ICMA Podcast: Recent Episodes
ICMA (International Capital Market)
Listen now to the latest podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds and insurance companies, among others.
Returning for this special summer edition, reviewing the year so far, are industry experts Anita Karppi, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA; Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA; and Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
In this podcast, recorded on 4 August 2026, the team discusses:
- Which developments have surprised investors most during the first half of 2026, and what has driven continued market resilience?
- How are central bank policy, inflation and fiscal deficits shaping the outlook for interest rates and financial markets?
- What are sovereign investors and long-term institutions focusing on, from AI and diversification to private markets and the role of gold?
- Have markets become too comfortable with risk, or are investors adapting to a fundamentally different investment environment?
- Which economic and market indicators will matter most during the remainder of 2026?
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org
It’s no great surprise why exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are playing an increasing role as a core portfolio instrument across institutional, wealth and retail channels, given their cost efficiency and transparency.
But where might the next wave of innovation in active and fixed income ETFs come from? How will technology, tokenisation and evolving investor preferences reshape the ETF ecosystem and the way investment exposures are delivered?
Listen now to this ICMA Podcast, where Anita Karppi, Senior Director Buy-side at ICMA, discusses current trends and the future of ETFs with John Taylor, Head of EMEA ETF Capital Markets, J.P. Morgan Asset Management; Alexandre Roubaud, Head of EMEA ETF Markets, BlackRock, and Sander Van Nugteren, Senior ETF Capital Markets Specialist, BNP Paribas Asset Management.
Alexander Westphal, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA explains the latest industry guidance on the new Gating Event and its role in supporting an efficient and orderly transition to T+1 settlement in the EU.
Read the full 2026 Q3 Quarterly Report here.
Sabah Anjum, Associate, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA and Natalie Westerbarkey, Managing Director and Co-Head, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, explores the future of securitisation, examining how regulatory reform, market innovation and industry collaboration can support sustainable market growth.
Read the full 2026 Q3 Quarterly Report here.
Alex Tsang, Director, Asia Pacific, ICMA, explores China's integration into the global fixed income market, examining the policy reforms, repo market developments and infrastructure needed to support greater international participation.
Read the full 2026 Q3 Quarterly Report here.
Anita Karppi, Senior Director and Head of Buy-side, ICMA, highlights the key themes shaping ICMA's buy-side agenda, from artificial intelligence and ETFs to market structure, regulation and the evolving role of institutional investors.
Read the full 2026 Q3 Quarterly Report here.
Thorsten Guthke, Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, discusses how 28th regimes could help overcome regulatory fragmentation and support greater integration across Europe's capital markets.
Read the full 2026 Q3 Quarterly Report here.
Miriam Patterson, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, discusses the joint industry response to the FCA and PRA consultations on reforming the UK's securitisation framework and the opportunity to enhance the market's competitiveness and international appeal.
Read the full 2026 Q3 Quarterly Report here.
Miriam Patterson, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, discusses ICMA's response to the US Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed amendments to Rule 15c2-11 and the importance of ensuring the changes support the effective functioning of international fixed income markets.
Read the full 2026 Q3 Quarterly Report here.
Andy Hill, Managing Director and Co-Head, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, discusses ICMA's work to improve the quality and reliability of bond axe information, supporting greater transparency and efficiency in electronic fixed income trading.
Read the full 2026 Q3 Quarterly Report here.
Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA, reflects on the key themes emerging from ICMA's 58th AGM and Annual Conference, highlighting market resilience, technological innovation and the regulatory priorities shaping the future of global fixed income markets.
Read the full 2026 Q3 Quarterly Report here.
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
Returning for this episode are industry experts, Anita Karppi, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, alongside Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
In this podcast, recorded on June 29 2026, the team discussed:
- Which are the main takeaways from the UBS Annual Reserve Managers Seminar last week?
- What are the expectations about the next move of the FED with regards to US interest rate?
- What are the main drivers of Gold and has it lost its hedge against geopolitical volatility?
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies.
Anita Karppi, Senior Director - Buy-side, Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, ICMA was joined this episode by industry experts, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, and Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC
Marc Granville, Senior Director at ICMA and Head of Education and Training, speaks with Hugh Friel, Senior Vice President at Frontclear, in the second part of this episode to explore how technology and standardisation are reshaping repo and collateral markets across emerging and frontier economies.
The discussion highlights how digital innovation and framework agreements can streamline legal onboarding, reduce documentation timelines for key agreements such as GMRA and ISDA, and support the evolution of repo markets from a “by appointment” model to a more efficient, flow based structure. It also examines the broader conditions required for sustainable market development, including long term policy commitment, robust legal and regulatory frameworks, and effective capacity building through blended education and training to strengthen expertise and support the development of global collateral markets.
Zhan Chen, Associate Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, updates on ICMA's engagement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the U.S. Treasury clearing mandate, highlighting cross-border implementation challenges, supporting proposed exemptions to limit extraterritorial scope, and calling for further clarification to reduce complexity and ensure a level playing field.
Ruari Ewing, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, summarises ICMAs feedback on European Commission proposed amendments to the existing Level 2 Regulation on prospectus format, content, scrutiny and approval.
Deena Seoudy, Senior Director and Associate Counsel, highlights some of the ICMA legal team's key areas of activity over the past quarter.
Miriam Patterson, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, explores how Euroclear and Clearstream (the International Central Securities Depositories, or ICSDs) have introduced the option for issuers to issue their debt securities in dematerialised form from 16 March 2026.
Aman Gill, Associate on ICMA's Market Practice and Regulatory Team, explains ICMA's response to the FCA's consultation paper on improving the UK transaction reporting regime.
Natalie Westerbarkey, Managing Director and Co-Head, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, lays out ICMA's position on the Market Integration and Supervisory Package (MISP) proposed by the European Commission on 4 December 2025.
Andy Hill, Managing Director and Co-Head, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, updates on the UK gilt market's resilience amid recent geopolitical and economic shocks, authorities' responses, and ongoing consultations focus on improving market functioning, transparency, and resilience, particularly in the gilt repo and Treasury bill markets.
Natalie Westerbarkey, Managing Director and Co-Head, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, reports on ICMA Brussels' roundtable on “Demystifying securitisation” . The event brought together policymakers and market participants to highlight its evolution into a robust, transparent funding tool that supports real-economy lending and investment, while identifying regulatory, operational and market barriers to scaling a stronger European securitisation market.
Anita Karppi, Senior Director in Market Practice and Regulatory Policy at ICMA leading the buyside proposition, highlights a busy quarter for ICMA’s buy-side team, with increased engagement through events, podcasts, and policy work, and a stronger focus on representing buy-side perspectives in evolving markets.
How is the shape of China's offshore lending changing? This is the BIG question we tackle in the second of a special series of podcasts we’re co-producing with Resonate Global Advisors.
Join Mushtaq Kapasi, Managing Director and Chief Representative for Asia Pacific for ICMA; Augusto King, Vice Chair, Capital Markets Group, Asia Pacific for MUFG; and Austin Strange, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Hong Kong as they discuss why excess liquidity on the mainland explains so much about the evolving contours of China's development finance and its offshore bond and syndicated loan activities.
Alexander Malitsky, Chair of ICMA Future Leaders, speaks with Celia Price, UK Representative on the ICMA Future Leaders Steering Committee, to explore how early-career professionals can build successful careers in capital markets through networking, mentorship, and active engagement. The conversation highlights the importance of taking initiative, making the most of ICMA’s global platform, and overcoming common barriers such as time constraints and balancing professional responsibilities with development opportunities.
The discussion also reflects the long-term value of building strong professional relationships across firms and regions, and how ICMA Future Leaders helps connect emerging talent with senior industry leaders. Drawing on their own experiences, Alexander and Celia share practical insights on career progression, continuous learning, and navigating the realities of the industry, emphasising collaboration, resilience, and the role of networks in supporting sustainable career growth.
This series explores the crisis in the Middle East and its impact on global markets. Experts unpack scenarios for energy disruption, investor uncertainty, and the broader geopolitical ripple effects. In part five we discuss the factors driving capital markets and the implications for the investor.
This series explores the crisis in the Middle East and its impact on global markets. Experts unpack scenarios for energy disruption, investor uncertainty, and the broader geopolitical ripple effects. In part four we discuss how how central banks are reacting to the prospect of increased stagflation risk.
Marc Granville, Senior Director at ICMA and Head of Education & Training, speaks with Hugh Friel, Senior Vice President at Frontclear, to explore how money market development supports stronger and more resilient financial systems across emerging and frontier markets.
The discussion highlights Frontclear’s dual approach of combining guaranteed products with technical assistance to address key market challenges, including legal and regulatory frameworks, infrastructure gaps, and local capacity constraints. It also showcases how ICMA’s education and training programmes contribute to building market expertise, strengthening regulatory confidence, and enabling sustainable capital market development through practical, real-world collaboration.
This series explores the crisis in the Middle East and its impact on global markets. Experts unpack scenarios for energy disruption, investor uncertainty, and the broader geopolitical ripple effects. In part three we discuss how geopolitical factors influence markets in the long term.
This series explores the crisis in the Middle East and its impact on global markets. Experts unpack scenarios for energy disruption, investor uncertainty, and the broader geopolitical ripple effects. In part two we discuss how markets and investors have reacted to the escalating conflict in Iran.
This series explores the crisis in the Middle East and its impact on global markets. Experts unpack scenarios for energy disruption, investor uncertainty, and the broader geopolitical ripple effects. In part one we discuss the current situation and assess forward-looking scenarios.
In Part 2 of this conversation, Marc Granville from the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) continues speaking with Kaikham Onedamdy from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) about the impact and future of the Green Bond Technical Assistance Program (GB TAP). They discuss lessons learned from the programme, including the importance of collaboration, partnerships, and combining technical assistance with funding to support sustainable bond markets in emerging economies. The discussion also highlights the critical role of education and training in scaling sustainable finance globally and building local expertise. Finally, Kaikham shares what is exciting about the future of sustainable finance: the passion of young professionals working to create meaningful impact in their markets.
Marc Granville, Senior Director at ICMA, and Kay Kim from IFC discuss the Green Bond Technical Assistance Program (GB TAP) launched in 2018. The program, supported by Switzerland, Sweden, and Luxembourg, aims to develop green bonds in emerging markets with a $1.4 billion fund. IFC partnered with ICMA for its expertise in sustainable finance training, especially during COVID-19. The program has trained 2,000 bankers from 83 countries, with 41% being women. It has led to tangible impacts, such as banks issuing their first green bonds and developing local taxonomies. The alumni network fosters ongoing learning and collaboration among participants.
Members of ICMA Future Leaders — Odinaka Linus-Nwokonkwo, CFA, Lead SSA Market Trader, Access Bank, Chukwuebuka Ikem, CFA, Rates Trader, Citi, and Enock Asare, Head, Fixed Income, Consolidated Bank Ghana Ltd. recently hosted an ICMA podcast on “The Future of Finance in Africa and Its Impact on African Youth.” They were joined by distinguished senior colleagues Dr. Okey Umeano, CFA, Deputy Director, Financial Markets Department, Central Bank of Nigeria and Abena Amoah, Managing Director, Ghana Stock Exchange. Listen to the conversation to gain insights on the opportunities and challenges shaping finance across Africa.
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
Returning for this episode are industry experts, Anita Karppi, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, alongside Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
In this podcast, recorded on 5 February 2026, the team discussed:* Outlook for 2026: key themes * Geopolitics and which are the asset classes to watch this year * Views on the new FED chair as well as FED leadership, tariffs, and shutdown risk * Investors views on optimism in the markets and how that effects positioning
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
The ICMA ETF Podcast: What’s new in fixed income ETFs?
Listen now to this ICMA Podcast on exchange-traded funds (ETFs), hosted by Anita Karppi, Senior Director - Buy-side at ICMA, who was joined by Tom Stephens of Schroders Investment Management, Pravin Bagree of UBS Asset Management and Josh Gibbs of State Street Investment Management to discuss what 2026 could look like for fixed income ETFs, and why ETFs are increasingly being treated as core portfolio infrastructure rather than “access” products.
In this episode, the panel discusses:
- The outlook for fixed income ETFs in 2026: intentional duration, credit dispersion and ETFs as risk-management tools
- The active ETF “delivery mechanism” debate: product design, fees and liquidity
- Adoption trends across institutional, wholesale and retail channels, plus the role of platforms and model portfolios
- Regulatory developments, including how rules may shape eligible exposures (including alternatives)
Bryan Pascoe, Andy Hill, Natalie Westerbarkey, and Irene Rey examine evolving market structure, resilience, and digitalisation trends shaping bond markets over the next decade.
Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive, ICMA reflects on market resilience in 2025 and outlines the structural, regulatory, and digital forces shaping global debt markets in 2026.
Nicholas Pfaff, Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Sustainable Finance, ICMA introduces the Climate Transition Bond Guidelines and their role in mobilising capital for hard-to-abate sectors.
Allan Malvar outlines ICMA’s capacity-building work with regulators and policymakers, highlighting common challenges in market architecture, legal certainty, and post-trade resilience.
