Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the September issue of Focus.
Dr Pakorn Peetathawatchai took the position of President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on 1 June 2018, becoming the 13th SET President. This month in the Executive Profile section, we talk to him about his first 100 days in the role, how he is putting technology at the heart of the business, and his vision for the future.
We are pleased to welcome a contribution from Thomas Zeeb, Head Securities & Exchanges, SIX, who writes about the launch of SIX Digital Exchange, the world's first fully integrated infrastructure for the admission, trading, settlement and custody of digital assets.
In our Q&A, we feature an interview with Anne-Marie Beckmann, Director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation who talks about the organisation's role in collecting, exhibiting and promoting contemporary photography. In 2019, the Art Collection Deutsche Börse will celebrate its 20th anniversary and Anne reveals a series of special activities that will be taking place.
Mark Wetjen, Managing Director & Head of Global Public Policy, DTCC gives us his perspective - via video - on how it is still early days for regulators and crypto currencies. But with growing interest from retail investors in crypto currency markets, regulators are increasing their scrutiny of the digital currency. And we also feature a Q&A with Michael Leibrock, Managing Director, Credit & Systemic Risk, DTCC and Adrien Vanderlinden, Executive Director, Systemic Risk Office, DTCC who take a look at the DTCC’s recent white paper on risk - The Next Crisis Will Be Different – Opportunities to Continue Enhancing Financial Stability.
Noorsuriani Muhamed, Vice President, Product & Market Development, Islamic Capital Market, Bursa Malaysia writes about the recent - very successful - Bursa Malaysia Shariah Investing Fair, which is aimed at making investing, in particular Shariah-compliant investing, more accessible to the public.
The Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) recently partnered with Kinabuti Fashion Initiative to empower young people with entrepreneurial skills and financial literacy, in an effort to bring entertainment, young people and financial education together, writes Olumide Orojimi, Head, Corporate Communications, Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE).
Ali Işık, EVP-IT Systems and Infrastructure and M. Ufuk Özdemir, EVP-IT Application Development, Borsa Istanbul update us on the progression of Borsa Istanbul’s transformational technology project, BISTECH.
This month the WFE’s Regulatory Affairs team published its response to the four global standard-setting boards assessing the effectiveness of incentives to centrally clear over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. The WFE called for prompt and concerted action internationally, particularly with regards to the way the leverage ratio treats segregated client initial margin. The team also responded to ESMA on its tick size consultation.
In this issue, the WFE Research Team has published its latest dashboard, market statistics, and monthly insights piece, which focuses on equity derivatives volumes traded from January to August 2018.
We are looking forward to seeing many of you next week for the WFE General Assembly & Annual Meeting, in Athens, Greece (2-4 October), hosted by the Athens Stock Exchange. The event will see more than 300 delegates gather for the WFE Annual Meeting, with a public programme of 14 speeches and panel sessions, in addition to member-only sessions for the Working Committee & Board, and the Federation's 58th General Assembly. We look forward to bringing the leaders of the market infrastructure industry together to debate and discuss the key issues of the hour.
For further details, do visit the event website, and please remember to register here.
Safe travels to Athens.
Nandini Sukumar
Chief Executive Officer
The WFE