
2nd US-CEE Connection Weekend
Towards a sustainable world or a dangerous utopia? US & EU perspectives on ESG
About the Event
On June 28-29, 2024, UJ and CUA had pleasure to host lawyers, business people, government officials to consider the past, present, and future potential and challenges of ESG and sustainability. Programs took place in the Jagiellonian University's beautiful Collegium Novum just off the main square with a Friday reception and Saturday lunch in other historic Kraków venues.
Keynote Speakers

The Honorable Hester Peirce
Securities and Exchange Commissioner (SEC)
Read Last Year's SpeechHester M. Peirce was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was sworn in on January 11, 2018. Prior to joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
She was a Senior Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where she advised Ranking Member Richard Shelby and other members of the Committee on securities issues. Commissioner Peirce served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins. She also worked as a Staff Attorney in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. Commissioner Peirce was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) and clerked for Judge Roger Andewelt on the Court of Federal Claims. Commissioner Peirce earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Case Western Reserve University and her JD from Yale Law School.

The Honorable Phyllis Borzi
Former Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security in the Labor Department
A former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) from 2009 until 2017, overseeing approximately 700,000 private-sector retirement plans and 2.3 million group health plans as well as additional welfare benefit plans that together provide benefits to approximately 150 million Americans.
She represented the Department of Labor (DoL) in implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). She was instrumental in important pension regulations, including the DoL’s Department’s 2016 rule extending Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary duties to financial advisors to pension plans and retirement investors and the 2020 rules on ESG investments and proxy voting by pension plan fiduciaries. Ms. Borzi headed the U.S. delegation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Working Party on Private Pensions and Insurance from 2009-2017. From 1995-2009, Ms. Borzi was a research professor in the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and practiced law at a Washington, D.C. law firm. From 1979 to 1995, she was Pension and Employee Benefit Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and Labor. She is a nationally recognized expert in pension and health benefits, the author of numerous articles and a frequent speaker on these issues both in the U.S. and globally. She graduated from Catholic Law where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review and now serves on the law school’s Board of Visitors.

Jacek Jastrzębski
Chair of the KNF Board, Associate Professor at University of Warsaw
One of the leading Polish specialists in law and finance. He has a legal background as a graduate and professor at the Faculty of Law and Administration of University of Warsaw, as well as economic background as a graduate of SGH Warsaw School of Economics.
He has also completed a prestigious ‘Professional LL.M.’ legal programme at University of California, Berkeley (United States). Jacek Jastrzębski combined his work in banking with his academic and scientific activities. For more than ten years he served as Deputy Director of the Legal Department at Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski. He has been employed as Professor at the Department of Civil Law of the Faculty of Law and Administration at University of Warsaw. In 2017, he was recognised in ‘Legal 500’s GC Powerlist: Central and Eastern Europe’, a list of the most influential lawyers in Central and Eastern Europe. As part of his scientific activity, he deals with civil law, commercial law and financial market law, and he is an author/co-author of more than 80 scientific publications. His PhD and habilitation dissertations have received awards from Państwo i Prawo monthly. He participated, as a speaker and host, in a series of national and international conferences, including events regarding financial market.
Agenda
Panel #1: Conceptualizing ESG and Sustainability
Exploring the fundamental concepts and principles of ESG and sustainability in modern business practices.
Panel #2: EU vs US ESG Approaches
Comparing and contrasting the European Union and United States approaches to promoting ESG goals.
Panel #3: Corporate Interests and ESG Goals
Examining the balance between corporate interests and ESG objectives in business decision-making.
Panel #4: Law and Business Perspectives on Practice Challenges in Meeting ESG Requirements
Discussing the practical challenges faced by legal and business professionals in implementing and complying with ESG requirements.