The Board of Directors of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has approved main priorities for 2009. This year board comprises new officers and members.
Three priorities for 2009 include:
– To help the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) set best practices for short selling and securities lending.
– To clarify the use of circuit breakers in volatile markets, ensuring that they are predictable and temporary
– To study the effects of fragmentation and its impact on market quality.
Incoming WFE Chairman William J. Brodsky of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), who began his two-year term as WFE Chairman on 1 January said the organization of 51 regulated exchanges is making its resources available for the world’s policy makers and regulators during a period of global economic stress.
Brodsky, who is the first chairman of the WFE from a derivatives exchange, heads the new board, along with Vice Chairman Paul Chow of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) and Huseyin Erkan of the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE), Chairman of the WFE Working Committee. Erkan and Maged Shawky of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) are new to the 2009 Board of Directors.
As the new chairman, Brodsky brings four decades of executive experience at U.S. exchanges, including CBOE, where he has been Chairman and CEO since 1997. Previously he served as President and CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and was an Executive Vice President of the American Stock Exchange (now part of the NYSE-Euronext Group). He has experience working with U.S. and international market regulators and has testified many times before the U.S. Congress.
The WFE Board met with Carolyn Ervin, Director of Financial and Enterprise Affairs of the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD). WFE and OECD are working on a joint project concerning improvements to the corporate governance of the 45,000 issuers of securities on the WFE exchanges.
“We are at a critical juncture in the evolution of our global markets, and WFE is well positioned to share knowledge of exchanges with international governing bodies,” says Brodsky. “Our overriding goal is to examine what has and has not worked in the midst of recent market turmoil.
“Despite unprecedented volatility, our member exchanges have fulfilled their roles as transparent marketplaces, disseminating prices for the essential functions of capital formation and risk management. We believe our collective experience and knowledge can be a valuable resource as global policy makers and regulators grapple with the difficult challenges ahead.”
L.D.