CEO Letter - April 2017

By: The WFE Team Apr 2017

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the April 2017 issue of Focus, where we look back at another memorable WFE IOMA Clearing & Derivatives Conference. The event, which took place in Frankfurt from 19-21 April, saw more than 150 delegates debate the most important market structure and business issues affecting the clearing and derivatives sector. We enjoyed razor-sharp insights and viewpoints from some of the most senior players in the sector - exchanges, CCPs, regulators, the buy side and the media - particularly around the topics of Brexit, cyber, the future of euro clearing, and CCP recovery and resolution. The WFE would like to thank our hosts, Eurex, for their support and warm hospitality over the three days – it was an exceptional event.

As part of our review of IOMA, we are delighted to welcome Eric Müller, CEO, Eurex Clearing AG as our Executive Interview this month. Eric gives us his viewpoints on the current trends impacting the clearing industry, and how he sees the role of CCPs evolving in the future.

We also feature IOMA panellist, John Fennell, Executive Vice President & Chief Risk Officer, OCC in the magazine this month. John took part in a lively debate at IOMA on the future of the Supplemental Leverage Raito (SLR) and here he takes us through the importance, for liquid and orderly listed options markets, of implementing the Standardized Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR) method.

Alexander Schindler, Member of the Executive Board, Union Asset Management Holding AG gave a fascinating key note on the second day of IOMA, detailing the current developments in the European asset management industry, touching on Brexit, MiFID II and PRIIPS. The WFE is putting together a buy-side advisory panel over the coming weeks, and we would welcome colleagues from buy-side firms to contact us about taking part.

Earlier this month we published a set of WFE Cyber Resilience Standards designed to be used by WFE members, and other market infrastructure providers, to ensure alignment and common minimum standards across the global system. The standards follow a set of cyber resilience principles (issued by us on 23 September 2016) that authorities can take into account when implementing existing, or creating new, cyber standards for FMIs. In combination, the WFE principles and standards are intended to support and complement guidance already provided by global regulators.

Our WFE Research team has had a very busy month: the monthly article reviews the equities, fixed income and derivatives markets in Q1 2017; you can also review the annual IOMA derivatives report; and finally, we published our second Annual Statistics Guide. As ever, please send any feedback you may have about our data, statistics and research to [email protected]

Please don’t forget to register for the WFE Working Committee (5 June, London). Please note that room capacity constraints prevent us from registering more than 50 participants, so if you expect your delegation to be more than two participants, please contact us directly.

With just three months to go until our bi-annual WFE Technology Conference, we are putting the final touches on the agenda, and welcome registrations here. The event is taking place in London, 24-26 July, with our partner Imperial College London, and is aimed at Chief Technology Officers, Chief Information Security Officers, Chief Innovation Officers, Chief Digital Officers and Heads of Strategy at WFE members globally.

We hope you enjoy this post-IOMA issue of Focus, and look forward to updating you on our advocacy mandate following the IOSCO Annual Meeting in May, where the WFE – as an affiliate member of IOSCO – is on the programme contributing to sessions on cyber security for FMIs, CCP Recovery and Resolution, and FinTech/DLT.