Thorsten Guthke and Irene Rey review the European Commission’s SIA initiative and its potential to channel retail savings into capital markets under the Savings and Investment Union.
Natalie Westerbarkey and Thorsten Guthke analyse how the EU’s Market Integration and Supervision Package could reshape trading, clearing, settlement, and digital bond markets.
Katie Kelly explores structural barriers and enabling measures to deepen and modernise the European commercial paper market.
Gabriel Callsen, Senior Director, FinTech and Digitalisation, ICMA summarises key findings on DvP settlement assets and custody models for DLT-based bonds under Project Guardian.
Zhan Chen outlines ICMA’s engagement with members and regulators on the implications of the SEC’s US Treasury clearing mandate and market readiness challenges.
Andy Hill discusses ICMA’s response to the Bank of England’s proposals on gilt repo resilience, including central clearing, haircuts, and alternative policy measures.
Francisco Parente, Associate Director, FinTech and Digitalisation, ICMA examines the regulatory landscape, risks, and potential role of stablecoins as on-chain settlement assets in capital markets.
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies.
Anita Karppi, Senior Director - Buy-side, Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, ICMA was joined this episode by industry experts, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, and Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
This podcast was recorded on 16 December 2025, where the team discussed:
Capital Markets: Equities and precious metals surged in 2025 while fixed income and commodities lagged. What were key drivers behind these divergent performances, and how should investors interpret them going into 2026?
Economic Growth & Risks: What main forces will shape global growth in 2026, and where might the biggest risks or opportunities be?
Policy & Investor Strategy: How might investor behaviour to shift in 2026 — particularly in terms of defensive versus growth strategies?
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC
This episode features a conversation between Mark Granville, Head of Education at ICMA and Emma Thomas, Secretary to ICMA’s Artificial Intelligence in Capital Markets (AICM) Working Group. They discuss the origin of the group, why it was created, and how it focuses on regulatory engagement, market-relevant AI implementations, and responsible standards.
Further exploring how AI is being adopted across the bond lifecycle, where the biggest efficiency gains are emerging, and how firms should navigate the growing regulatory agenda, they also discuss the risks and limitations of AI, the importance of responsible use, and why upskilling is becoming essential across the industry.
A practical, grounded view of how AI is reshaping workflows, risk considerations and future capabilities in capital markets.
Digital bonds: hype, hope or the future of capital markets? Listen to our podcast examining just how far - or not - the bond market has progressed towards a digital future with host Mushtaq Kapasi, Chief Representative of ICMA for Asia Pacific in conversation with Ankur Prakash, Head of Digital and Strategic Initiatives, Global Banking at Standard Chartered and Yam Ki Chan, Vice President at US fintech Circle, one of the world’s major issuers of stablecoins.
This is the first of a special series of podcasts examining some of the leading trends of the day, co-produced by Resonate Global Advisors.
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
Anita Karppi, Senior Director - Buy-side, Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, ICMA was joined this episode by industry experts, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, and Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
This podcast was recorded on 24th October 2025, where the team discussed:
- IMF/WB Annual Meetings: What were the major takeaways?
- US Government Shutdown & US/China Trade Negotiations: How will these challenges impact global markets?
- Central Bank Meetings: What to expect from the Fed, ECB, BoE, and BoJ in late October and early November?
- Equity and Commodity Markets: Are we witnessing bubbles, and how can we define one?
- Investor Sentiment: After a strong 2025 performance, will investors take profits or reduce risks?
- German Government & European Financial Integration: Will we finally see progress on the Capital Markets Union?
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
Gabriel Callsen, Senior Director, FinTech and Digitalisation, ICMA gives an update on ICMA's Bond Data Taxonomy: market initiatives and adoption.
Alex Westphal, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, talks about the latest milestones in Europe's journey to T+1, also looking at SFT specific impacts and discussions which are central to the success of T+1.
Miriam Patterson, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, discusses ICMA's response to the US SEC concept release on foreign private issuer eligibility.
Ruari Ewing, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, summarises developments in the UK prospectus regime (POATRs) and related aspects following the UK Chancellor's Mansion House speech on 15th July.
Natalie Westerbarkey, Co-Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, talks through ICMA's bond market policy mind map & ecosystem.
Natalie Westerbarkey, Co-Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, explores lessons from the EU consultation on building integrated bond markets and summarises ICMA’s vision.
Andy Hill, Co-Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, seeks to address some common misconceptions around repo haircuts.
Andy Hill, Co-Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, discusses bond market axe distribution standards.
Simone Bruno, Associate Director, Data Analyst, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, summarises the recenty released ICMA European Secondary Bond Market Data Report, covering sovereign bonds
Nina Suhaib-Wolf, Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy sums up the changes to the non-equity SI regime in the EU and UK, as well as ICMA's response to the FCA consultation
Mushtaq Kapasi, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, provides an update on China's recent reforms in cross border repo and collateral markets.
Marc Granville, Head of Education, ICMA, gives an update on upcoming courses and other developments.
In this podcast, Vincci Xiao, Associate, Membership, Events and Communication at ICMA is joined by two inspiring women to explore the evolution of the ICMA Women’s Network (IWN) and gender equality across global and Asian financial markets as IWN celebrates its 10th anniversary. The guests include Desirée Sumilang, Executive Director and Senior Legal Counsel in the Global Markets Division at Crédit Agricole CIB, and IWN APAC Representative; and Miriam Patterson, Senior Director of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy at ICMA.
Together, they discuss how bank cultures differ and influence gender equality, the role of male allyship in Asia, the availability of childcare and its impact on women’s career progression, and the importance of international collaboration in strengthening local IWN chapters.
We’re kicking off the new season of ICMA's Let’s Talk Markets with a conversation that matters: Katie Kelly, Senior Director at ICMA and co-founder of the ICMA Women’s Network (IWN), joins us to discuss how training and skills development can open doors, build confidence, and help shape a more inclusive capital-markets workforce.
From bridging the gap between technical knowledge and applied market expertise to empowering the next generation of women leaders, Katie shares practical insights and stories from across ICMA’s global community.
Tune in to hear how education can drive opportunity and why the right skills will define the future of debt capital markets.
Following ICMA’s Social Bonds Podcast Series in 2022/2023, this episode provides an update on the social bonds market: what types of projects issuers are funding these days, how investors are looking at social bonds, what the advantages of a portfolio approach in impact reporting are, and how ICMA’s Harmonised Framework for Impact Reporting can help. Simone Utermarck, Senior Director, Sustainable Finance at ICMA talks to Malika Takhtayeva, Sustainable Fixed Income Lead at BNPP Asset Management, Charles Smith, Senior Funding Officer at the EBRD and Felix Grote, Head of Funding & Investor Relations at Council of Europe Development Bank.
In this podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), recorded on 10th June 2025, Bob Parker and Massimiliano Castelli discussed:
- The continuing US/China tariff negotiations. What’s the impact on the Chinese economy?
- Given the US budget bill, what are the implications for the US budget deficit, the US credit rating and US Treasury yields?
- What are the key risks facing investors for the second half of 2025, and are they factored into markets at present?
AMIC is ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Speakers:
Bob Parker is former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA.
Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, is Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management and Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
Learn more about the work of AMIC here: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
Returning for this episode are industry experts, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, alongside Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
In this podcast, recorded on 7th May 2025, the team discussed:
- The evolving US tariff policy and how these policies may affect the economies of the US and its major trading partners. How might other Governments react?
- Whether the independence of the US Federal Reserve is under threat
- Implications for foreign demand for US Treasuries and whether the turmoil could persuade investors to increasingly shift allocations outside the US
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
Andy Hill, Co-Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, considers the implications for bond markets of the recent wave of shortening of settlement cycles in securities markets, that began in the US and is now set to be copied in Europe and elsewhere.
Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA, reflects on the impact of the recent geopolitical activity upon the global capital markets.
Leland Goss, Managing Director, General Counsel, ICMA, assesses the impact of potential moves, in New York and London, to enact legislation aimed at addressing perceived shortcomings within the existing sovereign debt restructuring framework.
Natalie Westerbarkey, Co-Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, outlines how the fixed income market plays a key role in achieving EU investment needs by providing low-cost, simple solutions for retail investors’ wealth creation and alternative funding sources for corporations in addition to bank loans, resulting in the promotion of sustainable and innovative growth in Europe.
Paul Richards considers the opportunities for making European capital markets more competitive.
Nicholas Pfaff, Deputy Chief Executive, Head of Sustainable Finance, ICMA, and Özgür Altun, Associate Director, Sustainable Finance, ICMA, summarise the main points of their latest paper, published on 25 March 2025, which details reflections and recommendations for the sustainable fund market in a new regulatory environment.
Emma Thomas, Associate, FinTech and Digitalisation, ICMA, comments on the efforts by financial market regulators to adapt to growth in the usage of AI within Financial services
Ruari Ewing, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, comments on the response to the FCA's consultation paper that proposed changes to the public offers and admissions to trading regime (POATRS), the product governance regime and the UK Listing Rules.
Miriam Patterson, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, discusses the use of asymmetric jurisdiction clauses in the international debt capital markets following the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the Lastre SpA v. Agora SARL case.
Nina Suhaib-Wolf, Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, provides an update on ESMA's final post-trade referral for bonds and the ICMA letter to ESMA and the European Commission.
Alex Westphal, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, talks about ICMA's repo and collateral market work, focusing specifically on recent publications in this field, including the latest European Repo Market Survey and the ERCC's Guide to Best Practice in the European Repo Market.
Irene Rey, Associate Director, MPRP, ICMA, discusses AMIC's response to the Financial Stability Board’s consultation report on addressing financial stability risks arising from leverage in Non-Bank Financial Intermediation.
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
Returning for this episode are industry experts, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, alongside Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
In this podcast, recorded on 26th March 2025, the team discussed:
· Given the deep twin sell off in the US dollar and equities, is the American exceptionalism trade over?
· Following the dramatic changes to German fiscal policy announced during early March. Is this the herald of a European Renaissance?
· “What’s progress on the Capital Markets Union and the Savings and Investment Union? Is Europe finally going to deliver on financial market integration?”
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
Returning for this episode are industry experts, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, alongside Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
In this podcast, recorded on 25th February 2025, the team discussed:
- Following the general election result in Germany, what is the outlook for the German economy, and what is the knock-on effect for the Eurozone and the ECB .
- Update on US economic policy under the new Trump administration. Government and Fed policy.
- What’s changed in China?
- In the near term what do you see as the major risk factors to capital markets, and what about potential market volatility.
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
ICMA's CEO, Bryan Pascoe and Katie Kelly, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, talk about the ICMA Women's Network, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2025.
Natalie Westerbarkey, Managing Director, Co-Head of Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, ICMA, explores the growth, innovation, and impact on bond markets of fixed income ETFs.
Nicolette Moser, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, provides an update on ICMA's response to the recent EU Commission's Targeted Consultation on the functioning of the EU Securitisation Framework.
Irene Rey, Associate Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, discusses the adequacy of macroprudential policies for NBFI.
Andy Hill, Managing Director, Co-Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, provides an report on the push and pull for central clearing in the sovereign bond markets.
Paul Richards, Senior Adviser, ICMA, considers the scope for the UK to rebuild relations with the EU in financial services, while remaining outside the EU Single Market.
Miriam Patterson, Senior Director, ICMA, discusses ICMA’s response to the UK Financial Conduct Authority's consultation on the new UK prospectus regime.
Ruari Ewing, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, gives an update on the EU Listing Act: ESMA Prospectus Regulation proposals.
Katie Kelly, Senior Director, ICMA, discusses the role of commercial paper in the sustainable finance market.
ICMA’s Alex Westphal, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, talks about the latest discussions and developments around Europe's planned transition to a T+1 settlement cycle.
Nina Suhaib-Wolf, Director, ICMA, presents the latest updates on the EU and UK frameworks for bond market transparency and consolidated tapes.
Ozgur Altun, Associate Director, Sustainable Finance, provides an overview of the ESMA’s Guidelines on ESG-related fund names.
Georgina Jarratt, Managing Director, ICMA, updates on ICMA's strategic priorities for FinTech and digitalisation in 2025.
Gabriel Callsen, Senior Director, FinTech and Digitalisation, ICMA talks about the MAS Guardian Fixed Income Framework.
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
Returning for this episode are industry experts, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, alongside Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
In this podcast, recorded on 10th January 2025, the team discussed:
· How investors are handling the uncertainty of the policies of the incoming Trump administration. Are markets starting to discount potential policy changes?
· Can China achieve 5% growth, and can deflation be curbed?
· Expectations of Fed rate cuts. How other Central banks and notably the ECB might diverge from the Fed?
· Why bond yields have increased
· The status of budget problems in France and Spain. Will a new Government in Germany disrupt the Eurozone markets?
· Valuations in US equity markets. Is there evidence of any "bubbles" in markets?
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
Addressing gender inequality is not only a matter of intrinsic value and a moral imperative, but it can also enhance growth, productivity, competitiveness and the sustainability of economies.
In this podcast, Valérie Guillaumin, Director, Sustainable Finance at ICMA, talked with two committed women, from well-known organisations that have issued bonds to finance social projects, about why investing in gender equality matters.
