The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced the final agenda for the Overcoming Obstacles to Small Business Lending Forum scheduled for Jan. 13. The event is scheduled from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST) at the L. William Seidman Center in Arlington, Virginia. The forum will explore ways in which credit can be made more accessible to the small business sector by bringing together policymakers, regulators, small business owners, lenders and other stakeholders to identify key issues and focus on solutions.
Following opening remarks from U.S. Representative Spencer Bachus, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, CNBC’s Senior Economics Reporter Steve Liesman will moderate a “Framing the Issues” panel discussion featuring FDIC chairman Sheila C. Bair, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner and Thomas D. Bell, Jr., Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Following the first panel, CNBC’s Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood will moderate a second panel titled: “Confronting the Obstacles.” This panel will feature additional government and private sector leaders to identify issues that are constraining the availability of credit to small businesses and articulate ideas for overcoming these obstacles. Karen Mills, administrator of the Small Business Administration, is scheduled to provide remarks at the conclusion of the forum.
While the event is open to the public, maximum capacity has been reached and registration is now closed. CNBC, the official broadcaster of the event, will carry portions of the forum live on the air.
A live webcast of the entire forum will be available at www.fdic.gov/news/conferences/sbl.html on the day of the event. No other video or audio media will be permitted to record or broadcast from the event or elsewhere within the FDIC facility on the day of the forum. CNBC will provide a live pool feed to all other television networks via the Washington pool circuit for the entire event. Print reporters and still photographers may attend.
