CEO Letter

By: Nandini Sukumar, Chief Executive Officer, The WFE Feb 2026

Welcome to the February edition of Focus.

This month’s issue brings together perspectives from exchange and market infrastructure leaders on strategic progress, market evolution and the priorities shaping capital markets in the year ahead.

We open with Bjorn Sibbern, CEO of SIX, who reflects on a year of strategic progress and outlines the group’s priorities for 2026, as SIX works to build a more connected and interoperable European market.

From North America, Craig Donohue, CEO of Cboe Global Markets, discusses Cboe’s strategic realignment following his appointment in 2025, reflecting on a year of record volumes and continued product innovation.

Turning to market structure, Andrej Bolkovic, CEO of Options Clearing Corporation, examines the global shift towards extended and continuous trading, outlining key operational, liquidity and risk considerations for U.S. listed options.

From emerging markets, Islam Abdel Asim Assam, Chairman of the Egyptian Stock Exchange, reflects on what has changed across the business over the past year and what lies ahead for 2026.

Technology and innovation are also in focus this month. Magnus Almqvist, CEO of Exberry, explores how continuous access, new asset formats and real-time risk are reshaping exchange operating models, while Stijn Vander Straeten, CEO of Crypto Finance Group, explains how institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure is being built for the next phase of market development.

This edition also includes insights from Tomasz Bardziłowski, President of the Management Board of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, who reflects on an exceptional 2025 marked by record index levels, rising investor participation and a rapidly expanding ETF market.

Finally, we hear from participants in the WFE Market Infrastructure Certificate (MIC) Programme. Jae Kwang Jung (Korea Exchange), Ilia Prozorov (Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange) and Jaime Swartz (Cboe Global Markets) reflect on how the programme deepened their understanding of global market infrastructure and supported more holistic, cross-market thinking.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Focus and the perspectives it offers on the developments shaping global capital markets.