CEO Letter - November 2017

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to November’s Focus, a packed issue full to bursting with news and updates from across the global financial market infrastructure sector.

In November, the WFE published a position paper discussing the implications of international regulatory dissonance, supported by a series of policy recommendations to promote better regulatory coherence. This important paper identified the adverse effects of diverging approaches to the implementation of financial regulation, and proposed solutions related to give key areas: disproportionate expense; implementation timelines; legal uncertainty; policy incoherence; and economic (in)efficiency.

We are delighted to welcome Matthew Chamberlain, CEO, LME. Since his appointment as CEO in April of this year, Matthew has already taken some bold steps, from launching the LME’s ‘Strategic Pathway’, to announcing a trial of setting closing prices electronically next year. In this issue, he tells us about his first few months in the role, and his vision for the exchange whose roots date back to 1877.

Adrien Vanderlinden, Systemic Risk Executive, DTCC walks us through the firm's recent white paper on ‘Fintech and Financial Stability’, exploring how technological innovations could impact the safety and security of global markets. We also feature a video with Michael Leibrock, Managing Director, DTCC, who shares his perspective on how DTCC assesses and manages systemic risk.

It has been a very busy month on the topic of green finance and sustainability. Firstly, we feature Felipe Paiva, Brazil Clients Relationship Director, B3 and Sonia Favaretto, Media Relations, Sustainability, Communications and Social Investment Managing Director, B3, who tell us more about the launch of B3’s most recent sustainability guide, which looks at business opportunity in the intermediation industry.

And green finance is in the spotlight again, with Bonn, Germany hosting the 23rd World Climate Conference (COP 23), while in Singapore, local and international delegates gathered for a one-day seminar on ‘Making Markets Work for Green Finance’. The WFE’s Head of Research & Public Policy, Siobhan Cleary analyses both conferences in Focus this month.

The WFE recently attended IOSCO’s stakeholders’ meeting and the ESMA conference on ‘The State of European Financial Markets’, and we include a summary of these events in this issue by the WFE’s Head of Regulatory Affairs, Gavin Hill.

Stock market indices have scaled record levels in recent months, and the WFE Research Team’s Padmasai Varanasi analyses the underlying market to better understand the drivers of this extraordinary global rally. And the WFE’s Stefano Alderighi, Senior Economist – Researcher attended a wokshop on ‘Equity Financing of the EU Economy’, in which SME funding was a key area of focus. Here he writes about the common themes between recent WFE research into SME funding, and the key takeaways from the workshop.

In the last two years the WFE has undertaken extensive research on how to facilitate access to equity finance for SMEs, both independently (click here) and in collaboration with an external partner, the Milken Institute (click here).

If you are a WFE member, please don’t forget to sign up for the next WFE Working Committee, which will take place in Frankfurt on Tuesday 23 January 2018, hosted by Deutsche Boerse AG. The WFE Statistical Advisory Group (SAG) will also meet in Frankfurt, on Monday 22 January 2018. You can access the registration form here.

You will also have received two important ‘Save the Date’ notes from us in the past month. The first of these is for the WFE SME Conference, with host, the Malta Stock Exchange (MSE). The meeting will take place in Malta, from the evening of Sunday 25 February 2018, followed by an in-person meeting of the WFE SME Working Group, and a half-day conference on the afternoon of Monday 26 February 2018, and concluding with a Gala Dinner that evening. The event website and online registration will launch soon.

We are also pleased to confirm the dates for the 35th IOMA: The WFE’s Clearing & Derivatives Conference, hosted by OCC (Options Clearing Corporation). The meeting will take place in Chicago, and will start with a reception on the evening of Wednesday 11 April, and run through to Friday 13 April 2018. The WFE’s IOMA conference focuses on post-trade issues and brings together the leaders of the world’s futures & options markets with clearing houses. The conference website will open in January with full details about the event.

Please save both dates in your diaries.

We hope you enjoy this issue. Thank you.