24 Oct|2014

New York, October 24, 2014 - The Wholesale Markets Brokers' Association, Americas ("WMBAA" or "the Association"), announced today a full agenda and extensive lineup of speakers for SEFCON V, an annual conference held to discuss the regulation and oversight of over-the-counter (OTC) markets and their participants.

The Association's fifth annual event will take place on Wednesday, November 12, 2014, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. More information can be found here: www.profit-loss.com/events/sefconV and tickets are available for advance purchase at: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sefcon-v-tickets-1945608367

Current Agenda:

7:30 - 8:20 Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 - 9:00 Welcoming Remarks
Chris Ferreri, WMBAA Chairman

9:00 - 9:45 Keynote Address
Hon. Timothy Massad, Chairman CFTC

9:45 - 10:45 Session 1: Cross Border Panel Discussion: The Three "C"s of Coordination, Cooperation and Coalition - Sponsored by ICAP

Following the introduction of SEFs, some market participants are warning that the global swaps markets will become fragmented along geopolitical lines unless there is a greater degree of harmonization from international swaps regulators.

What are the main barriers preventing regulatory harmonization ? Is progress being made? How real is the threat of regionalization and what would be its impact on the market? Do we understand what is meant by "substituted compliance" now? How is SEF trading viewed in Europe and Asia? How do firms position themselves to be compliant with the cross border rules?

Moderator: Scott O'Malia, CEO, ISDA; Former CFTC Commissioner

Speakers: Chris Concannon, President & COO, Virtu Financial Marisol Collazo, Managing Director and CEO, DTCC Data Repository Edwin Schooling-Latter, Head of Markets Infrastructure and Policy, Financial Conduct Authority Dexter Senft, Global Co-Head of Fixed Income Electronic Markets, Morgan Stanley Stuart Wexler, General Counsel and COO, ICAP Americas

10.45-11:15 Coffee Break

11:15-12:15 Session 2: What Have We Learned in the First Year of SEF Trading? - Sponsored by Tullett Prebon

One year on from the launch of SEFs and there are more than 20 of these trading venues temporarily registered with the CFTC. This panel will discuss the early trends regarding how trading is taking place, where it seems to be pooling and how the broader set of market participants may or may not be engaging with SEFs.

How are firms determining which SEFs to connect to? How has the introduction of MAT rules impacted liquidity on certain products? Is there currently enough liquidity for RFQ trading on SEFs? How important are the terms of access in a SEFs rulebook and integration capabilities for the buy side? Have we seen the level of participation expected from the buy side in the past year?

Moderator: Kevin McPartland, Head of Market Structure and Technology, Greenwich Associates

Speakers: Shawn Bernardo, CEO, tpSEF Jodi Burns, Head of Regulation and Post Trade Networks - Financial, Thomson Reuters Paul Hamill, Global Head of FX Rates and Credit Execution Services, UBS

12:15 - 1:15 Lunch

1:15 - 2:15 Session 3: SEFs Under Dodd-Frank: Are they solving the problem? - Sponsored by BGC Partners

Dodd-Frank, and the rules developed to meet the statutory requirements were passed on a very tight political timeframe. Similarly, regulators have been pressed to deliver changes in the market within a relatively short period of time.

Have these strict timeframes helped or hindered the introduction of SEFs to the market? How have the regulators delivered on the mandate given to them and do the final SEF rules provide a solution to the problems that Dodd-Frank was trying to address in the OTC markets? How much of the rule making was left open to interpretation and are there still grey areas in the rules? How have requirements for audit trails impacted SEF execution?

Moderator: Jeffrey Hogan, Managing Director, Business Development, BGC Partners

Speakers: George Harrington, Global Head of Fixed Income, Currency and Commodity Execution, Bloomberg Matthew Kulkin, Senior Associate, Squire Patton Boggs Alex McDonald, CEO, The Wholesale Markets Brokers Association Vincent McGonagle, Director of the Division of Market Oversight, Commodity Futures Trading Commission

2:15 - 3:15 Session 4: SEF Tech - Sponsored by GFI Group

Technology is increasingly important to the swaps market as regulators push more OTC bilateral trading towards SEFs. This panel will look at the technological solutions being implemented in response to the challenges facing SEFs and their users.

