YCW San Francisco, sponsored by Salesforce.com and PacificForce, invites you to an exciting talk and drinks with James Stent, one of America’s foremost experts in the Chinese and Asian banking sector.

YCW San Francisco, sponsored by Salesforce.com and PacificForce, invites you to an exciting talk and drinks with James Stent, one of America’s foremost experts in the Chinese and Asian banking sector.

Using the banking sector as a case study, Jim Stent will explore China’s rapidly changing political economic system.

For some time, experts have been predicting the impending collapse of the Chinese banking system. The collapse has not happened. What have these experts been missing? Why have their predictions not materialized?

Understanding how the Chinese banking system has transformed, and how it continues to effectively support China’s ongoing economic growth, requires looking at China’s banks not through a Western framework, but with insight into what makes the Chinese political economy tick.

In this presentation, challenging the current negative mainstream consensus, Stent will set forth his views on the drivers and strengths of the Chinese banking system, and will explain how understanding the banks serves as a prism for understanding the broader Chinese political-economy.

James Stent has pursued a career in financial services in Thailand and China. Commencing in 2006, he served six years as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee of the China Everbright Bank, followed by four years as a member of the bank’s Board of Supervisors. From 2003-2006 he was an independent director on the board of the China Minsheng Bank in Beijing. He is presently an independent director and chairman of the audit committee of the XacBank of Mongolia.

James worked for 18 years in Bangkok at Bank of Asia, a Thai bank, serving as deputy president of the bank until his retirement in 2002, and thereafter continued as a director of the bank until 2004. James began his banking career with Citibank, working in New York, Manila, and Hong Kong. He then joined Crocker National Bank, working in San Francisco, Hong Kong and Bangkok, before moving to the Bank of Asia.

Aside from his banking career, Mr. Stent also has experience in cultural heritage protection and tourism development. He is Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Siamese Heritage Trust, and previously served as director of the Raks Thai Foundation and as a council member and honorary treasurer of the Siam Society. For three years in Beijing he was CEO of WildChina, a Chinese travel firm specializing in cultural and ecological tourism.

James grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and received a Bachelor degree in History at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, where he focused on development economics. He speaks and reads Chinese and Thai languages. He presently divides his time between residences in Thailand and California.

Venue Details for Salesforce.com Cafe, 1 Rincon Center
Address: 101 Spear Street, San Francisco, CA.

The Salesforce.com Cafe is located at 1 Rincon Center, 101 Spear Street at Mission, Across from Yank Sing.

RSVP Here.