SIX Structured Products Exchange And Swiss Structured Products Association: Full House At International Structured Products Forum

Around 90 top-class guests from Switzerland and abroad accepted their personal invitations to the Palace in Lucerne. The forum was opened by Christian Reuss, Member of the SIX Swiss Exchange Management Committee and CEO of SIX Structured Products Exchange. His outlook on how strongly the coming year will be characterized by regulatory issues was expressed clearly, which did not come as a complete surprise.

Day One: Panels, Lectures and Workshops

This year's program offered various perspectives on the structured products sector. The panel hosted by Georg von Wattenwyl, President of SSPA, addressed the role that structured products play in pension funds. Marco Bagutti, CIO of Stiftung Auffangeinrichtung BVG, Sebastian Frehner, Member of the National Council of SVP Basel, and Dr. Vera Kupper Staub, Vice President of Oberaufsichtskommission Berufliche Vorsorge, were all involved in this lively and heated discussion.

Joerg Bode, Head of Sales Switzerland Leonteq, took the audience to the world of FinTech. He showed how virtual financial assistants, such as robo-advisors, will soon be commonplace.

His colleague Alain Bigar, General Manager of the Leonteq branch in Amsterdam, raised the topic of the new regulation 871(m) of the US tax authorities (IRS). He compared the way this new regulation is being handled to the preparation of puffer fish: to ensure that the financial industry is not harmed by this, prudence and professionalism are imperative.

Nathaniel Zollinger from swissQuant and Peter Keller from SSPA gave their audience an exclusive preview of the new SSPA Structured Products app, which was particularly praised for its handy and innovative nature.

Thomas Schmidlin and Jürg Stähelin, both members of the association, presented the results of an independent market research study. Structured products are perceived more positively than expected. Attributes such as "rational", "flexibel" and "predictable" were mentioned multiple times.

Christian Vollmuth, DDV (German Derivatives Association), and Enrico Fritz, SSPA, provided the panel of attorneys with deep insights into legal issues that are currently moving the industry. There was a lively discussion here, too.

Day Two: A Look Across the Border

On the second day of the forum, Thomas Wulf, Secretary General of EUSIPA, granted valuable insights, as always, into the inner workings of Brussels, behind the scenes of the EU's capital city. Zak de Mariveles, Chairman of the Administrative Board of the UK Structured Products Association, made the perfect conclusion to the event with a look across the border.

The industry made use of these two days in Lucerne to take part in a lively exchange and network. The International Structured Products Forum 2017 will take place in Lucerne on September 6 and September 7.