GFF Podcast

Stay connected with the GFF community across the globeIn this episode we explore the need for Central Banks to lend high quality liquid assets acquired through ECB asset purchasing programmes - PSPP and PEPP - back into securities markets to increase liquidity. Our special guests are Tilman Fechter (Head of Banking, Funding & Financing at Clearstream) and Alexandre Roques (Head of Securities Lending, Trading & Distribution Desk, Clearstream) talking about the role of Clearstream's ASLplus platform which is a major part of Central Bank HQLA securities lending and foreign reserve lending for Central Banks and Sovereign Wealth Funds around the world. Each of the 30 minutes of lively episodes are hosted by Andrew Keith Walker, Finance and Tech Journalist and Christian Rossler, Senior VP, Securities Lending and Borrowing Products at Clearstream. 

In this show our hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler go in-depth for a lively SecLending chat about Clearstream's new fails lending product ASL Principal, which bridges the gap between ICSDs and CSD settlement on the T2S platform. The leads on this unique new product - Banu Apers (Head of Securities Lending and Borrowing, Clearstream) and Catherine Pring (Product Development Expert for Securities Lending and Borrowing at Clearstream) talk about the role of the product, its unique new features and opportunities it provides to lenders and borrowers to optimise their efficiency and increase liquidity when settlement issues arise. 

This episode our hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler go in-depth for a lively SecLending chat about Clearstream's innovations in the field of Repo (repurchasing agreements) with Richard Glen (Head of Collateral Management, Clearstream) and Para Saratchandran (Product Manager for Repo, Clearstream).Like Repo markets, this is a fast moving show where we explore the evolution of Repo, the challenges for NFCs (non-financial counterparties) who are entering the world of secured lending for the first time and the role of products like GC Pooling, CMAX and Triparty lending services that reduce the risks and increase the speed of lending, borrowing and downstream reporting. Plus we consider the role of Repo as the Swiss Army Knife of finance, in terms of increasing liquidity, precise borrowing of specific assets and its role in balance sheet netting and strategic goals for the banking sector. 

This episode our hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler go in-depth for a lively SecLending chat about Clearstream's innovations in the field of Triparty Collateral management with Jonathan Lombardo (Chairman, ISLA) and Marc Poinsignon (Product Manager & Business Development of Triparty Agency Services).With the insights of industry expert Jonathan Lombardo, we discuss the increasingly important role of Triparty agents in the Securities Lending market, with a particular focus on how they are helping a diversified client base of financial and non-financial counterparties, asset managers and funds bring greater liquidity into the market and enable more complex collateral basket solutions - preparing the way for green ESG collateral and the next generation of blockchain based solutions at Clearstream and their partners within the Deutsche Börse group.

This episode our hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler go in-depth for a lively chat about Clearstream's banking products and services with the banking products Head of Product Management Défi Kimenga and VP of Business and Product Development José Manoka.We go in depth with the way Clearstream has developed a wide range of business enabling tools for market participants to manage their balance sheets and optimise their cash strategies. We explore the innovative credit, settlement, treasury and FX tools that leverage Clearstream's dual status as an ICSD and a CSD, plus the wider Deutsche Börse Group companies like Eurex and 360T, and Securities Lending programmes like ASLplus and Triparty Collateral Management. The goal is to offer low-friction, end-to-end services to Clearstream clients - and prepare the way for full ISO 20022 adoption and the impact this will have on central bank settlement worldwide.

In this episode we are joined by Jean-Robert Wilkin (Head of BFF Business Development, Clearstream ), James Cherry (SVP Collateral & Liquidity Management, Clearstream) and Simon Millington (Head of Business Development, CloudMargin) to talk about the new tech solutions that are enabling new market participants to comply with UMR regulations and the new Phase 6 changes that arrive in 2022.We explore the challenges for the hundreds of newly in-scope counterparties under UMR Phase 6 to achieve the connectivity, data quality and automation they need to optimise their collateral requirements - and thrive in an increasingly regulated global market.

In this episode we look in-depth at the way blockchain technology and DLT is changing the world of collateral management with Fabrice Tomenko (CEO Clearstream International) and Nick Short (COO HQLAx). We go in-depth with the game-changing tools at HQLAx that can transfer collateral ownership across locations and jurisdictions at precise times, and consider the new concept of Collateral Immobility and how it can reduce pain points for market participants, remove settlement friction, reduce collateral fragmentation and create greater interoperability between infrastructure, custodians and triparty agents. 

