WFEClear: The WFE’s Clearing and Derivatives Conference 2024
About the WFE
Established in 1961, the WFE is the global industry association for exchanges and clearing houses. Headquartered in London, it represents over 250 market infrastructure providers, including standalone CCPs that are not part of exchange groups. Of our members, 34% are in Asia-Pacific, 45% in EMEA and 21% in the Americas. WFE’s 90 member CCPs and clearing services collectively ensure that risk takers post some $1.3 trillion (equivalent) of resources to back their positions, in the form of initial margin and default fund requirements. WFE exchanges, together with other exchanges feeding into our database, are home to over 50,000 listed companies, and the market capitalisation of these entities is over $100 trillion; around $140 trillion (EOB) in trading annually passes through WFE members (at end 2022).
The WFE is the definitive source for exchange-traded statistics and publishes over 350 market data indicators. Its free statistics database stretches back more than 40 years and provides information and insight into developments on global exchanges. The WFE works with standard-setters, policy makers, regulators and government organisations around the world to support and promote the development of fair, transparent, stable and efficient markets. The WFE shares regulatory authorities’ goals of ensuring the safety and soundness of the global financial system.
With extensive experience of developing and enforcing high standards of conduct, the WFE and its members support an orderly, secure, fair and transparent environment for investors; for companies that raise capital; and for all who deal with financial risk. We seek outcomes that maximise the common good, consumer confidence and economic growth. And we engage with policy makers and regulators in an open, collaborative way, reflecting the central, public role that exchanges and CCPs play in a globally integrated financial system.
About BME - a SIX Company
About BME
Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME), is the operator of all stock markets and financial systems in Spain. It was incorporated in 2001, and is part of SIX Group, the third largest exchange group in Europe.
The company has a presence in Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia. Its headquarters are located in Madrid. BME is structured into the following business units: Exchanges, Securities Services and Financial Information.
About SIX
SIX connects financial market participants in Switzerland, Spain and throughout the world. The company is owned by around 120 national and international financial institu- tions. They are the main users of our services and our most important customers.
Our close relationship with them guarantees stability of the financial infrastructure and processes, proximity to clients’ evolving business needs and competitive prices. SIX is also building a digital infrastructure for the new millennium.
Speakers
Javier Hernani
Chief Executive Officer of BME & Head of Securities Services, SIX
Javier Hernani took up his role of Head of the Securities Services business unit and member of the Executive Board of SIX Group in January 2021, after the takeover of Bolsas y Mercados Españoles, Sociedad Holding de Mercados y Sistemas Financieros, SA (BME), which he has led as CEO since April 2017.
Javier served as General Manager of BME from December 2012 to April 2017, with the specific role of coordinating the action of business units and corporate areas. Chairman of the Risk and Security Committees as well as Member of the board of several subsidiaries. Previously, he joined BME as Chief Financial Officer and member of the Executive Committee, assuming the role of conducting the integration process of the newly created group and leading the IPO process which took the company public as of 14th July 2006.
Prior to its incorporation into BME, Javier was Deputy General Manager of the Bilbao Stock Exchange until 2003. Javier was also CFO of Norbolsa, S.V.B. (until 1998) and Consultant in Coopers & Lybrand Brussels (until 1989).
Javier earned a Degree in Economics and Business by University of Deusto in 1986, a Master’s Degree in European Economic Studies (specialising in Economics) by The College of Europe in Brussels in 1988, and a Master’s Degree in Advanced Management by University of Deusto in 1997.
Summer Mersinger
Commissioner, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
Summer K. Mersinger was nominated by President Biden to serve as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. She was sworn into office on March 30, 2022.
Prior to her appointment, Ms. Mersinger served as the Chief of Staff to CFTC Commissioner Dawn D. Stump. She also served as the Director of the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under former Chairman Heath Tarbert.
Ms. Mersinger has 20 years of Capitol Hill and government relations experience. Prior to joining the CFTC, she was Senior Vice President at Smith-Free Group, a leading government affairs practice, where she worked on financial services issues including advocating for large fintech organizations.
From 2004 to 2016, Ms. Mersinger was a top aide to current Senate Minority Whip John Thune, who represents her home state of South Dakota. Most recently she served as his DC Chief of Staff, coordinating legislative activities for Sen. Thune’s team and working regularly with Senate leadership and senior staff on both sides of the aisle. Ms. Mersinger was instrumental during policy debates involving banking, finance, telecommunications, surface transportation, agriculture, and trade issues. Ms. Mersinger was also directly involved in the communications efforts spearheaded by Sen. Thune through his leadership post on the Senate Republican Conference.
Prior to joining Sen. Thune’s staff, Ms. Mersinger was a director of government relations at Arent Fox, and she also worked in Sen. Thune’s office while he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002. Summer completed her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and her law degree from the Catholic University’s Columbus School of law. She is a proud mother of four children, two daughters and two sons, and resides in Northern Virginia with her husband.
Dr. Dermot Turing
Visiting Fellow, Kellogg College, Oxford
Dermot Turing was a partner in the international law firm Clifford Chance until 2014, specializing in financial sector regulation, financial market infrastructure and bank failures. He is the author of Clearing and Settlement, now in its third edition, and of many papers and book chapters on CCPs and their regulation. He is a writer on historical aspects of cryptology, a trustee of the Turing Trust and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford.
Carol Alexander
Professor of Finance, University of Sussex
Carol Alexander is an expert in crypto asset and derivatives markets, financial risk analysis, high-frequency data analysis, blockchains, pricing and hedging financial instruments and volatility analysis. She has a dual career in industry and academia and is currently Professor of Finance at the University of Sussex and Visiting Professor at Peking University Business School. She also edited the Journal of Banking and Finance for 10 years. She has designed and implemented mathematical models for pricing, trading, hedging and risk assessment for numerous asset management, exchange, banking and legal clients such as Credit Agricole Asset Management, New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange and the FTX.US Exchange. Carol has held corporate roles as a Director and Head of Market Risk Modelling for Nikko Securities; as Academic Director of Algorithmics Inc., and Risk Research Advisor for SAS software. She currently acts as an expert witness, specialising in crypto asset litigation. She sits on several advisory boards including the Fields Institute Centre for Financial Industries, Louis Bachelier and Philip Leverhulme prize committees, FT Wilshire digital assets and its taxonomy working group. She appears regularly in the media, most recently about crypto asset markets.
Burkhard Balz
Member of the Executive Board, Deutsche Bundesbank
Burkhard Balz has served on the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank since September 2018. He is responsible for the Directorates General Payments and Settlement Systems, Banking and Financial Supervision, Cash Management, Information Technology, General Economic Education, University and International Central Bank Dialogue.
Mr Balz is Member of the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism at the European Central Bank. . He is a member of the Eurosystem High-Level Task Force on central bank digital currency. Mr Balz is also a Member of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures of the Bank for International Settlements. From 2009 up until joining the Bundesbank, Mr Balz, who is a law graduate and trained bank clerk, was a Member of the European Parliament, where he sat on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and served as the financial policy spokesman of the European People’s Party (EPP) between 2014 and 2018. In his role as European Parliament rapporteur, Mr Balz presented reports on, inter alia, Latvia’s accession to the euro area, the Solvency II Directive, and regulations pertaining to the European Supervisory Authorities. From 2014 to 2018, he was a member of the EPP Group Bureau.
Prior to his membership of the European Parliament, Mr Balz held various positions at Commerzbank AG in Hanover, where he most recently headed the department for institutional clients.