You joined the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) in 2016, tell us about your career?
After graduating with a degree in Economics and French, I joined the City in 2001 as a consultant for FactSet Europe. I spent a period of four years there, initially supporting and then selling into their institutional client base in London. After a short time at Reuters, I joined Data Explorers back in August 2006. The transition to such a small, yet growing business, was extremely rewarding but certainly challenging, having had no previous experience of the securities lending market.
My successful tenure at Data Explorers was primarily spent in account management, overseeing many regions including France, Scandinavia and the Middle East to name a few. In 2014, some 18 months after the acquisition of the company by IHS Markit, I joined Charlotte Wall to run account management at OTAS Technologies.
How has your perspective of the industry changed by going from a data provider to an association?
Having worked for a data provider that serviced many of the core industry protagonists, some of my perspectives haven’t really changed all that much. Perhaps what has changed from leaving the industry to returning some three years later however, is the increased regulatory focus and how that has shaped behaviour and the broad landscape. Having said that, and whilst my role at ISLA is largely strategic as opposed to commercial, my previous experience and network has certainly proved invaluable.
As head of membership services, without stating the obvious, what comes under your jobs remit?
Since joining the association just over 18 months ago, my responsibilities have changed considerably.
In terms of the membership, I assume what I would describe as an strategic account management role. Working with Andrew Dyson, Mark Hutchings and the rest of the ISLA team, the main objective here it to identify and maintain good levels of engagement and dialogue across all existing and prospective member firms across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Tied in with this, is the identification and organisation of ISLA’s regional roundtable events.
In terms of other events, I have primary oversight and planning of the main European conference during the summer, as well as the one day post trade conference in the autumn. Finally, I am co-author of ISLA’s Semi-Annual Market Report, which is distributed to over 100 regulators and policy makers globally.
ISLA’s semi-annual market report, which you co-author, has quickly become a go-to guide for the market and media on the industry’s trajectory. Can you outline the work that goes into this report and any plans to develop it further?
From start to finish, the report takes approximately six weeks to produce. Once the files are in from the various commercial providers, I go through a thorough analysis of the data and identify many of the core themes and trends which we hope to expand on.
The evaluation process also includes an element of validation from a cross section of member firms, so that they can provide some further context. Editorial and the finished report can then take anywhere between two to three weeks.
Whilst we haven’t moved away from the core structure or objectives set out for the first edition back in 2014, the report has certainly evolved over this time. The most significant change has been the inclusion of topical thought leadership pieces, which have been a popular addition.
In the 7th edition, Michael Huertas, counsel at Baker McKenzie in Frankfurt provided a piece titled ‘How to Brexit-proofs ones documentation in a time of uncertainty’. In this recent edition, we have sourced two independent reviews around Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) readiness and exchange-traded fund lending.
On the format, we have already begun a process of improving the look and feel of the publication and will be bringing it further in line with our website and overall branding.
What about ISLA’s members?
We currently have 141 members across a variety of firm types; banks, broker dealers, beneficial owners, trade associations and service providers. Although some of our larger member firms sit in the UK, 60 percent of the membership, which consists of many smaller institutions, sits in Europe. Of that, France, Germany and the Netherlands represent the lion’s share. I would say we have a good mix of firm types across all locations, and the regional events go some way towards servicing them whilst attracting new members. I would be delighted to see more beneficial owners joining the association as I truly believe there is much value to them in what we do, whilst their voice and insights are key to our messaging.
ISLA represents all demographics of the securities lending industry, but why should beneficial owners join you?
From ISLA’s perspective, beneficial owners are an integral part of the supply-side value chain and therefore their voice and input is vital to our work, notably around advocacy. In the same vein, one of ISLA’s core objectives is to provide guidance and support to the securities lending industry. By becoming a member, beneficial owners can have unique access via the website and other channels to relevant documentation and working group initiatives.
What are the main benefits to being a member of ISLA?
Whilst there are different tiers of pricing based on firm type and size, benefits are broadly universal. Main benefits include access to the regular standard and topic specific working group discussions and outputs. Through the recently relaunched ISLA website, members can access all regulatory, legal and tax developments as well as industry documentation, surveys, news and updates on ongoing initiatives.
Attendance to the post-trade conference in London each year is free, whilst discounted delegate fees apply for our flagship event.
Finally, full member firms are also entitled to vote during board elections, a process which allows them to influence the priorities and focus of the association going forward.
ISLA has a busy calendar of events and roundtables throughout the year, what are your main dates in the year and are you looking to expand in this area?
ISLA’s main conference will be at the Epic Sana in Lisbon between 19 and 21 June. We have moved away from tradition this year in terms of the co-chair format, and instead myself, Dyson and Eventrock have been working with a small conference committee to develop the broad themes and ideas for the three days. This year’s tag line is ‘Different Perspectives, New Opportunities’, as the agenda has been designed to be forward looking. I am really excited about some of the keynote speakers, as well as how the panels and sessions are taking shape. In terms of other confirmed dates this year, the post trade conference will be on 4 October and planning for that will commence in the summer. The regional roundtables of course have become a big focus for me since joining ISLA, and 2018 will be no different.
I am currently planning an event in Frankfurt during April, whilst we will look to return to Paris in the autumn. Other locations under consideration include Scandinavia, Milan, Amsterdam and Zurich.
What are your plans for 2018 and beyond?
There are a number of key deliverables in terms of events for 2018: Lisbon and the post trade conferences are of course the main ones, however Frankfurt and Paris roundtables are also owing to their strategic importance.
If we look at ISLA broadly and some of the ideas which were discussed at our recent board offsite, there will be considerable time and resources allocated to all aspects of communications and messaging in 2018 and beyond. Further work will be done to enhance the website both in terms of navigation and content, as well as ISLA’s social media footprint.
Finally, legal services as well as advocacy will continue to be at the heart of many ongoing and new initiatives; SFTR, Pledge, UCITS and the capital markets union to name a few!
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