August 14, 2008 — In just a few weeks, world financial leaders will convene in Charlottesville to address fast-changing global market developments and the most pressing economic and financial questions of our time.

The Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia will host "The New Financial Architecture: A Global Summit" Sept. 7 through 9.

Former United States Treasury Secretary John Snow, the center's Newman Visiting Fellow, will convene the event, the inaugural Mortimer M. Caplin Conference on the World Economy. This first-of-its-kind global conference will gather a diverse set of world financial leaders — all former finance ministers — from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East. As a group, they will represent up to three-quarters of worldwide economic activity.

Invited participants will also include senior representatives from leading public investment bodies.

The conference's complete session schedule and discussion topics have not yet been announced.

The conference is closed to the public due to space limitations, security concerns and broadcast requirements; however, working sessions will be open to the press, and streaming simulcasts of the sessions will be available at various locations around Grounds. The Miller Center has established partnerships with two major media outlets, CNBC and the Wall Street Journal, and a public press conference will close the proceedings on the last afternoon.

Former Virginia Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, director of the Miller Center, said the former ministers will share their knowledge and expertise in an atmosphere of candor.

"Because they are no longer bound by the constraints of their offices, their recommendations will be that much more frank and unfettered," he said in a previous statement.