In this show Frank Gast (MD Fixed Income Derivatives & Exec. Member Eurex Repo) and Carsten Hiller (Head of  Fixed Income Derivatives, Funding & Financing Sales for Europe, Eurex) join the show to discuss the growth of GC Pooling and the Eurex Repo Partnership Programme. Plus we explore the forces driving innovation and product development in the markets - from greater involvement of the Buy-Side and new market participants, through to the need for greater flexibility in Balance Sheet Netting and the emerging DLT and blockchain enabled Securities Lending markets around the world.

In this month's show, we welcome Phil Simons (Eurex Global Head of Sales for Fixed Income Derivatives, Funding and Financing) and Frank Odendall (Eurex Head of Repo Product & Business Development) to discuss the current conditions and challenges in the EU 27.We discuss the huge growth in cleared repo, driven by the need for margining and variations in a volatile EU marketplace, meeting the challenges of the 'perfect storm' of inflation, QE tapering, post-COVID economic recovery, EMIR refit, UMR phase 6 and the geopolitical situation in Ukraine. Plus the issues on the horizon relating to Euro clearing moving away from LCH, plus the need for Pension and buy-side firms to report under new rules. We also explore solutions for market participants, such as Eurex's hugely successful ISA Direct programme, innovations in balance sheet optimisation and cost-reduction for back office operations, plus the rise of Total Return Futures and equity swaps over uncleared, bilateral trades. 

In the last show of season 1, we are delighted to present a feature-length virtual panel event with Margaret Kuhlow (Global Finance Practice Leader, WWF) and Viola Lutz (Head of Climate Solutions, ISS ESG). Our special guests (who are also speaking at the 2022 GFF summit in September) join Christian Rossler and Andrew Keith Walker to discuss the progress of ESG initiatives to affect sustainable change in the global funding and financing community.With expert insights, we discuss the activities of the WWF and ISS ESG in the fields of financing green and greening finance. We consider different approaches to E, S and G in different global regulatory jurisdictions, explore the greenwashing challenges and 'greenium' possibilities for market participants, and consider the economic impact of Covid, volatility and geopolitical risk on meeting ESG and Net Zero targets in the EU and beyond.

In this show we meet the Co-founder and CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, Sean Kidney, for a lively and wide ranging conversation about the vital role green bonds and green finance will play in preventing the worst effects of climate change. This show gives us some insights into the scale of the challenge, and the huge progress being made - which will be a key topic and panel event at this year's GFF Summit, 13-15 September 2022.Sean is a world-renowned expert, who in addition to his work with Climate Bonds overseeing the development of green bond definitions and certification schemes, plus markets development programs in Brazil, Mexico, ASEAN and Africa,  is also an advisor to the Chinese Central Bank and Professor in Practice at SOAS University of London. Joining Sean is Carsten Hiller, Head of Fixed Income Sales for Central Europe at EUREX, also Vice-chair of the ICMA Repo Sustainability Taskforce - also the man who launched the first green GC collateral basket for EUREX.Plus our usual hosts, Fintech journalist Andrew Keith Walker and SVP Securities Lending Products at Clearstream Christian Rossler return with more news about this season of the GFF Podcast, which will showcase more of the people and issues on the agenda for the GFF Summit in 2022 and 2023.

In this special extended show we go in-depth into the current state of climate finance, with former Finance Industry CIO of the IFC and COP26 panellist Jean-Marie Mass. As someone who was working with the IFC when its sister organisation the World Bank launched the first green bond in 2007, and went on to structure the first (and largest) green bond fund in the world with the IFC and Amundi in 2018, Jean-Marie Masse is acknowledged as one of the leading minds in the field of climate finance today. In this show, he explains the new tools and instruments available to market participants - such as Sustainability-linked Bonds, Blended Finance and Carbon Arbitrage. He also frames the two central activities that are shaping climate finance - Mitigation projects and Adaptation projects - and driving the rapid rise of capital flows into the green and sustainable investments.

New technologies such as blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) continue to be in the focus of financial market players as well as central banks. In this episode , we discuss the use of securities (collateral) and cash (digital currencies) in a DLT environment. We also consider the challenges facing Central Bank Digital Currencies, and the advances in digital issuance, tokenization, DLT collateral management and settlement systems.