- Natasha GARCHA, Senior Director, Innovative Finance and Gender-Lens Investing Specialist at Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)
- Heather KIPNIS, Principal Operations Officer, Gender and Economic Inclusion Group at the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
ICMA’s Andy Hill speaks with Ruth Yang, Global Head of Private Market Analytics, S&P Global Ratings, and Christina Padgett, Head of Leveraged Finance Research and Analytics, Moody’s Ratings, about developments in the Private Credit market, the trends and drivers, potential risks, and the prospects for further growth.
In this podcast, Stefano Pierini, Head of Finance and Investor Relations at Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and a member of the ICMA Corporate Issuer Forum, discusses how Ferrovie engages with the debt capital markets, the importance of - and access to - sustainable labelled instruments, and measures to mobilise capital and ensure more inclusive access to markets.
In this episode, two experienced market practitioners – David Camara Iniesta (Senior Trading Strategist, Bank of America) and Nina Suhaib-Wolf (Senior Director, Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, ICMA) – discuss how the trading floor has evolved over the years including the impact of technology, market trends and the evolving regulatory environment and what it might look like in the future.
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
Returning for this episode are industry experts, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, alongside Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
In this podcast, recorded on 22nd November, the team discussed the implications for geopolitics and markets following the election victory of Donal Trump’s Republican party in early November.
Domestically, how might the policies he is believed to want to pursue affect the US economy and the markets? Does his agenda of import tariffs (especially upon China) signal that inflation will persist and perhaps worsen.
And what does this mean for rates? Will long-term interest rates remain at higher levels, or can we expect them to fall once the post-election euphoria dissipates?
In equity markets we’ve heard a lot about the “Trump trade”. What is it? Is this a prelude of what we can expect in the future? Or will the current market optimism eventually fade away once announced policies are rolled out?
Outside of the US, the team also cover the upcoming election in Germany and their view on how the election might play out and the potential repercussions for economies and markets, in Germany, across the EU and beyond.
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
In this episode, we explore how transition finance is shaping sustainable markets by bridging the gap between current challenges and the solutions needed for a sustainable future. Join Anjuli Pandit from HSBC, Ketish Pothalingam (formerly of PIMCO), and ICMA's Simone Utermarck as they dive into the role of ICMA’s principles and frameworks in driving meaningful progress in this essential area.
In this podcast, Patricia Gentile, Group Head of Finance & Insurance at A2A and member of the ICMA Corporate Issuer Forum, discusses the profile of A2A’s sustainable finance instruments, their benefits, alignment with the EU Green Bond Standard and measures enhancing accessibility in the debt capital markets.
In the latest episode, join Ruari Ewing, Katie Kelly, and Miriam Patterson, Senior Directors in the Market Practice and Regulatory Policy team at ICMA, as they discuss Primary Markets and the Bond Issuance Cycle.
In this podcast, Alessandro Canta, Head of Finance and Insurance at Enel and Steering Committee member of the ICMA Corporate Issuer Forum, discusses the challenges of achieving carbon neutrality, especially in a landscape heavily influenced by global geopolitical uncertainty. He explains how Enel is addressing these challenges by leveraging sustainable finance instruments, while also exploring opportunities to enhance innovation and accessibility in the debt capital markets.
In the latest Let's Talk Markets episode, ICMA Women’s Network, Katie Kelly, Senior Director at ICMA, and Jen Cresswell, Counsel and UK Women’s Network Steering Committee Member, dive deep into the progress and ongoing challenges for women in the bond markets.
For over 10 years, the ICMA Women’s Network (IWN) has been a global platform committed to supporting women in the bond markets. From promoting gender equality to addressing key challenges like the gender pay gap and maternity barriers, the IWN is driving real change.
Our network fosters skill development, resilience, and peer support. Whether it's through workshops on unconscious bias or discussions on career growth in a tech-driven world, we’re dedicated to helping women excel.
Andy Hill, Managing Director, ICMA, discusses the potential benefits of Europe’s two new consolidated tapes for bond markets, as well as the challenges in designing a transparency deferral regime that does not threaten market liquidity. He sheds light on ICMA’s data-driven approach to suggesting how this could be achieved, and how ICMA is encouraging the EU and UK regulators to adopt a similar methodology.
ICMA’s Alex Westphal, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, provides an update on the latest discussions around the proposed shortening of the settlement cycle to T+1 in Europe.
Alex Tsang, Director (Asia-Pacific), ICMA, reveals international market potential for Korean Treasury Bond (KTB) trading as supported by recent market reforms.
In October 2023, the Hong Kong SFC had asked ICMA to convene a working group to explore the potential applicability of the ICMA Code of Conduct to the Hong Kong market. A year later, on 3 October 2024, ICMA published the Hong Kong Code of Conduct.
Katie Kelly, Senior Director, ICMA, discusses a recent European Commission workshop on short-term funding markets.
Miriam Patterson, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, provides an update on the FCA's consultation on the new UK prospectus regime.
Georgina Jarratt, Managing Director, ICMA, speaks about ICMA's work on FinTech and Digitalisation initiatives
Paul Richards, Senior Adviser, ICMA, provides a personal perspective on international capital markets 50 years on.
For the latest release of ‘Let’s Talk Markets’ we’re excited to present two brand new episodes on the importance of investing for your future from very different perspectives. Join Emma Thomas and Georgina Uwaifo as they discuss what pensions mean to people starting their careers.
For the latest release of ‘Let’s Talk Markets’ we’re excited to present two brand new episodes on the importance of investing for your future from very different perspectives. In part 2, Nicolette Moser and Peter French discuss from perspectives of people nearing the other side of that journey.
In this episode of ICMA Education & Training’s latest vlog “Careers in Capital Markets”, Tim Skeet (Bank of China; ICMA UK Regional Chair) and Alex Malitsky (Director - Fixed Income Syndicate & Origination, TD Securities) discuss careers in finance.
In this episode of ICMA Education & Training’s latest vlog “Rethinking Finance Infrastructure”, ICMA’s Georgina Jarratt (Managing Director, Head of Fintech & Digitalisation) speaks to Armin Peter, former Global Head of Debt Syndicate at UBS about the huge impact of technology on the capital markets.
ICMA's CEO, Bryan Pascoe, shares a large part of the content from his speech at the last AGM.
ICMA's Paul Richards, Senior Adviser, assesses the debate about EU policy on Capital Markets Union.
ICMA’s Valérie Guillaumin, Director, Sustainable Finance, talks about the new releases of the Principles: the Green Enabling Projects Guidance and the Guidelines for Sustainability-Linked Loans financing Bonds.
ICMA’s Miriam Patterson, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, talks about the UK FCA's finalised guidance on its anti-greenwashing rule, and some EU and Hong Kong developments in the area of anti-greenwashing.
ICMA’s Katie Kelly, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, talks about enhancing the functioning and resilience of the commercial paper and certificates of deposit market.
ICMA's Nina Suhaib-Wolf, Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, takes a snapshot of the current EU and UK proposals on bond market transparency and the consolidated tape, as presented in recent consultation papers, and seeks to draw a comparison.
ICMA's Andy Hill, Co-Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, discusses ICMA’s analysis of ESMA’s proposal for a revised EU bond market transparency deferral regime and highlights the key considerations for determining an effective calibration.
ICMA’s Alex Westphal, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, talks about the latest developments and discussions in the US and Europe related to the proposed shortening of the settlement cycle to T+1.
ICMA's Zhan Chen, Secretary to the ICMA Repo and Sustainability Task Force, discusses the 2024 Repo & Sustainability Survey conducted by ICMA, highlighting several significant findings.
ICMA's Gabriel Callsen, Senior Director for FinTech and Digitalisation, discusses ICMA’s initiatives and latest developments on FinTech and innovation in bond markets, including the UK’s Digital Securities Sandbox, the adoption of ICMA’s Bond Data Taxonomy for digital green bonds, as well as latest AI developments in capital markets.
Jinny Yan, Managing Director, Chief China Economist, Global Markets, ICBC Standard Bank talks to Ricco Zhang, Senior Director, ICMA about the latest market developments in China’s bond markets: macro outlook, trends in cross-border issuance and investments, and key developments in the CIBM repo market.
In 2024 the European Repo & Collateral Council (ERCC) – the main representative body for the cross-border repo and collateral market in Europe – celebrated 25 years of codifying best market practice and developing consensus solutions in a rapidly evolving marketplace. Join Alex Westphal (ICMA Senior Director and secretary of the ERCC) as he speaks to Godfried DeVits and Richard Comotto, key figures of this influential committee from its inception, about the repo market past and present.
Listen now to the podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
Returning for this episode are industry experts, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, alongside Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
This podcast was recorded on 4th June 2024. Since the recording several of the measures discussed by the presenters in the podcast have been enacted.
In this podcast the teams discuss the outlook for inflation and growth: will inflation continue to decline? What is the risk of recession?
Interest rates. After the rate cuts by the SNB and the Riksbank, which other Central Banks will cut rates and will the ECB/BoE diverge from the US Federal Reserve?
What the implications for the key asset classes; fixed income, equities, currencies and commodities?
Should we worry about geopolitics? What impact might the situations in China, Russia/Ukraine, Middle East, EU/UK elections and the possibility of a Trump presidency have on major markets?
If you have questions or topics that you would like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Learn more about AMIC: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
Eila Kreivi - former Head of Capital Markets at European Investment Bank and current ICMA board member - chats to Simone Utermarck (Senior Director, ICMA Sustainable Finance), looking back at 10 years of ICMA's involvement as secretariat of the Principles, the frameworks to which 97% of the world's sustainable bonds are aligned.
ICMA Chief Executive Bryan Pascoe is interviewed by Marc Granville (ICMA Head of Education & Training) about his career journey to date.
TreasurySpring’s Henry Adams, Chief Product Officer, discusses the unique features of their fintech solution, emphasising the innovative approach to unlocking trapped liquidity from outside capital markets through their proprietary instrument, the Fixed Term Fund (FTF). He discusses the inspiration behind the development of TreasurySpring, highlighting its mission to simplify complex repo transactions and provide scalable, legally sound solutions. Henry also shares insights into emerging industry trends, regulatory impacts, and the role of advanced technologies like AI and blockchain in transforming financial services.
In this podcast, Robert Koller, CAIA and CEO and Fredrik Creutz, Co-Founder and chairman of NowCM, discuss their company’s innovative approach to capital markets. They outline NowCM's three main focuses: digitalising the bond issuance process, operating a regulated issuance vehicle in Luxembourg, and managing a regulated marketplace for primary issuance in Paris. Key topics include significant efficiency improvements in the market, reduction of costs and setup times, and enhanced liquidity and price discovery through real-time capabilities. The conversation also explores the critical role of robust data models in supporting document management and transaction processes, as well as the potential, and challenges of, integrating AI in financial technology.
The series features conversations with ICMA - International Capital Market Association's fintech member firms, who are driving innovation across the capital market landscape.
We ask each firm about their core innovation; what inspired them to develop their solution; what they see as emerging trends in their areas of the capital market; and what propels them forward.
This conversation is with Andy Browning, Managing Director and Head of Electronic Trading as well as Andrea Pirino, Head of FSA solutions from valantic FSA.
ICMA's Nicolette Moser, Senior Director, provides an overview of recent policy recommendations by FSB and IOSCO relating to open-ended funds.
ICMA’s Alex Westphal, Senior Director, Repo and Collateral markets, talks about the latest meetings and discussions of ICMA’s European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC).
ICMA's Simone Bruno, Associate Data Analyst, presents the key findings from ICMA's European Secondary Market Data Report for 2023.
ICMA's Nina Suhaib-Wolf, Director, Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, talks about Bond Market Transparency and presents highlights about ICMA's response to the recent FCA consultation
ICMA's Ruari Ewing, Senior Director - Primary Markets, discusses the EU Listing Act (the EU prospectus, market abuse and listing regimes), the UK retail disclosure framework for CCIs (replacing the EU PRIIPs regime), the UK FCA anti-greenwashing rule and the EU CSDR’s cash penalties regime.
ICMA's Katie Kelly, Senior Director, highlights the importance of offering work experience to students in today's environment in the UK
ICMA's Andy Hill, Deputy Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, provides a crisp overview of the background to, and findings of, ICMA's new report, Liquidity and Resilience in the Core European Sovereign Bond Markets.
ICMA's Paul Richards, Managing Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, considers lessons from LIBOR transition in the bond market under English law.
Listen now to the latest podcast from the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others.
Returning for this episode are industry experts, Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, alongside Massimiliano Castelli, PhD MSc, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
In the podcast:
The team discuss global fixed income and equity markets, which continue to rally from a low in late October 2023. Is there a danger of a bubble?
- What now for inflation and growth? What responses can we expect from Central Banks.
- At the geopolitical level, the team discuss the election forecasts in 2024. Are markets and investors are being complacent?
Learn more about AMIC: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
If you have questions or topics you'd like our guests to address in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact via email: AMIC@icmagroup.org.
