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A delegation from the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), led by H.E. Abdulla Al Turifi, CEO of SCA, participated in the 40th Annual Conference of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) held in London this week. Among the conference participants were IOSCO officials and regulatory members, as well as a number of senior officials, financial experts, and economists from major international financial and economic institutions.
The conference sessions discussed a number of important, industry-relevant issues and explored a number of topics related to securities regulators and financial markets and the main challenges faced.
The SCA delegation participated in a number of conference meetings and activities, including the Presidential Committee meetings, the Growth and Emerging Markets Committee meetings, and the Africa/Middle-East Regional Committee meetings, as well as a number of specialized workshops, working sessions, and business meetings between Al Turifi and a number of heads of counterpart regulatory agencies. The delegation also attended the MMoU signing ceremony, with increased signatories to it year after year.
Growth and Emerging Markets Committee topics of discussion
Al Turifi said that "IOSCO's Africa/Middle-East Regional Committee meetings explored international financial market developments and IOSCO developments, including capacity building for emerging markets, online toolkit, IOSCOS's pilot regional hubs, IOSCO's education and training agenda, IOSCO's board chair report on policy work, including Financial Stability Board (FSB)/G20 work streams.
He explained that "topics discussed at the meetings included corporate bond markets in emerging economies, challenges and issues facing the digitization of financial markets, technical and policy work, key emerging risks in global securities markets, follow-up on crisis management and contingency planning, and priorities for future Growth and Emerging Markets Committee policy work".
The conference agenda, whose preliminary sessions started last Sunday, included a number of meetings that the SCA delegation took part in, such as meetings held by various committees, including meetings of the Africa/Middle-East Regional Committee, the Growth and Emerging Markets Committee, and the Presidential Committee, as well as a number of workshops, including one titled "Credible Deterrence" and another titled "Consumer Vulnerability and Vulnerable Consumers".
The keynote speech was delivered by Amelia Fletcher, Professor for Competition Policy. The first panel discussed the topic of understating the behavior of companies and consumers where Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England (BoE) and Chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), delivered his speech. The final keynote speech, however, was delivered by Dame Colette Bowe, Chairman of the Banking Standards Board. Sessions of the last day of the conference addressed the changing culture and raising conduct standards, financial innovation and regulations and their implications, and future challenges for regulators and the securities industry. The closing remarks were delivered by David Wright, Secretary General of IOSCO, and Martin Wheatley, CEO of the UK-based Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
It is worth mentioning that SCA was among the first regulatory bodies to sign the MMoU, which is an extremely significant international recognition that asserts the durability of the UAE markets' regulatory and legislative frameworks, reflects positively on the confidence level of local and foreign investors, and enhances the attractiveness of the UAE markets to foreign investors.
Established in 1983, IOSCO seeks to promote cooperation among its regulatory members, develop supervisory standards for securities markets to maintain sound, fair, transparent, and highly-efficient trade practices, exchange information and expertise among member bodies, and work towards standardization. IOSCO is seen as an international reference in relation to setting international standards for securities markets. IOSCO members include securities regulators, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and a number of various financial markets and institutions. It has over 200 members, 115 of which are regulatory agencies. Its regulatory members conduct supervisory functions for over 95% of financial markets across the world.
IOSCO seeks to promote investor protection and boost investor confidence in securities markets through exchanging information and promoting cooperation against unsound practices in enforcement and supervision of markets and brokers. It also works to promote cooperation in enforcing and enhancing compliance with internationally-recognized standards, in addition to exchanging information and expertise at the regional and international levels to help develop the markets, enhance market infrastructure, and formulate appropriate legislations.
