Welcome to the April issue of WFE Focus.
In this month’s edition, we bring you some of the highlights from our CCP & Derivatives Conference, WFE Clear, which was hosted by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and its clearinghouse, JSE Clear, at the end of March.
The conference was a remarkable success, with academics, policy makers and industry participants engaging in deep and insightful conversations around a wide range of topics in clearing, ranging from the impact of technological innovation to the role of clearing within the real economy.
I was particularly impressed by the exceptional quality of the contributions to the conference, and by the depth and breadth of the discussions that ensued. The articles we present here provide a good sample.
Dr. Alicia Greenwood, chief executive officer of JSE Clear and director of Post Trade Services at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, looks at the importance of central counterparty clearing in the growth and development of emerging markets.
Dr. David Murphy, visiting professor at the London School of Economics, writes about three important questions that arise after the distress of the FTX group and the subsequent bankruptcy filings.
CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger reviews the events that affected clearing during 2022 and, looking ahead, points to some of the issues we should focus on.
Froukelien Wendt, independent member of the CCP Supervisory Committee at the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), discusses some of the lessons learned for clearing commodity markets after the events that affected the natural gas markets in 2022.
Magnus Haglind, head of Marketplace Technology within the Market Platforms division at Nasdaq, explains that he thinks post-trade is set for a period of significant technological reform.
JSE Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko discusses the different challenges and opportunities that African and many emerging markets face when compared with their developed world peers.
I would like to thank all the participants for their contribution to the success of the conference, and invite all of you to watch this space, as we will soon publish our Call for Papers and information about next year’s conference, WFE Clear 2024.
Looking forward to meeting you again next year.
For further information on WFEClear: The WFE’s Clearing and Derivatives Conference 2023, see https://wfeclear.wfecm.com/
Nandini Sukumar
Chief Executive Officer
The WFE