Tommaso Di Grazia and Ed Tyndale-Biscoe, Heads of Fixed Income and Secured Funding Product Management at ION Markets, speak about how ION’s one-stop shop for trading solutions sets it apart from other fintech vendors. They also discuss how ION's API-based technology enables clients to customize core functionality to suit their specific business needs.
Murex Head of Securities Finance Product Management Sabine Farhat discusses shifts in the space driven by business and regulatory trends, emphasising the importance of balance sheet optimisation and increased scrutiny on collateral and liquidity. Sabine highlights the growing demand for centralisation, automation, and digitalisation, encouraged by standardisation from regulators and entities like ICMA, and how Murex addresses these evolving client needs in the changing securities finance landscape.
Jonathan Lee, Senior Regulatory Reporting Specialist and Matthew Vincent, Managing Director from RegTech firm Kaizen, talk about the innovation they are seeing in compliance and regulatory reporting as the space continues to evolve. With all the challenges and complexities that firms face, Jonathan and Matthew explain the various solutions that Kaizen offers to help firms fulfil their compliance obligations, whether it be regulatory reporting assurance, shareholding disclosure, trade and communications surveillance, research management or regulatory rules management on Single Rulebook.
Founder and CEO, Sanjay Garodia, introduces OMAS - the full lifecycle product for primary Debt Capital Markets. Hear his views on standardisation, partnerships and collaborations, data transfer and interoperability, and the impact of AI on the financial markets and the FinTech vendors that support it. He shares his experience of how smaller, nimble FinTech firms can help banks navigate internal hurdles around the adoption of new technology solutions, easing regulatory compliance headaches and the perseverance that is required to help clients achieve their goals.
Mark Dalton, Managing Director, and James Eves, Senior Executive, of ConvEx discuss the emerging role of specialist independent calculation agency services. Originally set up to provide specialist advice and calculation services to the equity-linked market, ConvEx has since expanded to debt capital markets instruments (capital securities, senior bonds with make-whole calls, LIBOR transition), derivatives and workplace compensation plans.
Raja Palaniappan, co-founder and CEO, discusses his transition from secondary market trading to revolutionising the primary issuance process of fixed income securities through digitisation. Origin, a SaaS platform, focuses on automating every stage of primary issuance to enhance efficiency, reduce risk, and manage unstructured data transfer.
Steve Toland, co-founder, discusses the company's focus on providing e-trading systems for fixed income markets. Steve highlights innovations in API normalisation and automated trading tools to facilitate connectivity and efficiency for their customers in a rapidly evolving and fragmented market landscape.
Todd Crowther , Head of Collateral Services, and Jon Ford, Head of Fixed Income , unpack the relationship between innovation and regulatory compliance in the constantly evolving industry landscape, and share insights from Pirum’s 20-year journey. From launching its cloud-based service before ‘SaaS’ (Software as a Service) was a thing, to its current position as a preferred post-trade services vendor across securities lending, repo, and collateral management and optimisation.
Charlie Berman, CEO and founder, shares his experience driving agora's mission to revolutionise the bond markets by leveraging distributed ledger technology to enhance efficiency and transparency. Starting with the origination process and heading towards full lifecycle management using smart contracts, agora is collaborating with stakeholders and new entrants to address longstanding inefficiencies and usher in a new era of innovation in capital markets.
Alex Westphal, Senior Director, Repo and Collateral Markets, ICMA, talks about the latest meetings and publications of ICMA’s European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC).
Nina Suhaib-Wolf, Director, Secondary Markets, ICMA, speaks about bond market transparency in the EU and UK.
Ruari Ewing, Senior Director, Primary Markets, ICMA, discusses ICMA’s updated form of Singapore selling restrictions and the related Monetary Authority of Singapore Notice on Business Conduct Requirements for Corporate Finance Advisers.
Miriam Patterson, Senior Director, ICMA, discusses ICMA's response to the Hong Kong SFC's market soundings consultation.
Andy Hill, Deputy Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA, provides a short update on the work of ICMA’s Bond Market Liquidity Taskforce, and its initial findings and recommendations to support liquidity and resilience in the core European sovereign bond markets. The podcast is also a call for further input from ICMA members active in these markets.
Paul Richards, Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy at ICMA, discusses stress and resilience in international capital markets.
Following the release of the paper “Considerations for risk factors and disclosure in DLT bond offering documents”, co-authors Gabriel Callsen, Director, FinTech and Digitalisation; Secretary to the ICMA FinTech Advisory Committee (FinAC) and Alexander Tollast, Counsel and Member of the Global Financial Markets and Tech Groups at Clifford Chance sat down to discuss the motives behind writing the article and offered further analysis of the results of the investigation.
Read the article here: https://www.icmagroup.org/assets/Considerations-for-risk-factors-and-disclosure-in-DLT-bond-offering-documents-November-2023.pdf
For more information on DLT bonds, read the ICMA FAQ: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/fintech-and-digitalisation/distributed-ledger-technology-dlt/frequently-asked-questions-on-dlt-and-blockchain-in-bond-markets/
For further information on ICMA’s work across the Fintech & Digitalisation space, click here: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/fintech-and-digitalisation/
Get in touch if you have any questions about the podcast or the paper: info@icmagroup.org
Ahead of ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council forum in Zurich on 24th November, Oliver Tinkler, Senior Director of ICMA, speaks with Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, and Dr. Max Castelli, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, about some of the global macroeconomic topics that will be discussed during the forum.
· As we head toward 2024 what are the major factors that could disrupt the global economy?
· What’s the outlook for the developed markets, given the backdrop of high inflation and interest rates?
Register here for free to join us in Zurich on 24th November: https://www.icmagroup.org/events/the-amic-forum-investing-for-the-longer-term-through-uncertain-markets/
Look out for our next AMIC podcast covering the markets which will be in early January 2024.
If you’d like to contribute questions for our guests to tackle, please get in touch via email at AMIC@icmagroup.org
Learn more about AMIC: https://www.icmagroup.org/market-practice-and-regulatory-policy/asset-management/
ICMA's Ruari Ewing, Senior Director, Primary Markets, discusses ICMA’s feedback on the MiFID investor protection and PRIIPs aspects of the EU’s retail investment strategy proposals.
ICMA's Chief Executive, Bryan Pascoe introduces the Q4 2023 ICMA Quarterly Report.
*This recording was generated in Speechify (the text-to-speech tool) from the original article by Bryan Pascoe
ICMA's Paul Richards, Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy at ICMA, discusses about synthetic US dollar LIBOR: the remaining task in the bond market.
ICMA’s Nicholas Pfaff, Deputy CEO and Head of Sustainable Finance, introduces a new paper on market integrity and greenwashing risks in sustainable finance.
*This recording was generated in Speechify (the text-to-speech tool) from the original article by Nicholas Pfaff
ICMA’s Alex Westphal (Director, Repo and Collateral markets) provides an update on the latest discussions in Europe in relation to a potential shortening of the settlement cycle from T+2 to T+1.
ICMA's Andy Hill, head of ICMA Secondary Markets, provides brief highlights from the latest publication of ICMA’s European Secondary Bond Market Data report.
ICMA's Miriam Patterson, Secretary, ICMA Legal and Documentation Committee discusses the FCA’s engagement process regarding the UK’s new proposed prospectus regime.
ICMA’s Katie Kelly, Senior Director, comments on proposed measures to increase resilience in the commercial paper market.
ICMA’s Nina Suhaib-Wolf, Director, Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, summarises key features of the ICMA response to the FCA consultation paper on the framework for a UK Consolidated Tape.
ICMA's Zhan Chen, Secretary, ERCC SFTR Taskforce, discusses the latest developments under SFTR.
ICMA’s Gabriel Callsen, Director, discusses ICMA’s latest initiatives focused on FinTech and innovation as well as regulatory developments in the international bond markets.
In this episode, Oliver Tinkler, Senior Director of ICMA and Head of Press and Communication, introduces the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC), ICMA's dedicated forum advocating the interests of buy-side members, including asset managers, institutional investors, private banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, among others. AMIC plays a vital role in ICMA's mission to promote well-functioning cross-border capital markets.
Our guests for this episode are industry experts who bring their valuable insights to the forefront. We are honored to host Bob Parker, former Chairman of AMIC and Senior Adviser to ICMA, alongside Dr. Max Castelli, Managing Director and Head of Strategy & Advice at UBS Asset Management, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the AMIC Executive Committee.
Mushtaq Kapasi, ICMA Chief Representative in Asia Pacific, talks to Ashwin Jolly, Senior Dealer at ICICI Bank UK plc, about themes and performance in global emerging debt markets; why some countries and sectors have performed better than others; the implications of monetary policy for international bond markets, and what to expect in the coming months.
Alex Westphal, secretary to ICMA’s ERCC, recaps the latest developments related to the ongoing review of CSDR, focusing particularly on the controversial mandatory buy-in provisions.
This podcast by Paul Richards, Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy at ICMA, is about the UK’s Future Regulatory Framework Review of financial services in a global context.
Valérie Guillaumin, Director Sustainable Finance, highlights the key features of the 2023 AGM and Conference of the Principles.
ICMA's Miriam Patterson, Secretary, ICMA Legal and Documentation Committee discusses the FCA’s engagement process regarding the UK’s new proposed prospectus regime.
Julia Rodkiewicz, Secretary to the Regulatory Policy Committee, introduces ICMA’s advocacy priorities for the Spanish EU Presidency.
ICMA's Secretary to the Fintech Advisory Committee, Gabriel Callsen, speaks about ICMA’s latest initiatives on innovation, automation and market efficiency in bond markets.
ICMA's Andy Hill, head of ICMA Secondary Markets, provides an update on the expected outcome of the political agreement on the MiFIR Review, from the perspective of the EU’s new bond market transparency framework
ICMA's Ruari Ewing (Secretary, ICMA Primary Market Practices Committee) narrates recent developments regarding the EU Listing Act (touching on the Prospectus Regulation, pre-sounding under the Market Abuse Regulation and official listing).
ICMA’s Chief Representative for Asia Pacific, Mushtaq Kapasi, reports on recent Asia-Pacific market developments highlighted in the Quarterly Report.
This ICMA podcast with four Leading Law Firms is about the transition from legacy US dollar LIBOR to SOFR in the bond market.
The background is that panel bank US dollar LIBOR ceased publication on 30 June, as planned. The FCA as global regulator of LIBOR has provided for synthetic US dollar LIBOR to be published for legacy transactions, including bonds, until 30 September 2024. Synthetic US dollar LIBOR provides a temporary bridge for legacy bonds to be transitioned from LIBOR to SOFR, the US dollar risk-free rate.
Following an introduction from Paul Richards, Head of Market Practice & Regulatory Policy at ICMA, the podcast consists of the following contributions from experts in four leading law firms:
- Catherine Wade of Linklaters on fallbacks in floating rate notes under English law
- Julia Machin of Clifford Chance on consent solicitations under English law
- Marcus Mackenzie of Freshfields on securitisations, including negative consents, under English law
- Amanda Thomas and Patrizia Pasqualini of Allen & Overy on the relationship between transition under English law, the US LIBOR Act and other foreign laws
- And Neil Pallender of Linklaters on operational issues during the transition
This is an ideal mini podcast to once listen on your way to work. In the first part, Patrick Saner, Head Macro Strategy at Swiss Reinsurance, shares his insights on the global macroeconomic and financial market environment, particularly the outlook looking into the second half of 2023. Charlotte Mueller, who serves on the ICMA Future Leaders committee, also asks Patrick about career tips for young professionals – there is some valuable advice there for us all!
Getting into banking is challenging - navigating a career in finance few years down the line is harder still.
This is why, on your behalf, International Capital Markets Association Future Leaders Nordic Steering Committee Representative, Anna Reuterskiöld took the opportunity to ask Eirik Winter, CEO BNP Paribas Group Nordic region, and Elisabeth Beskow, CEO DNB Bank ASA Sweden Branch, the tricky questions you might avoid asking.
Which areas of banking hold the best promise for career progression (and which to steer clear of), which skills will be valued as AI becomes a normal part of our work lives, is the specialist track superior or is a generalist approach a good tactic and, despite increasing talk of work-life balance in many institutions, what level of availability do our bosses expect, honestly? Can one maintain a personal life and mental health whilst pursuing a career in banking, seriously?
All the above and more is crammed into this 30 minute episode. Please enjoy, and if you have any comments or thoughts of other topics you would find helpful to hear about in the future, please feel free to reach out to Elisabeth, Eirik and Anna on LinkedIn or ICMA Future Leaders on futureleaders@icmagroup.org
Mushtaq Kapasi, Head of ICMA Asia Pacific, talks to Riad Choudhury, Head of Asia Pacific, MarketAxess about where and why fixed income e-trading continues to grow, how to navigate the complexity and fragmentation of Asian markets, and emerging opportunities in 2023 for trading platforms as well as investors.
Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA, discusses efforts underway to boost global bond markets resilience following post-covid socio-economic shocks.
Paul Richards, Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, reports on the cessation of panel bank US dollar LIBOR and the implications for bonds under English law.
