The Board of Directors of 2003 was also voted, The Presidency will pass from Antonio J. Zoido of the Bolsa de Madrid to Richard A. Grasso of the New York Stock Exchange.
At the working sessions of the Annual Meeting dealing with headline business issues, the first presentation was a commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the Dutch East Indies Company, believed to be the fast corporation to have issued publicly traded shares with limited liability for shareholders.
The keynote address was given by James Fallows, National Correspondent of the Atlantic Monthly, who gave members some perspective on the capital markets today.
Annette Nazareth, Director Division of Market Regulation at the US SEC and its representative to the Financial Stability Forum, joined William, Witherell, Director for Financial, Fiscal and Enterprise Affairs at the OECD, also its representative to the Financial Stability Forum, in presenting this organization which coordinates inter-government work in the field of regulation and financial oversight. Robert Britz, President of the New York Stock Exchange, explained the role exchanges have in contributing to financial stability, which is one of the essential attributes of a regulated exchange.
The intellectual property rights of exchanges was reviewed for members in a study prepared by Albert Bressand and Catherine, Distler of Prométhée, a think tank in Paris. George Möller, Chief Operating Officer of Euronext; Christoph Lammersdorf, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse, and Martin Wheatley, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, London Stock Exchange, all provided comments on financial information, an important source of exchange-revenues.
The World Federation of Exchanges completed a survey of members on their current trading techniques, conducted by Professor Maureen O'Hara of Comell University. The results were commented on by William P, Foster, Chairman of the Federation's Working Committee; André Went Group Policy Director of Euronext; and Sean C. Chen, Chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation.
Analysts following the exchange sector presented their current thinking. This panel was moderated by Gilbetto Mifano, General Manager of the Bourse in Sao Paulo. The speakers were Simon Hewett, Managing Director at Salomon Smith Barney, Mariano Bengoachea, Managing Director at Citibank, and David Reid Scott, Chairman of Hawkpoint.
The last session was a debate on integrity of financial information and reporting, led by Roy Leighton, Chairman of the Futures and Options Association and the European Advisory Board of Crédit Lyonnais S.A. He was joined by Ian Ball, Chief Executive of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Richard Humphry, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Stock Exchange, and Douglas Shulman, President NASD Services and Operations.
On the occasion of this 42nd annual meeting, the Board of Directors of the World Federation of Exchanges made the following comments on loss of confidence in investments in securities on the public markets.
Exchanges reiterate their commitment to cooperate with relevant organizations and other capital market actors. In the view of the Board of Directors, for confidence to recover, amongst others, the key points that need attention are :
- the development of international accounting standards, which will provide more useful information to investors.
- improved transparency, which requires effective accounting practices and clear disclosure to better inform investors, without adding to costs or sacrificing efficiencies.
- a reworking of the focus on short-term incentives and rewards, which has also encouraged the provision of information that obscures longer term, underlying fundamentals of corporate performance.
- the effectiveness of independent supervision of corporate performance, which appears on occasion to have failed, in order to provide the accountability and checks and balances investors look for in the management of corporations.
- the ability, business ethics, standards, training and performance of independent company directors, as they become a major part of companies' governance structure.
Federation member exchanges will take a leading role in working with their national governments and regulators to improve confidence in their markets. The World Federation of Exchanges will continue to work with other professional groups and regulatory bodies to improve international standards and practices.
