Hong Kong
13th May 2010
JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong

Round Up

“Bigger and Better!” - The 8th Asia Pacific Trading Summit was an oversubscribed assembly of Asia’s electronic trading industry with over 500 registered to attend the event. The event, with the theme “Tipping Point”, reflected that the Asia Pacific market represents an interesting cross section of structures, regulations and market practices. The Tipping Point for Asia Pacific could see markets adopting many practices accepted in the US and Europe, while others define their own unique course.

The summit highlighted the trends and identified the changes that will lead to major shifts in the industry landscape as the region’s markets continue their evolution. Mr. Damien Ryan, the guest host of the day, kept the event moving along smoothly. There were a number of our industry’s leading minds speaking on the day and it started with Mr. Charles Li, the Chief Executive of HKEx. In his keynote speech, Mr. Charles Li discussed the Strategic Positioning of HKEx in order to become a global exchange that combines the best characteristics of Chinese and international markets.

Mr. Li highlighted that although HKEx is the world’s second largest listed exchange by market capitalization, there are a lot of challenges ahead and HKEx needs to be globally competitive.

“Regulatory changes, participant demands and technology innovations are amongst the key driver forces that are forcing a rapid change of exchange landscape globally”, Mr. Li stressed. Regarding the emergence of Alternative Trading Venues, Mr. Li identified the key constraints at the moment and he said that the development in Japan and Australia should provide some reference for the other exchanges.

Mr. Li highlighted that by invest in IT infrastructure, improving market structure and strengthen the clearing franchise are the important ways to make HKEx become globally competitive. Mr. Li finished his presentation by laying down the key initiatives of the exchange.

Mr. Martin Wheatley of the Securities and Futures Commission outlined his views on the regulatory changes around the globe.

Throughout the day, there were various sessions cover the different stages of the trade life cycle and it began with Instinet’s Mr. Glenn Lesko who spoke on smart order routing and alternative liquidity in Asia. Other discussions included an exchanges-only panel on Dark Pools, the emergence of ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) in Asia and the newly launched FIXatdl standard which aims to revolutionize the Algorithmic Trading deployment process. There was also a panel on the post trade services to look at the upcoming changes in this space in Asia.

 
After the broker panel, which cover a wide spectrum of sell side issues, the event ended with a buy side only panel where the buy side traders candidly shared their views on how their daily jobs have evolved over the year with the changes in regulatory environments, the advancement of technology and the emergence of alternative trading venues etc.
Worth mentioned are the highly popular opening video - “Did you know?” and the recap of the day video, interestingly hosted by Joel Hurewitz. His video montage recapped the day’s activities and interviewed many of the happy faces at the packed exhibition zone.

With a full day behind them, and much food for thought, most delegates headed off for a cold beer or glass of wine at the cocktail reception. With a much bigger space to accommodate the significantly higher turnout this year, with over 250 delegates staying behind, it was interesting to see the discussion points from the day being raised again over a few drinks, with conversations becoming increasingly animated as the evening went on! It was like a community event of friends and colleagues who all work, compete and face the same challenges here in Asia. A great way to finish to a great day, especially for those who won the fashionable iPads, digital camera and iphone speakers at the final lucky draw.