Mushtaq Kapasi, Managing Director, Chief Representative for Asia Pacific and Yanqing Jia, Associate Director, Asia Pacific speak about the third edition of the ICMA report on Asian international bond markets, which provides an updated overview of market development and analysis of market events through the end of 2022.
Georgina Jarratt, Managing Director, Head of FinTech and Digitalisation, provides an overview of ICMA's work on the automation and digitalisation of the industry as a whole, sharing insights into the strategic focus and objectives for the team over the next 1-2 years.
ICMA's Ruari Ewing, Secretary, ICMA Primary Market Practices Committee discusses the replacement of the UK’s prospectus regime.
Andy Hill, head of ICMA Secondary Markets, provides an update on the ongoing MiFIR Review from the perspective of the proposed EU consolidate tape for bonds and the related transparency framework.
Katie Kelly, Senior Director, Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, speaks about whether there is a need for more and better transparency in commercial paper markets.
Alex Westphal, secretary to ICMA’s ERCC, speaks about ICMA’s latest work with members to support settlement efficiency in Europe as well as our related advocacy in the context of the ongoing CSDR Refit discussions.
Ozgur Altun, Associate Director of Sustainable Finance at ICMA, talks about the ICMA’s response to the Greenwashing Call for Evidence launched by European regulators in November 2022.
Gabriel Callsen, Director, FinTech and Digitalisation, at ICMA, speaks about ICMA’s CDM project, which is now open source, automation and innovation in repo markets and ICMA’s priorities.
The final episode of our series on market integrity in sustainable finance, focuses on the asset management and the fund industry. Nicholas Pfaff, Deputy CEO and Head of Sustainable Finance at ICMA sat down with Hortense Bioy, Global Director of Sustainability Research, Manager Research, Morningstar, Mark Manning, Strategic Policy Advisor Sustainable Finance, FCA, Patrik Karlsson, Senior Policy Offices, ESMA and Stéphane Janin, Head of Global Regulatory Developments and Public Affairs, AXA Investment Managers, to talk about greenwashing in the industry, the impact of regulation such as SFDR and what’s next on the regulators’ agenda.
The ICMA Social Bond Working Group is publishing a series of podcasts focusing on aspects of Social Bonds and their markets.
In this episode Philip Watkins Head of ESG DCM at SMBC Nikko discusses with Anna Smukowski , Senior Director, Capital Programs, Enterprise Community Loan Fund at Enterprise Community Partners and Natasha Garcha, Senior Director, Innovative Finance and Gender-Lens Investing Specialist at the Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), how a focus on gender and racial equality through target populations for social bonds is being addressed in issuance.
Other podcasts in the series:
Episode 1: SBP Introduction
Episode 2: Current state of the market (July 2022)
Episode 3: Corporates
In this episode Simone Utermarck, Director, Sustainable Finance at ICMA talks to Isabelle Laurent, Deputy Treasurer and Head of Funding at the EBRD, Joseba Mota, Head of Fixed Income and ESG, Eric Pedersen, Head of Responsible Investments, Nordea Asset Management, Jochen Krimphoff, Global lead data, tools and methods for the Greening Financial Regulation Initiative (GFRI), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Julian Mazzacurati, Senior Economist, Risk Analysis and Economics Department at European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) about the link of sustainable finance to the real economy. The conversation touches on green bonds, the Principles and related guidance; the EU Taxonomy; external reviews and the use of technology.
ICMA's Secretary to the Fintech Advisory Committee, Gabriel Callsen, speaks about DLT and bond markets, automation of the bond issuance process, and industry collaboration on the CDM to reduce costs and promote innovation.
ICMA's Director, Sustainable Finance, Simone Utermarck, summarises ICMA’s take aways from COP27.
ICMA's Secretary to ICMA'S ERCC, Alex Westphal, explains the rationale and setup of ICMA’s Global Repo and Collateral Forum (GRCF) and comments on the latest developments, next steps and opportunities for ICMA’s global membership to engage in the new group.
ICMA’s Secretary, Secondary Market Practices Committee, Andy Hill, previews the ERCC’s annual analysis of how the European repo market performed over the recent year-end.
ICMA’s Secretary, Secondary Market Practices Committee, Andy Hill, updates on the ongoing regulatory developments and dynamics related to the EU’s contentious mandatory buy-in regime.
ICMA's Secretary to the Primary Market Practices Committee, Ruari Ewing, reports on recent proposals relating to the EU and UK prospectus regimes.
ICMA's Senior Director, Katie Kelly, discusses the FCA’s recent consultation on synthetic US dollar LIBOR.
ICMA’s Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, Paul Richards, reports on monetary policy, financial stability and capital market resilience.
Klaudia Gorczyca, Founder of Dialogue Age and Executive Performance Coach talks to Klaudia Mach, an Associate at Milbank’s Alternative Investments Practice in London and a member of the ICMA Future Leaders Fintech Work Group about navigating and future-proofing your career in Capital Markets: what skills and mindset will serve us most powerfully in face of volatility and constant change; how digital transformation and technology will enhance sustainable investments, and the power of cognitive diversity and collaboration in countering complexity and finding solutions to complex problems.
Ashwin Jolly, Senior Dealer at ICICI Bank UK plc, talks to Mushtaq Kapasi, ICMA Chief Representative in Asia Pacific, about recent performance in global emerging debt markets; why some countries and sectors have performed better than others; the implications of monetary policy for international bond markets, and what to expect for Indian USD denominated fixed income.
This 40-minute podcast looks at Sustainability-linked Bonds (SLBs) and transition finance with a focus on greenwashing risks and remedies. Listen to the conversation moderator Laurie Chesne, Head of Green & Sustainable Financing at Natixis had with Nicole Della Vedova, Head of Corporate Finance at Enel; Felipe Gordillo, ESG Senior Analyst at Mirova; Nate Aden, Finance Sector Lead at Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and Ulf Erlandsson, Founder and CEO of Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute.
ICMA’s Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, Paul Richards, reports on the transition of legacy US dollar LIBOR bonds under English law.
ICMA’s Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, Paul Richards, reports on the transition of legacy US dollar LIBOR bonds under English law.
ICMA's Deputy Chief Executive & Secretary of the Principles, Nicholas Pfaff, reports on further positive developments regarding the use of the Principles as a global standard for sustainable bonds illustrated by recent announcements of the European Central Bank and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, as well as developments in China’s domestic green bond market.
ICMA's Deputy Chief Executive & Secretary of the Principles, Nicholas Pfaff, reports on further positive developments regarding the use of the Principles as a global standard for sustainable bonds illustrated by recent announcements of the European Central Bank and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, as well as developments in China’s domestic green bond market.
ICMA's Secretary, ICMA Primary Market Practices Committee, Ruari Ewing, reports on the Hong Kong SFC conduct requirements for bookbuilding and placing.
ICMA's Secretary, ICMA Primary Market Practices Committee, Ruari Ewing, reports on the Hong Kong SFC conduct requirements for bookbuilding and placing.
Both the EU and UK Prospectus Regulations are in the process of being reviewed. ICMA's, Secretary, ICMA Legal & Documentation Committee, Charlotte Bellamy, discusses the key points for international bond markets and what ICMA will be watching out for as the EU and UK regimes diverge.
Both the EU and UK Prospectus Regulations are in the process of being reviewed. ICMA's, Secretary, ICMA Legal & Documentation Committee, Charlotte Bellamy, discusses the key points for international bond markets and what ICMA will be watching out for as the EU and UK regimes diverge.
ICMA's Secretary, ICMA Secondary Market Practices Committee, Andy Hill, updates on the soon to be published ICMA Secondary Bond Market Data Report, which consolidates publicly available EU and UK post-trade data for both sovereign and corporate bond activity.
ICMA's Secretary, ICMA Secondary Market Practices Committee, Andy Hill, updates on the soon to be published ICMA Secondary Bond Market Data Report, which consolidates publicly available EU and UK post-trade data for both sovereign and corporate bond activity.
ICMA's Secretary, ICMA Secondary Market Practices Committee, Andy Hill, updates on ICMA’s ongoing advocacy to remove mandatory buy-ins from CSD Regulation.
ICMA's Secretary, ICMA Secondary Market Practices Committee, Andy Hill, updates on ICMA’s ongoing advocacy to remove mandatory buy-ins from CSD Regulation.
ICMA’s Secretary, Liz Callaghan, Secretary to the Electronic Trading Council, reports on the appropriate EU bond market transparency regime framework.
ICMA’s Secretary, Liz Callaghan, Secretary to the Electronic Trading Council, reports on the appropriate EU bond market transparency regime framework.
ICMA is launching the Global Repo and Collateral Forum (GRCF), a platform to bring together repo market practitioners from around the world to discuss common themes in repo and collateral markets. Alex Westphal, secretary to ICMA’s ERCC, explains the background to the initiative as well as next steps and opportunities for ICMA members to engage in the new group.
ICMA is launching the Global Repo and Collateral Forum (GRCF), a platform to bring together repo market practitioners from around the world to discuss common themes in repo and collateral markets. Alex Westphal, secretary to ICMA’s ERCC, explains the background to the initiative as well as next steps and opportunities for ICMA members to engage in the new group.
ICMA's Secretary to the Fintech Advisory Committee, Gabriel Callsen, comments on ICMA's FAQs on DLT and blockchain in bond markets.
ICMA's Secretary to the Fintech Advisory Committee, Gabriel Callsen, comments on ICMA's FAQs on DLT and blockchain in bond markets.
ICMA's Secretary, ICMA Public Sector Issuer Forum, ICMA Financial Institution Issuer Forum and ICMA Corporate Issuer Forum, Katie Kelly discusses ICMA’s Commercial Paper Transparency Taskforce charged with identifying whether, how and where greater transparency in commercial paper can be achieved.
ICMA's Secretary, ICMA Public Sector Issuer Forum, ICMA Financial Institution Issuer Forum and ICMA Corporate Issuer Forum, Katie Kelly discusses ICMA’s Commercial Paper Transparency Taskforce charged with identifying whether, how and where greater transparency in commercial paper can be achieved.
ICMA’s Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, Paul Richards, reports on international capital markets in a time of economic shocks.
Andy Hill, an ICMA Senior Director in Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, comments on corporate bond market liquidity and ICMA’s response to the IOSCO discussion paper.
ICMA’s Chief Representative for Asia Pacific, Mushtaq Kapasi, reports on the Hong Kong SFC conduct requirements for bookbuilding and placing.
ICMA’s General Counsel, Leland Goss, reports on new challenges ahead for debt workouts with regard to sovereign debt vulnerabilities.
Lisa Cleary, ICMA’s Senior Director, Legal Team, provides an update on the GMRA clause taxonomy and library project.
ICMA’s Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Sustainable Finance, Nicholas Pfaff, provides a sustainable finance update.
Charlotte Bellamy, an ICMA Senior Director in Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, reports on mid-cap bond markets in Europe.
Ruari Ewing, ICMA’s Senior Director in Primary Markets, comments on ESAs’ advice on the PRIIPS review.
ICMA’s Liz Callaghan, Secondary Bond Markets MiFID II Lead and Secretary to the Electronic Trading Council, reports on the appropriate EU bond market transparency regime framework.
Alex Westphal, an ICMA Director in Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, provides an update on repo and collateral market developments.
Katie Kelly, an ICMA Senior Director in Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, provides an update on the transition from LIBOR in the bond market.
This episode looks at corporate issuers of social bonds. ICMA member Nordea discusses with Telefonica and EDF (Electricité de France) why they decided to issue social bonds. They also look at investors' responses and the market's expected development.
In this episode, the ICMA Social Bond Working Group invite the Council of Europe Development Bank and external reviewer, Sustainalytics, to provide an update on the current state of the Social Bond market, as well as the main trends we can expect.
In this new edition of the podcast series, ICMA Future Leaders (IFL) representatives, Michael Sansen, Charles Tissier and Majoke Hegen speak to Niall Bohan, Director, Asset and Financial Risk Management, Directorate-General for the EU Budget, European Commission. The IFL team discuss with Niall his own career development, progress within the Commission and current role and responsibilities, how new talent is recruited from across the EU and the steps taken to improve that journey, and how teams are developed to integrate the next generation into high-performance units.
Andy Hill of ICMA speaks to NowCM’s Robert Koller, CEO and Founder and Fredrik Creutz, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder about what has been achieved so far in digitising primary debt markets, its purpose and real-life benefits as well as the end-game of a digital bond market. They also discuss what a digital bond market requires to reach its full potential.
ICMA Future Leaders steering committee members, Michael Sansen, Charles Tissier and Majoke Hegen speak to Bertrand de Mazières, Director General of Finance at the European Investment Bank (EIB) about his career development, including career highlights such as the EIB’s pioneering work in issuing the first ever green bond, while offering his own personal advice to young professionals. Bertrand also gives his insights into the functioning of one of the world’s leading public institutions and expands on the various employment opportunities, including their GRAD programme which provides new graduates who have not had previous professional experience the possibility to work for the EIB.
The ICMA Social Bond Working Group is publishing a series of podcasts focusing on aspects of Social Bonds and their markets.
