Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the March issue of Focus.
This month we are pleased to profile Mohamed Farid Saleh, Executive Chairman of The Egyptian Exchange (EGX), who shares his views on the key global trends that will have an impact on the financial infrastructure market in 2019. He also reveals the strategic priorities that will underpin EGX’s operations over the coming months, and outlines the exchange’s strong focus on Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) issues.
This month's issue also features two fascinating contributions on the importance of sustainability. Andrey Braginskiy, Managing Director of Communications, Moscow Exchange (MOEX) provides us with a comprehensive overview of how Moscow is meeting its ESG goals. Geir Harald Aase, Communications Manager, Oslo Børs ASA writes about Norway's ever-growing emphasis on green bonds, as well as Oslo Børs' pioneering role in the green bonds roll-out.
We also hear from Tore Klevenberg, Partner and CEO, Baymarkets AS, who outlines the importance of risk add-ons for CCPs.
It has been a very busy month in the WFE office. We partnered with IFC, Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, UN Global Compact,
UN Women and Women in ETFs to promote and raise awareness about the fifth ‘Ring the Bell for Gender Equality’ initiative, which was organised as part of International Women's Day 2019. We were pleased to see many of our members ring their opening or closing bells in solidarity with this event.
March also saw us hold our first WFE Emerging Markets Forum in London, which was a day of stimulating discussion on the importance of international investors in emerging markets, based on the themes arising from two of our recent Emerging Markets reports. Speakers included representatives from the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and Aviva, alongside many WFE members such as B3 (Brazil), Dubai Financial Market, London Stock Exchange Group and Shanghai Stock Exchange. The one-day event also featured a fireside chat between Alexander Afanasiev, Chairman of the Executive Board & CEO of Moscow Exchange (MOEX) and William J. Brodsky, Chairman, Cedar Street Asset Management, LLC.
The WFE’s Regulatory Affairs team responded to the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), on a proposed rule to update standards for how firms measure counterparty credit risk posed by derivative contracts. In addition, we responded to the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) consultation on SME financing.
This month, the WFE Research & Statistics team’s monthly insights piece looks at regional trends in IPOs throughout 2018. It can be found alongside our latest monthly dashboard and market statistics.
There is less than a week to go until IOMA: WFE’s 36th Clearing & Derivatives Conference 2019 (Mumbai, 2-4 April). We look forward to two vibrant days of debate on the critical clearing and derivatives issues with the global leaders of this industry. There is still time to register if you haven’t done so.
Please diarise the WFE Working Committee meeting, which is taking place in Zurich on Wednesday 12 June.
We will soon be launching the event website for the bi-annual WFE Technology Conference (30 June - 2 July, Umea, Sweden). This is the first year we have partnered with Umeå University, and the programme is already shaping up to be a business-critical event for Chief Technology Officers, Chief Information Security Officers, Chief Innovation Officers, Chief Digital Officers and Heads of Strategy globally.
We look forward to seeing many of you next week in Mumbai. Safe travels.
Nandini Sukumar
Chief Executive Officer
The WFE