In this month's show we present a preview of the 2022 GFF Summit in Luxembourg, which will be one of the biggest and most prestigious events on the European finance industry calendar. We meet the organisers, and talk about the big themes and topics that will make-up the agenda for the event - featuring senior leaders from politics, finance, central banks and green initiatives, plus dozens of speakers from over 25 major organisations and market participants, multiple networking events, closed sessions, and of course the famous Gala dinner. We're discussing the state of the market, diversity & inclusion, ESG for SecLending and Repo, digitalisation and all things GFF with Jonathan Lombardo (EUREX), Banu Apers (Clearstream),  Elodie Putz (Clearstream), Frank Gast (EUREX) and regular hosts Christian Rossler and Andrew Keith Walker. (And don't forget to register at www.gff-summit.com)

In this show we report back from the GFFSummit  2022 and catch-up with some of the guests, speakers and industry leaders that made the event such a huge success - including interviews with Farrah Mahmood and Adrian Dale (ISLA), repo expect and commentator Richard Comotto (ICMA), ESG investment and sustainable development expert Leslie Maasdoorp (CFO, New Development Bank), green bond pioneerJean-Marie Masse (MD Blue Like an Orange Sustainable Capital) and Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bond Initiative. Plus we are joined by Marty Szigeti (Head of Banking Funding and Financing, Clearstream) to give his view on this year's summit - and reveal exciting news about GFF 2023.

In this episode we discuss the emergence of sustainability-related repo products, explore the development and categorisation of sustainable practices within the repo market, and how sustainability-related repo plays a role in the transition to green finance - with Zhan Chen (Associate in Market Practice at ICMA) Carsten Hiller (Head of Fixed Income Derivatives, Funding & Financing Sales for Central Europe at Eurex & Vice Chair of ICMA’s Sustainable Repo Taskforce) and Marc Poinsignon (Business Development Tri-Party Collateral Management at Clearstream). 

In this festive review of the year, Clearstream's Head of Securities Lending & Borrowing Banu Apers,  Head of Business Development James Cherry and the new Global Head of Collateral Management Gaël Delaunay join Christian Rossler and Andrew Keith Walker to discuss the major collateral and securities lending developments of 2022 and the new products and services on offer from Clearstream in 2023. Plus our usual Merry Christmas message in the many languages of the Banking, Funding and Financing team.

In this show we preview the upcoming GFF Summit 2023 in Luxembourg with CEO of Clearstream Securities Services Samuel Riley, and Head of Collateral, Lending and Liquidity Solutions Marton Szigeti. Together with co-hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler, they discuss the major themes that will dominate 2023 in the securities lending and repo markets, plus the theme of this year's GFF -  "Thriving in a Changing World". With a preview of the events and influential speakers at this year's event, this is the must-listen guide to the GFF Summit 2023.

Welcome back to season 3 of the GFF Podcast. In this new season, we kick off episode 1  with an in-depth discussion on the work being done by Clearstream and its partner VERMEG on the Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS).The ECMS will bring together the 20 Eurozone national central banks with a single, unified system for managing assets used as collateral in Eurosystem credit operations. Set to go live in April 2024, ECMS represents a major innovation for market participants across the Eurozone to access triparty collateral management and the European Central Bank (ECB). Join Michael Carignano Head of Market Innovation at VERMEG and Jean-Robert Wilkin, Senior Advisor at Clearstream, plus regular hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler for this lively chat about the impact of ECMS on the Eurosystem, and the upcoming Clearstream ECMS Roadshow.

In this new episode, our hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler are joined by two guests: Steve Everett, Head of Business Strategy & Innovation at the Canadian Depository for Securities (TMX CDS), and Fabrice Tomenko, CEO of Clearstream International. Together, they discuss the unique partnership between TMX and Clearstream and its far-reaching implications for collateral management and mobilisation in Canada, which has given rise to Canada’s first triparty collateral management platform.But that’s not all – the conversation also focuses on the future of collateral management in Canada. As the emergence of digital tools, tokenisation and blockchain solutions is reshaping the financial industry globally, our guests provide valuable insights into how Canadian market participants can leverage these developments. They also dive into the Canadian ESG sector and its green bond initiatives.