In this episode of the Social Bond podcast, the co-coordinators of the ICMA Social Bond Working Group present recent updates to two documents – the Harmonised Framework for Impact Reporting for Social Bonds and the Mapping to the SDGs for Green, Social and Sustainability Bonds – both released in June 2022 at the Annual General Meeting and Conference of the ICMA Principles. The presenters explore common questions about social bonds and highlight relevant documents as key resources available for social bond market participants on the ICMA Principles website.
ICMA’s Mushtaq Kapasi speaks with Ashwin Jolly, senior dealer at ICICI Bank UK plc, about the Indian bond markets. The conversation covers the different kinds of bonds and issuers in the onshore and offshore markets, key attractions and possible considerations for investors, performance so far in 2022, and the future of sovereign and sustainable issuance.
In the first of a new series on market integrity in sustainable finance,this podcast covers what is good and what is being questioned in the sustainable bond market witha focus on greenwashing risks and remedies.Denise Odaro, Head of Investor Relations, IFC and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles leads a lively discussion with Eila Kreivi, Chief Sustainable Finance Officer at EIB; Bram Bos, Lead Portfolio Manager Green Bonds at NNIP and Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bond Initiative.
Max Castelli , Co-Chair of ICMA's Asset Management & Investors Council (AMIC) and Robert Parker, ICMA Senior Advisor review the economic and capital markets outlook, its impact on investor portfolios and the implications for the asset management Industry. They discuss issues of particular concern to investors, such as the prospects for growth, inflation and monetary policies, as well as a number of longer term issues including the response of the industry to climate change and the reversal of globalisation .
During this ICMA podcast, we sit down with Kristrún Tinna Gunnarsdóttir, Head of Strategy and Sustainability for Íslandsbanki. Íslandsbanki was the first bank in Iceland to establish a Sustainable Financing Framework. Kristrún introduces listeners to the main features of the framework and overall Sustainability approach at Íslandsbanki, and shares her views on potential areas for future focus and development.
Nordic representative for ICMA Future Leaders Rebekah Bray speaks with Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen, one of the three founders of Female Invest. As business students in 2019, Anna-Sophie and her co-founders saw a clear gap in resources to educate women about how to invest, and decided to tackle the issue head-on by founding Female Invest. Today, the social e-learning platform has paying members across 77 countries and the co-founders are listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.
ICMA Chief Executive Bryan Pascoe, chats to Yanqing Jia from ICMA’s Hong Kong office about how improving diversity and inclusion makes good business sense and the importance of industry leadership by setting a good example. While ICMA has made progress with its D&I initiatives to recruit and support a diverse workforce, particularly in achieving gender diversity in the group, and in its enthusiastic support for an active international ICMA Womens Network, his view is that we need to challenge ourselves in other areas, by looking to promote greater diversity of thought and recruiting from a broader range of social backgrounds.
ICMA Chief Executive, Bryan Pascoe introduces the latest ICMA Quarterly Report with an overview of market conditions and highlights contributions in the publication from Jérôme Haegli, Swiss Re; Denis Beau at Banque de France on diversity and inclusion; and Habib Motani from Clifford Chance on 30 years of the GMRA.
ICMA’s Katie Kelly on the importance of diversity and inclusion in the finance industry with specific reference to initiatives in this area at the Banque de France.
In the ICMA Quarterly Report, the Quarterly Assessment is about the transition away from LIBOR to risk-free rates in the bond market. The Quarterly Assessment is introduced in this podcast by ICMA's Paul Richards, Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy.
ICMA’s Andy Hill, Secretary, ICMA Secondary Market Practices Committee, updates on the European Commission’s proposal for a revised mandatory buy-in framework and next steps.
ICMA’s, Nicholas Pfaff, Head of Sustainable Finance, summarises in this podcast the key points and recommendations from ICMA’s recent paper on “Ensuring the usability of the EU Taxonomy” also covered in a feature in this edition of the Quarterly Report.
ICMA's Charlotte Bellamy, Secretary to the ICMA Legal & Documentation Committee, provides an update on the current reviews of the Prospectus Regulations in the EU and UK focusing on the key issues for ICMA primary markets members.
ICMA’s Ruari Ewing, Secretary, ICMA Primary Market Practices Committee, talks about ICMA’s response to the FCA’s consultation on a new UK consumer duty, which welcomed the FCA’s intention to exempt both vanilla retail bonds and institutional bonds from the scope of the new duty but raised concerns about the insufficiently narrow calibration of the drafting of these proposed exemptions.
Towards the end of 2021, the European Commission published its proposed amendments to MiFIR as part of the overall CMU package announcements. However, ICMA has suggested modifications to some of the European Commission’s proposals. ICMA's Liz Callaghan, Secretary, ICMA Electronic Trading Council, speaks about these recommendations concern pre- and post-trade transparency as well as the analysis required for a successful bond consolidated tape, the vehicle for transparency, to emerge.
On 1 February 2022, on the day of the go-live of CSDR cash penalties, ICMA’s European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC) released its discussion paper, Optimising Settlement Efficiency, aiming to focus attention on key opportunities to strengthen settlement efficiency in Europe. ICMA's Alex Westphal, Secretary to the ERCC, provides some background to the initiative and briefly walks through the key take aways from the paper and next steps.
ICMA’s Gabriel Callsen, Secretary, ICMA Fintech Advisory Committee, speaks about phase 2 of the Common Domain Model (CDM), which seeks to promote electronification of repo markets, notably open, floating-rate and evergreen repos, and how to become involved in this cross-industry initiative.
Repo expert and author of ICMA’s Guide to Best Practice in European Repo Markets, Richard Comotto, draws on his experience to highlight the challenges faced by frontier markets in trying to build successful new repo markets, including lack of an active interbank money market, illiquid collateral and legal obstacles.
IFL's Alexander Tollast discusses with Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO of FORGE, how innovation and digitalization are changing capital markets, picking out landmark transactions from the past and looking at where we are today and what might change going forward.
Robert Parker, Senior Adviser to ICMA and ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including inflationary pressures, the growing geopolitical tensions and the outlook for growth.
The Green Bond Principles (GBP), Social Bond Principles (SBP), Sustainability Bond Guidelines (SBG), and Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles (SLBP) are the global standard for sustainable bonds. In this podcast, delivered in Mandarin, ICMA’s Ricco Zhang discusses the Principles, international best market practices and the current onshore and offshore sustainable bond markets in China.
In this episode, IFL’s Sébastien Van Campenhoudt discusses with David Newns, Head of SDX, how securities settlement could be performed by CSDs in a DLT environment, with a specific focus on how the cash leg of the transaction can be processed.
Aditya Bhave, Senior US and Global Economist, Bank of America Securities, talks to Mushtaq Kapasi, ICMA Chief Representative in Asia Pacific about the outlook for growth and inflation in leading economies, the implications of inflation and monetary policy for international bond markets and what to expect in markets into 2023.
ICMA’s Head of secondary markets, Andy Hill and Ramon Baljé, Head of Fixed Income at Flow Traders discuss rapid change in the fixed income market, including electronification, the future for credit market structure, execution strategies and portfolio trading.
Robert Parker, senior advisor ICMA, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including the inflation and growth outlook, monetary policy developments and investors positioning.
Debora Revoltella, Director of the Economics Department of the European Investment Bank, presents the results of the EIB Investment Report 2021-2022, a unique survey of 125,000 firms undertaken in summer 2021, taking stock of post pandemic recovery and the potential opportunities to invest in the climate transition and digital innovation.
Luca Cazzulani, UniCredit's Co-Head of Strategy Research in conversation with Bryan Pascoe, ICMA Chief Executive, gives his views on the outlook for growth, inflation and monetary policy in major economies over the next year, with his expectations for returns from fixed income assets, including sovereign bonds.
Tom Porcelli, Chief U.S. Economist and Peter Schaffrik, Chief European Macro Strategist, at RBC Capital Markets share their insights on prospects for economic growth in the USA, Europe and the UK over the next two years. Comparing inflationary pressures in different markets, they discuss potential reactions from central banks in terms of rate hikes and tapering.
In this episode, ICMA Future Leader Sven Renders and MEP Johan Van Overtveldt talk about the importance of completing the CMU, the benefits of the new DLT pilot regime regulation for Europe’s capital markets and the added value of a digital Euro.
ICMA Chief Executive Bryan Pascoe speaks to Gilles Moec, AXA Group Chief Economist, about his central scenarios for growth and inflation in 2022, contrasting developed and emerging markets, and identifying the risks which could derail them. They also discuss climate transition initiatives as a long term source of inflation and touch on fintech developments including crypto and central bank digital currencies.
ICMA Chief Executive, Bryan Pascoe, sets out the ICMA action plan for 2022, focusing on developments in fintech, regulatory divergence in capital markets, the Capital Markets Union package and the increasingly complex regulatory environment for sustainable finance.
ICMA’s Ruari Ewing, Secretary, ICMA Primary Market Practices Committee, talks about the new model for closing syndicated bond issuances that the ICSDs are scheduled to adopt from 14 March 2022 and ICMA’s related paper suggesting how to consequently modify vanilla Regulation S transaction documentation.
At the end of the post-Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020, the UK left the EU Single Market, passporting rights ceased and the EU and UK markets became two separate markets. In the ICMA Quarterly Report, Paul Richards, Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, considers the risk of capital market fragmentation arising between the EU and the UK and examines the scope for regulatory cooperation in future in a global context.
On 25 November 2021, the European Commission (EC) published its communication on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) package. ICMA’s Julia Rodkiewicz, Secretary, ICMA Regulatory Policy Committee, explains the progress made and voices key concerns.
The market breathed a sigh of relief when the European Commission announced the latest delay to the CSDR mandatory buy-in regime in November 2021. ICMA’s Andy Hill, Secretary, ICMA Secondary Market Practices Committee, provides an update on the extensive work undertaken by ICMA to push for a review of the controversial regime, the expected next steps from ESMA and the Commission, and the future risks associated with any attempt to introduce a regulatory buy-in framework.
Complementing the work on CSDR and the upcoming go-live of cash penalties, ICMA’s European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC) is looking at other important tools and solutions to support the industry’s efforts to optimise settlement efficiency. Alex Westphal, Secretary to the ERCC, provides a brief update on the latest progress with the initiative as well as the key elements and take-aways from the discussions to date, ahead of the publication of an ERCC white paper on settlement efficiency which is planned for late January.
ICMA's Mushtaq Kapasi, Chief Representative for Asia-Pacific, provides an update on the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission’s new Code of Conduct for bookbuilding and placing, and potential implications for regional and global primary bond markets.
ICMA's Liz Callaghan, Secretary, ICMA Electronic Trading Council, speaks about ICMA's new proposal on a workable, balanced bond transparency regime, which is significantly simpler than today’s complex transparency regime. A regime that provides considerably more bond market transparency than can be found today but at the same time, protects liquidity providers and end investors from undue risk.
Nicholas Pfaff, ICMA’s Head of Sustainable Finance, reviews progress on the EU Green Bond Standard and the recent proposal that it become mandatory for all green bonds between 2025 and 2028.
ICMA's Irene Rey, AMIC Secretariat, provides key highlights of interest to AMIC members on the AIFMD and ELTIF proposals which were released by the European Commission at the end of November 2021.
ICMA’s Gabriel Callsen, Secretary, ICMA Fintech Advisory Committee, speaks about ICMA’s CDM project for repo and bonds, the recent survey results and next steps.
This LIBOR podcast follows an important milestone in the long-running story of the transition away from LIBOR and towards risk-free rates – the end of 2021. ICMA's Charlotte Bellamy, Secretary, ICMA Legal & Documentation Committee, discusses the introduction of synthetic sterling and yen LIBOR and some remaining questions for tough legacy bonds looking ahead.
ICMA's Katie Kelly, Secretary, ICMA Financial Institution Issuer Forum and ICMA Corporate Issuer Forum, presents a round-up of LIBOR-related developments in the Euro area and Switzerland.
ICMA Future Leaders (IFL) launched a Fintech working group earlier in 2021 to look into developments in Fintech including digital assets, blockchain transactions in capital markets, the evolution of securities technology, among others, to support ICMA’s overall role in this fast evolving area. As part of the IFL working group’s activities, it has organised a series of podcasts with market experts focusing on digital ledger technology or DLT.
In this first episode, IFL’s Alexander Tollast and Alastria's Juan Jimenez Zaballos discuss the potential advantages of using DLT in the capital markets, as well as the challenges to be overcome for a fully-fledged market for digital securities to develop.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews key themes for investors in 2022 including the inflation and growth outlook, potential monetary policy divergences, and geopolitical risks.
ICMA’s President Martin Scheck speaks to David Reznik, Fixed Income Strategist at Bank Leumi, Israeli’s largest bank, about its market activities and more generally about the Israeli capital market and its market infrastructure. David discusses the main issuers, local bond practices, the main investors of Israeli debt and also provides his insights on efforts being made in the field of sustainable finance and the overall outlook for the market.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including the inflation outlook, the Chinese economic slowdown and main takeaways for investors following the COP26.
