a particular emphasis on assessing the greenness of financial assets, evaluating climate risk and sustainability in financial markets, and developing climate stress tests for financial institutions. Earlier in her career, she specialized in econometric models for big data, with a focus on dynamic factor models. Dr. Alessi has published extensively in leading journals such as the Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Economic Policy, Journal of Financial Stability, Journal of Financial Econometrics, and the International Review of Financial Analysis, among others. Her research excellence was recognized in 2009 when she received the CEPR/ESI Best Central Bank Research Paper Award.
Iftekhar Hasan, Fordham University, USA
Prof. Iftekhar Hasan is University Professor at Fordham University, holding the E. Gerald Corrigan Chair in Finance. He serves as academic director of the Ph.D. program and co-director of the Center for Research in Contemporary Finance at the Gabelli School of Business. He is also a scientific advisor to the Central Bank of Finland, a faculty affiliate at the University of Sydney, and a research fellow at the Wharton Financial Institutions Center and the IWH Institute in Germany. He currently serves as editor of the Journal of Financial Stability. His research spans financial institutions, corporate finance, capital markets, and emerging economies, with a strong focus on interdisciplinary and policy-relevant topics. He has published over 475 scholarly works, including 16 books and more than 365 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals across finance, accounting, economics, international business, and management. He ranks among the most cited financial economists globally. Professor Hasan has held visiting positions at numerous institutions worldwide, including Cambridge, NYU Stern, EPFL, Carlos III Madrid, and universities in Australia, France, China, and Southeast Asia. He has consulted for global organizations such as the World Bank, IMF, UN, Federal Reserve, and various central banks and regulatory bodies. His accolades include being named a Fulbright Scholar and Selector, Louis Bachelier Fellow, Changjiang Scholar in China, and receiving honorary doctorates from the University of Vaasa and Romanian American University. He also serves on advisory boards in Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and France.
Prof. Peter G. Szilagyi, EDHEC Business School, France
Prof. Peter G. Szilagyi is Professor of Finance at EDHEC Business School. He was previously Associate Professor at Central European University and Assistant Professor at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. At CEU, he served as Head of the MS in Finance and Director of Business Master's Programs, and was a member of the Board of Advisors at the CEU InnovationsLab startup incubator. At Cambridge, he served as Director of the MPhil in Finance. He completed his PhD at Tilburg University and held a research fellowship at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Professor Szilagyi is Editor of Elsevier's Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money. He was previously Editor and remains Advisory Editor at the Journal of Multinational Financial Management. He is also Subject Editor at Emerging Markets Review and Associate Editor at Finance Research Letters.
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