On June 20, 2024, the 1st Emerging Tech in Capital Markets Research Forum was successfully held at Room 313, Building Wenquan, Nanhu Campus, Central South University of Finance and Law. Experts and scholars from prestigious universities and institutions such as the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Renmin University of China, McGill University, and Microsoft came together to engage in in-depth discussions and exchanges on topics such as financial technology, artificial intelligence, data privacy protection, and corporate innovation. This forum is an international academic exchange platform initiated by the School of Finance, Central South University of Finance and Law, the Digital Technology and Modern Finance Discipline Innovation Base for Talent Cultivation, and the AI and Capital Markets Research Center at the University of Maryland, aimed at promoting interdisciplinary exchange and cooperation in the fields of digital finance and economy.

Group photo with conference participants

The opening ceremony was presided over by Professor Yongbin Lv, Deputy Dean of the School of Finance, and Professor Shun Cao from the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, delivered speeches. Professor Minggui Yu, Dean of the School of Finance, warmly welcomed the arrival of the experts and scholars, and introduced the development history, academic features, and discipline innovation and talent introduction base of the School of Finance and Central South University of Economics and Law. Professor Cao Shun introduced the background of the forum and pointed out that the forum would pay attention to the academic inheritance and exchange between senior and young teachers, strengthen ties with the business community, and promote international development.

Yongbin Lv, Vice President of the School of Finance, presided over the meeting

Minggui Yu, Dean of the School of Finance, delivered a speech

Speech by Professor Shun Cao from the University of Maryland

The keynote speaker for the first session was Professor Tao Shu from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Shu's talk, titled "Fintech in Financial Research," delved deeply into the core applications of financial technology in financial research, particularly the utilization of alternative data. Professor Shu pointed out that alternative data, such as satellite images, social media, and search logs, are massive, diverse, and complex in structure, and can provide unique insights that traditional financial data cannot offer. Through the analysis of four working papers, Professor Shu demonstrated how these data sources can play a role in various fields such as asset pricing, corporate finance, and financial accounting, providing a new perspective and method for financial research. Commentator Yu Minggui Professor highly praised these works, believing that they show how to use alternative special data and new methods to transform unstructured information into structured data and conduct innovative research.

Professor Tao Shu from the Chinese University of Hong Kong gave a keynote speech

The second keynote speaker was Professor Nianxing Xu from Renmin University of China. Professor Xu delivered a speech titled "Artificial Intelligence-driven Corporate Finance Research," in which he analyzed the potential of artificial intelligence in improving financial forecast accuracy, optimizing investment strategies, and reducing operational risks. He also delved into the future trends of artificial intelligence technology in finance. Professor Xu particularly emphasized the cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence in corporate finance research, including its potential in financial forecasting, investment strategy optimization, and operational risk reduction. He also raised the challenges faced by artificial intelligence technology in finance and provided innovative solutions to address these issues. Finally, Professor Xu demonstrated a platform that automatically generates investment and research reports. Commentator Professor Cao Shun pointed out that this is a product that combines business and AI and has already attracted the attention of securities firms. He suggested that the specialties of business teachers in data understanding and application scenario development should be further leveraged.

Professor Nianhang Xu from Renmin University of China gave a keynote report

The third keynote speaker was Ms. Ling Ningning from Microsoft. Ms. Ningning Long delivered her speech titled "Promoting Knowledge Transfer Between Academia and Industry in the AI Era," emphasizing the importance of academic research to the industry and delving into the key skills required for business professionals in the AI era. She provided a detailed introduction to the training methods, basic principles, and user cases of large language models (LLMs) in industrial applications, offering guidance to business scholars on how to adopt and apply the latest AI concepts. Ms. Ling Ningning particularly stressed the importance of promoting effective knowledge transfer through academic research in a rapidly changing technological environment, and the need to cultivate talent that can adapt and lead this change. Professor Li Yongbin, the commentator, gave a high evaluation of the report, noting its rich content and highlighting the importance of the integration of academic research and industry.

Ms. Ningning Long of Microsoft Company gave a keynote report

Professor Shun Cao of the University of Maryland hosted the first keynote lecture, with guest speakers including Professor Minggui Yu and Dr. Xiangqian Huang of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Yu delivered a talk titled "Privacy Protection, Data Acquisition Restrictions, and AI Innovation," delving into the complex relationship between privacy protection and data-driven AI development and providing a detailed analysis of the impact of data acquisition restrictions on AI innovation. He proposed effective strategies for balancing privacy protection and technological progress. Dr. Huang delivered a talk titled "The Price of Health: Paid Sick Leave Mandates and Corporate Innovation," revealing the profound impact of paid sick leave policies on corporate innovation through empirical research. Dr. Huang pointed out that while paid sick leave policies have positive social implications, their implementation may result in an increase in labor costs, thereby affecting the recruitment of inventive talent. Furthermore, Dr. Huang analyzed how the interruption of inventor collaboration due to reduced working hours amplified the negative impact on innovative productivity.

Professor Minggui Yu from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law made a special presentation

Dr. Xiangqian Huang from the Chinese University of Hong Kong gave an invited talk

Professor Guochao Yang of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law hosted the second special invited lecture, with guest speakers including Dr. Honglin Ren from Renmin University of China and Dr. Yonghao Xu from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. Dr. Honglin Ren delivered a lecture titled "Heterogeneous Attention and Twin Stock Anomaly," using China's A-share market's price limit rule as a quasi-natural experiment to explore how differences in investor attention between markets affect the price difference of twin stocks. Dr. Yonghao Xu delivered a lecture titled "Monopoly or Inclusiveness? The Impact of Digital Finance on the High-Quality Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises,"

Dr. Honglin Ren, Professor of Renmin University of China, made an invited presentation

Dr. Yonghao Xu from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law made an invited speech

Dean Minggui Yu made the closing summary

Finally, Professor Minggui Yu, dean of the School of Finance and co-director of the Digital Technology and Modern Finance Discipline Innovation and Introduction Base, made the closing summary and thanked all the experts and scholars who participated in this activity. Also present at the forum were Professor Jin Shi, Associate Professor Sun Xianming and more than 50 students and teachers from the School of Finance, Wenlan School, Accounting School and other schools.