The end of 2021 is a key and long-awaited milestone in the LIBOR transition process. As this important date approaches, this ICMA webinar will take stock of progress in the adoption of alternative risk-free rates in the bond market and active transition of legacy bonds; consider the various legislative solutions designed to address the issue of “tough legacy” bonds; and discuss how LIBOR transition is progressing in Asia Pacific.
Speakers include:
- Paul Richards, Managing Director, Head of Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, ICMA
- Katie Kelly, Senior Director, Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, ICMA
- Charlotte Bellamy, Senior Director, Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, ICMA
- Mushtaq Kapasi, Managing Director, Chief Representative, Asia-Pacific, ICMA
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including rising inflation, the corporate earnings season, the growth outlook in China, and the upcoming central bank meetings.
In advance of COP26, ICMA’s Nicholas Pfaff moderates a high-level discussion on Climate Transition Finance outlining the key issues and also introducing Japan’s regional guidance based on the Climate Transition Finance Handbook. Featuring contributions from Chris Iggo, Chief Investment Officer, AXA IM Core; Ketish Pothalingam, Executive VP, Portfolio Manager, PIMCO; and Motoko Ogawa, Deputy Director of Environmental Economy Office, Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environmental Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan.
The UK Government and authorities issued a flurry of consultations impacting primary bond market regulation this summer. In this podcast, ICMA’s Ruari Ewing and Charlotte Bellamy discuss the consultations and ICMA members’ key concerns in this area.
ICMA’s President Martin Scheck speaks to Leslie Maasdorp, Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of the New Development Bank, about the rationale and purpose behind the bank, its funding model and governance structure and their focus on infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the BRICS countries and other emerging economies. Leslie also discusses the NDB’s overall environmental, social and sustainability goals, along with their pandemic support and sustainable bond issue.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including the Evergrande debt situation and potential contagion risk, the Fed economic outlook and review of their monetary policy guidance, as well as the German election results.
ICMA’s Mushtaq Kapasi speaks with Pratima Divgi, CDP Regional Director, on the topic of environmental disclosure & impact reporting. Pratima provides a brief introduction on CDP’s role in sustainable finance and discusses how CDP relates to other disclosure regimes, the methodology for investor benchmarking, and how sustainability reporting may continue to evolve in the future.
Rebekah Bray of ICMA Women’s Network Nordic region speaks with Alexis Cousins of SEB’s Debt Capital Markets team to discuss workplace inequality. As a PhD candidate at the Stockholm School of Economics, Alexis’ research focuses on workplace inequality and the struggles of under-represented populations. She discusses general initiatives in the financial sector to address this issue, alongside a new programme at SEB to facilitate diversity and opportunities for under-represented talent.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks while considering geopolitical risks and potential divergence in monetary policies ahead of central banks' September meetings.
ICMA’s Mushtaq Kapasi speaks with Zalina Shamsudin, General Manager, Capital Markets Malaysia, about green and social sukuk in the context of the global sustainable and Islamic capital markets. The discussion covers how Islamic finance principles interact with conventional sustainable finance, the investor base for green sukuk, and Malaysia’s efforts to grow the market and facilitate further positive investment in south-east Asia.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including the Chinese equities sell-off, the pause in the reflation trade, and the ECB policy guidance.
ICMA’s Mushtaq Kapasi speaks with Suzanne Johnson, Senior Advisor, Sustainable Ocean Business with UN Global Compact about business opportunities in sustainable oceans and the role that capital markets can play in scaling up ocean based solutions to meet the needs of our growing world. Suzanne discusses the concept of ‘blue bonds’ and how they relate to green and sustainability-linked bonds, the risks and opportunities for commercial investment in sustainable oceans, and how the bond markets can facilitate investment.
ICMA’s Liz Callaghan discusses trends in corporate bond markets in the USA and in Europe with BondCliq CEO Chris White and Gabriele Frediani who heads business development for Bondcliq in Europe, highlighting similarities and the differences between the two markets. They also reflect on the need for a balanced approach for pre-trade transparency and data ownership and the lessons learned from Covid regarding market mechanics.
In this podcast, Nicholas Pfaff (ICMA’s Head of Sustainable Finance) discusses the main highlights of the ICMA’s recent publication ‘Overview and Recommendations of Sustainable Finance Taxonomies’ with ICMA colleagues Ozgur Altun and Yanqing Jia. They cover what taxonomies mean for sustainable finance, approaches taken by major initiatives such as by the EU and China, the interplay of taxonomies with the Green Bond Principles, existing guidance as well as recommended success criteria for new taxonomy initiatives from other jurisdictions.
Bob Parker, Chair of ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including the ongoing rise of inflation, Central Banks monetary policies as well as negative real bond yields.
Simone Utermarck, Director, Sustainable Finance at ICMA talks to Angel Tejada, Global Head of Green and Sustainable Bonds at BBVA about developments in the sustainable finance market in Latin America, particularly the sustainable bond market, including which countries are issuing, who the issuers are and the popularity of sustainability-linked bond issuance in the region. They also discuss the status of transition finance in LATAM.
Welcome to episode 5 of the Human Side of Finance podcast series, brought to you by ICMA Future Leaders and Humans in Finance. In this podcast we interview Dorrit Lowsen from Change Finance and Oren Shai from Enlivened Leadership Lab to explore the important conversation on Rebalancing Excessive Masculinity in Finance.
Episode notes:
- Polarity-related resources: https://oren.is/#dss
- Polarity Management: Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems by Barry Johnson
- Shakti Leadership Nilima Bhat and Raj Sisodia
Welcome to episode 4 of the Human Side of Finance podcast series, brought to you by Humans in Finance and ICMA Future Leaders. In this podcast we interview thought leaders on workplace culture and design: Annie Coleman and Kursty Groves. Annie Coleman is Group Head of People & Culture at UniCredit, former Global Head of Culture at UBS Investment Bank, and has also held senior roles at Goldman Sachs, GAM investments and the London Stock Exchange. Kursty Groves is a workplace strategist, author on workplace design, and founder of Shape Work Life, a consulting firm that specialises in co-creating the best places to work.
Episode notes:
- I Wish I Worked There!, Kursty Groves
- How Company Culture Shapes Employee Motivation, Harvard Business Review, by Lindsay McGregor and Neel Doshi
- Rungway: an anonymous workplace advice platform
- Designing Your Own Workspace Improves Health, Happiness and Productivity, University of Exeter research, by Dr Craig Knight
The Office Chronicles podcast series, Kursty Groves
Welcome to the third episode of the Human Side of Finance podcast series, brought to you by ICMA Future Leaders and Humans in Finance. Often referred to as one of the founding fathers of capital markets, Hans-Joerg Rudloff has been at the forefront of the international capital markets since their inception in the 1970’s. His 50 year career in the finance industry has seen him hold numerous impressive roles at Credit Suisse Peabody and Barclays investment bank to name a few. In this podcast, we talk to Hans-Joerg Rudloff about how the industry has evolved and hear his beliefs about the future of banking. He compares the current generation of bankers to their predecessors and describes in what ways things have evolved or stayed the same. Hans-Joerg Rudloff also shares a few stories of the past on events that caused the international capital markets to grow in leaps and bounds.
Martin Scheck, ICMA Chief Executive talks to Abdulkarim Al-Yaqout, Head Of Product Development at Kuwait Clearing Company (KCC) about the Kuwaiti debt capital market, its characteristics, main developments as well as its ambitions in ESG and fintech. Abdulkarim also discusses the role of KCC, their medium term strategy and the measures needed to develop further international involvement in the local market.
As we contemplate a return to the office, agile working arrangements are often part of the discussion, but what is agile working and how is it different from hybrid working? How can we structure it so that it brings out the best in people and allows team building and the exchange of ideas? Paul Allsopp, MD of The Agile Organisation has the answers.
Chris Topple, Euronext London CEO, talks to ICMA’s Martin Scheck about changes in European fixed income markets post MiFID II and how Euronext has scaled up its fixed income capabilities through recent acquisitions including Borsa Italiana to meet market structure challenges. They discuss the electronification of fixed income markets, the future of fixed income trading and improving post trade efficiency.
Welcome to the second episode of the Human Side of Finance podcast series, brought to you by ICMA Future Leaders and Humans in Finance. In “Can you find success and happiness in banking?” we gather insights from Stuart Smith, a Performance Consultant specialising in Performance Psychology, as well as Cyrus Ardalan, Chairman of Citigroups international investment banking subsidiary Citi Global Markets Ltd, on a question that receives ever greater focus in the industry. We discuss the stereotypes of working 15 hours a day, what the purpose of a banker really is and how this may be connected to ones happiness, but also why ‘high-achievers’ are shifting away from ‘excellence at any (mental) cost’.
Andy Hill, Head of Secondary Markets at ICMA, speaks with Christophe Roupie, Head of EMEA and APAC at MarketAxess, about recent and ongoing developments in the Asia international bond markets. Christophe shares his observations and insights on a number of aspects, including the internationalization of local markets, the growing predominance of China, the rapid adoption of e-trading and automation across the region, as well as the potential for further transformation of market structure in the near future.
Welcome to the first ever episode of the Human Side of Finance podcast series, brought to you by ICMA Future Leaders and Humans in Finance. In this podcast we explore the question “Is the grass greener on the other side?”. Can we truly find fulfilment in the mainstream finance industry or do we need to look elsewhere to achieve this? To help answer this question, we were joined by executive coach Jill Watt and former investment banker turned not for profit sustainable finance advisor Rufus Grantham.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including central bank response to the rise in inflation, economic recovery in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and investor positioning.
Mushtaq Kapasi, Head of ICMA Asia Pacific, speaks to Dr Entela Benz, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Finance at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School and co-founder and CEO of Intensel, and Dr Saurabh Singh, co-founder and CTO of Intensel about the different and sometimes unexpected aspects of climate risk, how to determine climate risk from underlying data and models, and how this risk can be translated into a “climate spread” on the price of assets.
Stephane Malrait, Head of Market Structure and Innovation for financial markets at ING, talks to ICMA’s Martin Scheck about how finance is catching up with other industries in using data combined with AI to enhance services to clients. He explores how DLT has evolved into a proven technology now being adopted for issuing and trading financial instruments. Stephane also discusses the importance of being aware of what solutions are already out there and openness to new ways of doing business.
Bodo Winkler-Viti, Berlin Hyp’s Head of Funding & Investor Relations speaks to Simone Utermarck at ICMA about Berlin Hyp’s pioneering role in the green bond market to becoming also the first bank in the world to issue a sustainability-linked bond (SLB) including how it fits into their overall strategy, the structuring of the bond and how the bank dealt with potential MREL concerns.
ICMA’s Katie Kelly speaks to Richard Kelly, Partner, Finance & Capital Markets Department at Matheson about Ireland’s debt capital market generally, and the effects of Brexit specifically along with other developments such as the rise of ESG bonds and Ireland’s potential as an incubation hub for digital technology.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including Q1 GDP growth and recovery, stabilisation of the US 10 year treasury yields and geopolitical risks to be considered by investors.
ICMA’s Mushtaq Kapasi speaks to Sir Danny Alexander, Vice President and Corporate Secretary of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank about the AIIB's mission and strategy to develop sustainable infrastructure in Asia. Sir Danny discusses in particular the AIIB’s Climate Change Investment Framework and COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility, along with other innovations in the sustainable capital markets.
ICMA’s Chief Executive Martin Scheck speaks to Greg Medcraft, Director, Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) about its mission and achievements to improve policies and livelihood across nations over the past six decades, its role in the international capital markets, and its global agenda including in the area of sustainability as well as the institution’s efforts in supporting digital transformation.
Nicole Della Vedova, Head of Corporate Finance and Giovanni Niero, Sustainable Finance Project Leader at Enel speak to Simone Utermarck about Enel’s journey from a green bond issuer to pioneer of sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs), how the release of the Sustainability-linked Bond Principles propelled the growth of SLBs and what to consider when structuring an SLB.
Rebekah Bray, Vice-Chair of ICMA Future Leaders speaks to Martina Macpherson, President of the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets (NSFM) and Head of ESG Strategy, ODDO BHF AM about NSFM, its focus to support and enable the next generation of sustainable finance experts, capital market professionals and academics and its aim to work on initiatives that are in alignment with the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Free educational resources
• SDG Academy [https://sdgacademy.org/]
• EDX Online Learning [https://www.edx.org/]
• Corporate Finance Institute [https://courses.corporatefinanceinstitute.com/courses/environmental-social-governance]
• ADBI Sustainable Finance course [https://www.adb.org/adbi/news/new-adbi-elearning-governing-sustainable-finance]
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the European Repo Market Survey, ICMA’s Alex Westphal speaks to Richard Comotto, author of the Survey, to discuss the evolution of the survey, long-term trends in the European repo market, as well as the results of the current survey and the outlook for the repo market post Brexit transition.
ICMA’s Liz Callaghan talks to Ricky Goddard, Head of trading at Schroders, about current bond pricing and axe distribution practices in the EU bond markets and the challenges that the market faces today. They discuss the importance of standardising axe information, which is the term commonly used to advertise buy or sell bond interests, the role of electronic & technology solutions in its distribution and the obstacles in achieving good quality and accurate bond pricing/axe data.