Is technology a differentiator for SEFs? Is it facilitating greater access to these new trading venues or proving to be a barrier to entry? How easy is it for firms to integrate their front-end systems for SEF trading? Has the introduction of SEFs increased the complexity of information flow for a swaps trade?

Has the credit hub made a significant difference to market participants? Have CLOBs begun to draw liquidity? Have SEF aggregators succeeded? How will asset managers have to alter their trading strategies in the face of liquidity fragmentation?

Moderator: Henry Ann, Head of Rates, GFI Swaps Exchange

Speakers: Chris Amen, Managing Director, Head of U.S. Institutional Rates Markets, Tradeweb Isaac Chang, Global Head of Fixed Income, KCG John Dabbs, Managing Director, Credit Suisse Maged Hassan, Global Head of Fixed Income Electronic Trading Technology, Morgan Stanley Ric Okun, Managing Director, PIMCO

3:15 - 3:45 Coffee break

3:45 - 4:45 Session 5: SEF Viability: Regulation versus Innovation - Sponsored by Tradition

Since its inception, SEF trading has been impacted by a number of conflicting rules and confusing interpretations. From what it means to be a "US person" to questions around impartiality of access, it has often been unclear how firms are expected to operate in a SEF world.

How has this uncertainty impacted the market? Is the CFTC staff interpreting 37.9 too prescriptively? What effects has that had on liquidity? What technological innovations are being put forward to help source liquidity and reduce costs? What impact has the guidance on packaged transactions had?

Does the IB model increase liquidity as it increases the participant base? Is the cost of running a SEF/SEF compliant operation preventing further innovation in the market? What trading or access models from other markets can be adopted for swaps trading?

Moderator: Will Rhode, The Boston Consulting Group

Speakers: Yanfeng Chen, Head of Interest Rate Swap Trading, Citadel Securities Scott Fitzpatrick, CEO, Tradition SEF Joe Sarcona, Head of Credit and Rates e-Distribution, Morgan Stanley Supurna Vedbrat, MD, e-Trading and Market Structure, BlackRock

4:45 - 5:00 pm Closing Remarks

5:00 - 7:00 Networking Reception in The Galleries, Grand Hyatt, Lobby Level

A video explaining more about SEFCON V, produced in partnership with the John Lothian Group, is available to watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu437cKBeL0

The 5th Annual Swap Execution Facility Conference is a day-long event which brings together leading policy makers, regulators, legislators, and the financial trading marketplace. The event is hosted by the Wholesale Markets Brokers' Association, Americas (WMBAA), www.wmbaa.org, an independent industry body representing the largest inter-dealer brokers (IDBs) operating in the North American wholesale markets.

The event is free to media. Register online today at www.profit-loss.com/events/sefconV

For media inquiries, please contact: media@wmbaa.org.

Contacts

Guy Taylor Corporate Communications US +1 212 341 9759

About the WMBAA
The Wholesale Markets Brokers' Association, Americas (WMBAA) is an independent industry body representing the largest inter-dealer brokers (IDBs) operating in the North American wholesale markets across a broad range of financial products. The five founding members of the group are: BGC Partners; GFI Group; ICAP; Tradition; and Tullett Prebon. The association seeks to promote the quality and standards of the industry and the critical role played by wholesale brokers in the efficient functioning of financial markets, working with key public policymakers on regulation and oversight of over-the-counter (OTC) markets and their participants. For more information, please go to www.wmbaa.org

About ICAP

ICAP is a leading markets operator and provider of post trade risk mitigation and information services. The Group matches buyers and sellers in the wholesale markets in interest rates, credit, commodities, FX, emerging markets and equity derivatives through voice and electronic networks. Through its post trade risk mitigation and information services ICAP helps customers manage and mitigate risks in their portfolios.www.icap.com.

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