CEO Letter - February 2017

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the February 2017 issue of Focus, where on the eve of his retirement from CBOE Holdings and the WFE, we celebrate the role and contribution William J. Brodsky has made to the industry. We’re delighted to include a superb montage of photographic moments from his career, some words from his friends, colleagues and peers, alongside an in-depth interview with Bill himself. Bill is truly a titan of the capital markets, and we wish him every happiness and success as he starts a new adventure in his son’s investment management firm.

The WFE held a successful Working Committee meeting last month in Frankfurt where we discussed topics such as the WFE’s principles on cyber resilience. In this issue, we hear from two Working Committee participants: Diana Chan, CEO of EuroCCP on why the meetings are such an important forum for the industry; and from Dr Fadi Khalaf, Secretary General of the Arab Federation of Exchanges, who gives us an overview of doing business in the MENA region, following his excellent breakout session in Frankfurt.

It has been an exceptionally busy month in the WFE office with the launch of a report into SME financing and equity markets; a white paper on CCP Recovery & Resolution; the publication of the WFE’s 2016 Market Highlights; and two consultation responses submitted to the FSB as part of our advocacy mandate. The first of these was on the topic of continuity of access to critical FMI services for a firm in resolution, and the second focused on the issue of sustainability, with a response to the FSB's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures Report Consultation.

Next month sees more than 40 exchanges - many of them WFE members - take part in the annual ‘Ring the Bell for Gender Equality’ initiative. Now in its third year, the events, themed Women at Work, will serve to highlight the role of women, and the opportunity for business.

Our WFE Research topic this month focuses on trends in the value and volume of share trading in January 2017.

With less than a month until Global Money Week (27 March–2 April 2017), Kimberly DeRose, Network Manager, Child & Youth Finance International tells us how you can get involved with this very worthwhile initiative.

We are counting down the weeks to WFE’s IOMA Clearing & Derivatives Conference (19-21 April, Frankfurt), and look forward to welcoming you there. You can read the full programme here - it’s shaping up to be truly unmissable. Registration is now open, so please click here to sign up.

The second WFE Working Committee of the year will take place in London on 5 June, and more details will follow shortly.

Registration has also opened for the bi-annual WFE Technology Conference on 25 & 26 July here in London. The conference aims to provoke thought, debate and ideas as the lines between finance and industry converge, and seeks to capture and discuss the latest trends and innovation in technology in the market structure space. It will be of most interest to Chief Technology Officers, Chief Information Security Officers, Chief Innovation Officers, Chief Digital Officers and Heads of Strategy at WFE members globally. This is the first year we have partnered with Imperial College which has created a new Centre for Global Finance & Technology. We invite members to register here, and look forward to welcoming you to one of our events soon.