CEO Letter - November 2025

Welcome to this special Annual Meeting edition of Focus.

At our 64th Annual Meeting, hosted by Borsa Istanbul last month, we introduced the inaugural WFE Innovation in Market Infrastructure Award. We were pleased to receive several high-quality submissions from our members and congratulate the two joint winners:

Deutsche Börse Group (DBG) - D7 Digital Securities Platform, supporting a fully digital securities lifecycle, with more than 1.8 million issuances and €38 billion in volume.

Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) - NGX Invest, making public offers and rights issues more accessible for investors in Nigeria.

And the runner up:

Astana International Exchange (AIX) - Gold Coin - A Golden Bridge to the Future, a digital product allowing investors to acquire fractional shares of gold and exchange them for a physical investment coin.

Other submissions demonstrated a wide range of practical approaches aimed at strengthening markets and improving access:

Boerse Stuttgart Group (BSG) - BISON, a regulated crypto platform for retail participants in a traditional exchange environment.

Nasdaq - Unlocking Hidden Value Through Data, exploring how improved data management can support transparency and decision-making.

Saudi Tadawul Exchange - Capital Management System, a centralised platform for subscription processes across equities, funds and debt.

Taipei Exchange (TPEx) - Sustainable Capital Access Network (SCAN), helping SMEs and government entities issue sustainable bonds.

Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) - Extending Single Stock Futures into the Night Session, improving access and real-time price discovery.

Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TWSE) - Thriving Development of the ETF Ecosystem through product innovation, market infrastructure and investor education.

While each initiative reflects the needs of the local market, they all underscore our shared priorities: fostering and promoting efficient market structures that are resilient, robust, fair, transparent and stable.

We extend our sincere thanks to all participating exchanges and look forward to building on this momentum in the year ahead.

This edition also features two contributions from Exberry and pTools. Magnus Almqvist, CEO of Exberry, explores how agility, integration and multi-asset flexibility are redefining the modern exchange model, while Keith Wood, CEO, and Suraj Pandey, Head of Business Development at pTools Software, outline how their solutions help financial institutions harness the power of AI without compromising data sovereignty, operational resilience or supervisory oversight.

See you in December.