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Burgenstock came back with a bang in Geneva in late September as our columnist Patrick L Young notes...
Different venue, different dynamics but high quality debate was the hallmark of a meeting which signalled the next chapter in the future of the Burgenstock meeting. Until recently the future viability of the SFOA still looked in doubt. However under the energetic ‘Chairman Dan‘ (Day-Robinson), the organisation has made a great leap forward.
Next door to the original League of Nations building, a few steps from WTO HQ, the 36th Burgenstock pushed forward with, as they used to say of the pre war motor racing at Brooklands, “the right crowd & no crowding”.
I was delighted to get the call asking me to return and bring back Crossfire which had, alongside me, retired from the SFOA some years ago .
In keeping with the redesigned format, the traditional closing act of Crossfire was transformed as curtain raiser. A pithy, punchy, practical, pragmatic panel lined up to debate, and several star industry names proved dazzling. NSE India CEO Chitra Ramkrishna delivered a thoughtful perspective on major issues ranging from international financial centres to interoperability, while CME CEO Phupinder Gill was in spectacular form despite arriving hot foot from China. ICE Europe supremo David Peniket was pith perfect with every intervention – his precise précis of complex issues was a wonder to behold. Magnus Billing of NASDAQ and Christian Katz, former FESE President / SwX CEO, added great insight to a panel which felt as if it was only getting going when it was time to wrap up. Many delegates have already requested some form of rematch for 2016!
With the energy of Crossfire delivered by the AAA panellists, we moved on to a myriad of other discussions and it was a joy to see the buy side so well represented, particularly on Hirander Misra’s engaging panel, as well as a multitude of venues from throughout the world. Q&A was hugely active around the real-time clearing presentation by Trevor Spanner of LME Clearing, thanks to the ongoing lively emerging markets cluster who, via the good offices of AFM, make Burgenstock such a concentrated global derivatives festival.
As David Peniket noted “we support free markets” while wrapped up in the discussion of competition and the worrying issues behind enforced regulatory fiat. When it came to debating the course of competition, Gill was similarly dismissive of attempts by some to open up markets in which others have not previously invested their time to build. “We all want what we cannot have” was Gill’s elegant remark while going on to praise “the confluence of efficiencies” which comes from developed silos. At the same time, Magnus Billing was expounding sensibly on “prudent risk management” while there was heated discussion on the opening of markets such as forex in the multi-asset world. Chitra Ramkrishna noted how the bid-ask spread on NSE forex was one tenth of the prevailing interbank spreads. Magnus Billing noted how odd ‘last look‘ is to the eyes of an exchange official, amongst other curious anomalies in the forex markets. After all “part of our DNA is transparency” he added with reference to exchanges as a whole, not just the broad NASDAQ group.
Real-time clearing and risk management was quite the topic with David Peniket pointing to ICE’s 5 minute risk cycle. “In other words”, I added, “180 seconds less than the Blockchain’s standard clearing time” (of course we couldn’t have a Crossfire without being at the cutting edge of innovation!).
Therein just a few highlights of the Crossfire session alone – primus inter pares of a multitude of dynamic derivative panels. Burgenstock brought together a fabulous array of high level market practitioners who discussed all manner of fascinating market insights. For those still suffering ‘Burgenstroke‘ (the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder brought on by a mix of mountain air, cowbells and heady cocktails) there are a few who still hearken back to an open outcry atmosphere of the pre-demutualised era but, in this digital age, the realpolitik of markets was served in pithy nuggets at sea level (well, by the banks of Lake Geneva) amongst industry leaders far and wide.
Oh and finally, thank you FIA CEO Walt Lukken for the kind tribute. Next year I’ll be ready with your summary when the time comes!
Like James Bond, Burgenstock will return…
Patrick L Young
Patrick L Young is working assiduously on better markets but meanwhile looks forward to chairing the Mondo Visione Exchange Forum on November 12.