ICMA’s Mushtaq Kapasi speaks with David Jenkins, Global Head of Sustainable Finance at National Australia Bank, about the Australian and New Zealand sustainable bond market. They delve into how investors are viewing recent product innovations and whether they are willing to pay a premium for sustainability. They also explore opportunities for further growth of the market, and the steps needed to make these possible.
The underwriting function guarantees that the borrower will receive its funds from a particular offering in the international capital markets, but does real underwriting risk still exist in today’s cross-border bond markets and is the underwriting function still relevant? Bond market veteran Chris O’Malley examines the role of underwriting and underwriting risk over 60 years in the cross-border bond markets.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA's Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including the sharp increase of the 10-year US treasury yield, inflation expectations and the portfolio rotation this has triggered among investors.
Nicholas Pfaff, Head of Sustainable Finance, ICMA speaks to Jean Marie-Masse, Chief Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation (IFC) about their Green Bond Technical Assistance Programme (GP-TAP) which helps the development of the green bond market in emerging countries. The GBP-TAP, spanning a period of seven years, is financed by the governments of Switzerland, Sweden and Luxembourg and focuses on six areas, namely training, communication, creating a database to increase supply of data on green and other ESG issuance, sponsoring research and case studies, advising governments on policies to encourage green bond issuance and lastly, assisting banks who wish to issue green bonds.
ICMA’s Chief Executive, Martin Scheck speaks with Jose Carlos Doherty, CEO, ANBIMA, about the role of the Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association and the challenges they have faced in the past year. Their discussion covers the changing role of foreign investors, the evolution of the sustainability agenda, and increasing importance of diversity in the work of ANBIMA and the wider Brazilian capital market. Read more about ANBIMA here.
ICMA’s Ricco Zhang speaks with Christine Zhang of China Chengxin International Credit Rating about the evolving market for Panda bonds, which refers to bonds issued in the Chinese bond market by foreign institutions duly registered outside China. Their discussion provides an overview of the market, reviews the implications of NAFMII’s new rules on tiered management, and outlines challenges and opportunities in 2021. Further resources include CCXI’s report - Panda Bonds in 5 Years: Finding its Way out.
In this briefing, ICMA provides an overview of the global transition from LIBOR to risk-free rates, particularly in the bond market. Paul Richards, Katie Kelly, Charlotte Bellamy and Mushtaq Kapasi discuss the adoption of risk-free rates and the active transition of legacy LIBOR bonds, legislation on tough legacy contracts and the transition to risk-free rates in Asia-Pacific.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA's Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the past weeks, including the highly profiled equity market bubble, along with its wider market implications and possible action from supervisors, the outcome of the ECB and the Fed January meetings, as well as the IMF and World Bank 2021 global growth forecasts.
Byron Cooper-Fogarty, Interim CEO, Neptune Networks Ltd speaks to ICMA’s Liz Callaghan about the problems Neptune is solving for the bond market, how electronic bond trading is evolving and whether regulation is helping or hindering technology innovation.
Andy Hill, ICMA’s Senior Director and head of secondary markets speaks with Mushtaq Kapasi, ICMA’s Chief Representative for Asia-Pacific, about China’s corporate bond market and ICMA’s new report on the trends, opportunities, and challenges related to the internationalization of the China corporate bond market.
Philippe Waechter, Chief Economist of Ostrum Asset Management, shares his outlook for the economy in 2021 in the context of the persistent COVID-19 health crisis and highlights key factors to consider for European economies post-pandemic including the need to trigger autonomous growth as the economic impulse coming from traditional partners (China and USA) will diminish in the foreseeable future.
ICMA speaks with Sam Direen, Treasurer of Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities, the public housing agency of New Zealand. The discussion covers Kāinga Ora’s experience issuing Wellbeing Bonds aligned with the Green and Social Bond Principles, how these bonds fit in to their broader sustainability strategy, the importance and challenges of impact reporting, and potential lessons for the global sustainable finance market.
George Buckley, Chief UK and Euro Area Economist at Nomura gives his views on the Euro area politics and the economic outlook, also covering the effects of Brexit on the UK economy, prospects for the housing market and the likelihood of the Bank of England going negative on official interest rates in 2021.
Paul Donovan, Global Chief Economist of UBS Wealth Management, talks to Martin Scheck, ICMA about how COVID-19 is accelerating structural change making a return to the status quo unlikely, Also, differing patterns of consumption in the USA and Europe, and how they are affecting economic recovery, the forces currently restraining investment spending and prospects for the ‘roaring 20s’.
Christoph Rieger, Head of Rates and Credit Research at Commerzbank comments on the market environment in 2021, including excess savings, increasing inflation, the strengthening of the euro, and asset purchase programmes, with their implications for policy makers, particularly the ECB. He also considers how large scale issuance by the EU will influence financial markets this year.
Marc Chandler, Managing Director, Bannockburn Global Forex, joins Leland Goss, Managing Director & General Counsel at ICMA, for an in-depth conversation on the future of DCM and FX markets in 2021. They discuss the significant monetary expansion in the US brought on by COVID-19, the feasibility of European monetary union without a fiscal union and the outlook for the year ahead.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA's Asset Management and Investors Council, shares his outlook for 2021 for the asset management industry including his views on inflation, central bank monetary policies and the potential asset bubbles in the market.
Paul Richards, Head of ICMA’s Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, Charlotte Bellamy, Senior Director, Primary Markets and Lisa Cleary, Senior Director & Associate Counsel, provide an overview of the implications for international capital markets from the end of the post-Brexit transition period, including changes to ICMA’s primary market documentation and the existing guidance for the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA).
ICMA speaks to Steve Toland, Founder at TransFICC, an e-trading technology company providing solutions for the fixed income and derivatives markets, who shares his views on how FinTech is creating efficiencies in the capital markets and current trends, including increased automation of work flows and processes. Steve also discusses the effect that the pandemic has had on the FinTech sector and the other challenges it faces, the role of the regulatory framework as well as the expected impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the future.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA's Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the last two weeks, in light of COVID-19 rising cases and vaccines rollout, recent decisions taken by the ECB and the upcoming meeting of the Fed.
On this ICMA podcast, Cyrus Ardalan, Former Chair, ICMA, Chairman of Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. and Chair, IFFIm Board of Directors, together with Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA's Asset Management and Investors Council, and Simon Meldrum, Innovative Finance Specialist, Red Cross, discuss the recently launched Innovative Humanitarian Financing Forum (IHFF) and the role that capital markets can play in humanitarian finance. IHFF was founded in March 2020 to bring together representatives of public and private institutions in business, banking, charities and humanitarian organisations to explore how novel financial tools and instruments could expand resources for urgent humanitarian needs, from health emergencies and education to sanitation, hygiene and climate change.
If interested in supporting or participating in future forums, please contact Carlo Piot (cpiot-external-consultant@iffim.org) or Thalia Chin (ThaliaChin@redcross.org.uk).
As we approach the need to build back from the unprecedented economic shock of the pandemic and governments consider the form recovery will take, members of the ICMA Future Leaders legal working group discuss the potential opportunities and challenges in this area.
Sustainability experts from Mizuho speak to ICMA about the development and outlook of the Japanese ESG related bond market, including a recent landmark sustainability-linked bond transaction in Japan. They discuss broader themes of sustainability in bank strategy and efforts to promote the SDGs and environmental conservation through the financial market.
ICMA Chief Executive Martin Scheck speaks to Axel van Nederveen, Treasurer, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) about its role in developing robust domestic capital markets. The discussion covers the responsibilities of multilateral development banks in helping to create capital market infrastructure in developing economies, the challenges involved and embedding the EBRD’s values of socially sound and sustainable development.
Nick Pfaff, Head of Sustainable Finance at ICMA speaks to Margaret Kuhlow, Head of Global Finance Practice at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Elise Calais, Head of Division, Enterprise, the French Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition about the role of the sustainable bond markets in promoting biodiversity and examples of related projects being financed by green bonds. They also discuss the recent guidance from the Green Bond Principles on impact reporting for biodiversity projects, as well as the role and importance of ESG disclosures.
Daniel Weiss, Deputy Group Treasurer at Novartis, discusses the recent Novartis Sustainability-Linked Bond (SLB), which was the first SLB with two separate KPIs, one of which was a social KPI. In this podcast, Daniel discusses the rationale behind the structure, the ease of getting to market and investor perception of this innovative structure.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA's Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the last two weeks, in light of COVID-19 outbreaks, recent economic indicators and central banks' upcoming meetings.
Nor Masliza Sulaiman, Senior Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets at CIMB Investment Bank, speaks to ICMA about the fast-growing bond and sukuk markets – both domestic and cross-border – in the southeast Asia region. Ms Sulaiman shares her perspectives on recent issuance and credit trends, product innovation in sustainable and Islamic finance, and opportunities for global investors.
Dr Lee Braine, Director of Research and Engineering in the Chief Technology Office, Barclays talks to ICMA Chief Executive, Martin Scheck about the Common Domain Model, how it digitises life cycle events to address the problems of inconsistent processes and data and its application to derivatives, bonds and repo. They also discuss the challenges for its adoption in capital markets and the role of the Barclays DerivHack Hackathon.
Nicholas Hamilton, Executive Director at JP Morgan talks to ICMA’s Alex Westphal about the important work of the ICMA European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC) Operations Group, which Nicholas is co-chairing. The podcast touches on some of the key themes that the group is focusing on, particularly related to market infrastructure, and explains the ERCC’s close involvement in the relevant market contact groups set up by the European Central Bank.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA's Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the last two weeks, in light of the progress made with COVID-19 vaccines, the US presidential election results and Brexit.
Rehan Ahmed, Head of Fixed Income (FI) Products & Digital Assets at Singapore Exchange (SGX) speaks to ICMA on SGX’s innovations in the digital bond issuance space and the structural shifts in the industry. Rehan discusses SGX’s recent pilot issuance for Olam International and share his views on future trends for the digitalisation of financial assets and its long term impact on FI securities markets.
SGX’s recently published white paper on digital fixed income assets can be downloaded here.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA's Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the last two weeks, in light of Ant Group's IPO suspension, the US presidential election and the Fed's next meeting.
The ICMA Women's Network hosted a virtual conversation between Allegra Berman, Global Head of Institutional Sales & Global Co-Head of Securities Services, Markets & Securities Services, HSBC and Wura Olatunbosun, Associate, Dentons. With many of us working remotely during these challenging conditions, it is harder than ever to share knowledge and expertise. But inter-generational connectivity remains extremely important as it can help mould positive attitudes and inspire the upcoming generation in the next steps of their careers, and can introduce fresh perspectives and different working cultures.
Allegra and Wura listened and learned from each other, exploring how the challenges facing women in finance have changed over time, citing shifts in culture and expectations, the importance of adaptability and resilience, and what the future may hold as the different generations weather the storm together and prepare for what’s next.
At the end of a turbulent year for world financial markets this discussion looked at recent developments in the debt capital markets of Africa, how they are faring in the pandemic and their prospects for providing financing in the future. A panel of market experts from across the region shared their insights on market performance, liquidity, sustainability and the regulatory environment and considered the role of the central banks in further developing bond markets.
Moderator: Martin Scheck, Chief Executive, ICMA Panellists: Ekow Afedzie, Managing Director, Ghana Stock Exchange Philip Buyskes, Chief Executive Officer, Frontclear Chandi Mwenebungu, Director & Treasurer, African Export-Import Bank Jumoke Olaniyan, Vice President Market Architecture, FMDQ Securities Exchange Zafar Parker, Head: Financial Markets Department, South African Reserve Bank
Satoshi NOJIRI, Head of Retirement Institute, Fidelity Institute, FIL Investments (Japan) speaks to ICMA about the current age demographics in Japan; the implications of the aging population for the overall functioning of the country and future economic growth; and the various initiatives the government is taking to address this issue including the extension of retirement age and promoting the building of assets by individuals in preparation for their retirement. Satoshi also discusses the response of the Japanese capital market along with the products being developed and offers insights to other jurisdictions who are facing or may face the same situation.
Andy Hill of ICMA discusses cross-border and multi-jurisdictional regulatory reporting consolidation with Dean Bruyns, Senior Director of Broadridge’s Regulatory Reporting Solution. The conversation covers ISO schemas, ISDA taxonomies, and UTIs, as well as the benefits and challenges of global coordination and the risks arising from divergence and fragmentation.
Robert Parker, Chair of ICMA's Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the last two weeks, in light of the increase in global coronavirus cases, the upcoming US presidential election and investor positioning.
ICMA’s Katie Kelly talks to Sun-Hee Park, Senior Counsel at EBRD about everyday racism and complacency in the financial industry and the importance of monitoring the success (or otherwise) of diversity policies. Also, is BAME a useful label or not in this context?
Christa Clapp, co-founder of Cicero Shades of Green talks to ICMA’s Head of Sustainable Finance, Nicholas Pfaff about the evolving role of external reviewers in giving transparency to investors in green, social and sustainability bonds and new sustainability linked bonds, as well as the future EU Green Bond Standard.