Newly elected chairman of the European Central Securities Depository Association (ECSDA), Mathias Papenfuss talks to Global Custodian about strategic plan for the association amidst the changing regulatory landscape for CSDs in Europe and the business challenges of T2S.
What steps in your career brought you to your current role/s?
MP: I have been in the banking sector since 1985 and with Clearstream since September 1995 in managerial roles in network management but primarily within operations. Since 1998 I have been responsible for a variety of different operational positions most prominently in the asset services space, as executive board member of the German CSD since 2007, the Executive board of Clearstream international for the ICSD since mid 2010 when I also became head of operations and chief operating officer. This is a role I have covered since then as well as a responsibility for all the many regulatory topics affecting Clearstream. That feeds back into the ECSDA mandate: I have been with ECSDA since it was been founded in 1996; I have been on the ECSDA board for many years.
What will the strategic plan for ECSDA be going forward?
MP: The plans are more or less three fold: number one is mastering the regulatory tsunami for ECSDA members and to make sure we preserve the specific nature of CSDs as financial market infrastructures. From an association point of view number two is to establish ECSDA as the point of reference on post trade topics vis-à-vis the regulators, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and fellow trade associations. So we have been prominent in those roles since we established our permanent secretariat a couple of years back and this is a role we would like to strengthen and even enhance in the next couple of years. The third one is more focused internally within the association – due to the diversity of our members we would like to leverage the knowledge base among these members for information sharing, idea sharing and the possibility to continue in a very collaborative approach within the association and the market members despite all the competitive natures of the day to day business that we are exposed to.
How important is that collaborative spirit and nature of the association and how will that be continued given that the environment will be more competitive in view of the changing regulatory environment for infrastructures?
MP: I believe that is one of the biggest challenges we have faced in the last 6-7 years and it has been one of the secrets of ECSDA’s success – we have been able to preserve that collaborative and consensus driven approach among our membership even though we are facing substantial business challenges and competitive issues. On a bilateral basis, there is a strong willingness among members to continue on this path and I will do everything in order to ensure we are successful in that respect. There are two man topics we talk about as CSDs and this also spills over into the work of the association: first, the different regulatory initiatives that are hitting CSDs; and the second one is the business challenges form a European point of view with the introduction of T2S. These are the two main things proving challenging in terms of adopting business models in this respect.
What is the perception of ECSDA and how will you look to develop that during your chairmanship?
MP: Since 2007, when code of conduct started, ECSDA has gained a lot of credibility within the industry. Strengthening the public image and being the point of reference on any kind of post trade related subject is how we are perceived by many in the industry from authorities to trade associations, to consultancy firms. Working along that line and extending the external credibility of ECSDA is definitely one of the items I would like to see during my chairmanship. From a membership point of view I would like to ensure continuous evolution in a fast moving industry in order to create tangible value for our members. So creating an impact internally as well as externally are the two priorities.
How does the association operate on a day to day basis?
MP: At ECSDA we are in the fantastic position to have a very knowledgeable and full-time secretary general, Soraya Belghazi, who handles ECSDA’s day-to-day activities in close collaboration with me and the new vice chairmen, György Dudás from Keler and Paolo Cittadini of Monte Titoli. We already had an established modus operandi in terms of how we run the association and this will continue. We will also continue to have a very close collaboration between the four of us on matters relevant to the association. The secretary general reports to me and to the board, which meets three times per year and also ad hoc to provide guidance on matters relevant for the association.
What will you look to do differently from your predecessor?
MP: I am a strong believer in continued evolution and doing many small steps to achieve something. I’m not a big fan of revolution just because I am the chairman. We will change a little bit, but at the end of the day continuity is also a strength as long as we are flexible and adaptable enough to respond to the needs of the changing market place.