Conference Programme
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08:30 - 09:00
Registration
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09:00 - 09:30
Opening Remarks
Speakers
Nandini Sukumar
Chief Executive Officer The World Federation of Exchanges
Nandini Sukumar is the Chief Executive Officer of the World Federation of Exchanges, the global association for exchanges and CCPs. The WFE represents more than 250 exchanges and clearing houses globally, educating stakeholders on the vital role played by market infrastructures in the real economy and as a standard setter, finding the consensus on issues among the global membership. Of its members, 35% are in Asia-Pacific, 45% in EMEA and 20% in the Americas. WFE exchanges are home to 47,919 listed companies, and the market capitalisation of these entities is over $109 trillion; around $137 trillion (EOB) in trading annually passes through WFE members (at end 2020). WFE’s 57 member CCPs collectively ensure that risk takers post some $800bn (equivalent) of resources to back their positions, in the form of initial margin and default fund requirements. Ms. Sukumar is Vice Chair of IOSCO’s Affiliate Members Consultative Committee and Chair of the AMCC’s Sustainability Taskforce.
Dr. Pedro Gurrola Perez
Head of Research The World Federation of Exchanges
Pedro joined the World Federation of Exchanges in October 2019 from the Bank of England, where he led the Financial Market Infrastructures Directorate’s Research Team. He had joined the Bank of England in 2013, after two years at the UK Financial Services Authority. Previously, Pedro spent more than 15 years lecturing and doing research at a range of well-regarded academic institutions, including the University of Barcelona and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).
Pedro holds two PhDs: one from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and one from the University of Montpellier, France, and has published across key academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Market Infrastructures, the Journal of Risk, International Finance and the Journal of Futures Markets. His recent work includes research on the economics of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) for securities settlement, on the network structure of settlement fails and on market liquidity risk in CCPs. He has also published research on payment systems, back-testing methodologies and on the structure of interest rate futures markets. In 2007 he received the National Award on Derivatives Research, awarded by the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer).
Eun-Bo Jeong
Chairman & CEO Korea Exchange (KRX)
Chan-soo Park
President, Clearing Division Korea Exchange (KRX)
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09:30 - 10:45
Capacity Building Session 1: From CSD to CCP: At what stage is creating a CCP beneficial?
This session will offer a roadmap for financial markets in their shift to incorporating a CCP. Delving into the transition, we will focus on assessing the viability, advantages, risks, and impacts associated with integrating a CCP into the market framework. We will highlight crucial steps for a seamless transition, including the establishment or modification of operational systems and processes, collaboration with regulators, execution of testing and simulations to guarantee system and procedure preparedness, and provision of comprehensive education and training to market participants.
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10:45 - 11:00
Coffee Break
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11:00 - 12:15
Capacity Building Session 2: The Role, Function & Workings of the CCP
The core principles of clearing presented by experts from industry. What is the role of Central Counterparties (CCPs) and their dynamics within the market? Covering the CCP rulebook, strategies for risk management, understanding the default waterfall, the pivotal role of governance practices, the advantages of multilateral netting, the influence of incentives, and the proactive function of margin practices that provide knock-on benefits for the wider financial system.
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12:15 - 13:30
Lunch
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13:30 - 14:30
Capacity Building Session 3: Legal and Capital Market Frameworks
This session covers the legislative structures underpinning CCPs and the aspects that ensure legal certainty. We’ll discuss the interconnectedness of frameworks and their integration with foundational guidance such as the CPMI-IOSCO PFMIs. We’ll also cover the placement of CCPs within the sequencing of capital market infrastructure, and provide clarity on the diverse legal landscapes worldwide.
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14:30 - 14:45
Coffee Break
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14:45 - 15:45
Capacity Building Session 4: Regulatory Themes in Clearing
This session will set out the main features of the regulatory regime relating to CCPs, including the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMI) and the 2009 G20 reforms. It will also cover current policy discussions on margin practices, non-default loss arrangements, and recovery and resolution mechanisms.
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15:45 - 16:00
Coffee Break
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16:00 - 17:00
Capacity Building Session 5: An Introduction to Modelling and Methodologies
This session will outline how risk managers at CCPs approach clearing risk management, focusing specifically on risk modelling as part of the overall risk methodology. We will illustrate the calculation methodologies behind initial margin requirements for cleared portfolios and how these interact with market volatility to ensure the stability and robustness of a CCP. Discussions will cover the ongoing debate on procyclicality and the factors influencing margin requirements in times of market upheaval.
Chair
Dr. Pedro Gurrola Perez
Head of Research The World Federation of Exchanges
Pedro joined the World Federation of Exchanges in October 2019 from the Bank of England, where he led the Financial Market Infrastructures Directorate’s Research Team. He had joined the Bank of England in 2013, after two years at the UK Financial Services Authority. Previously, Pedro spent more than 15 years lecturing and doing research at a range of well-regarded academic institutions, including the University of Barcelona and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).
Pedro holds two PhDs: one from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and one from the University of Montpellier, France, and has published across key academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Market Infrastructures, the Journal of Risk, International Finance and the Journal of Futures Markets. His recent work includes research on the economics of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) for securities settlement, on the network structure of settlement fails and on market liquidity risk in CCPs. He has also published research on payment systems, back-testing methodologies and on the structure of interest rate futures markets. In 2007 he received the National Award on Derivatives Research, awarded by the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer).
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17:00 - 20:00
Opening Reception
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08:30 - 09:00
Registration
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09:00 - 09:45
Academic Keynote
“It must be clearing? The mandatory central clearing of OTC derivatives at fifteen”
Speaker
Dr. David Murphy
Visiting Professor, Department of Law London School of Economics (LSE)
David Murphy is a visiting professor in practice in the Law School at the London School of Economic and Political Science. He is a leading expert on derivatives regulation, central clearing, and prudential policy, having published extensively in these areas, and worked in both bank and central counterparty policy at national and international levels.
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09:45 - 10:00
Coffee Break
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10:00 - 11:00
Panel: Clearing Mandate Across Instruments & Jurisdictions, 16 Years After Pittsburgh
This discussion will reflect on lessons learned from the implementation of mandatory clearing for OTC derivatives and assess its implications for broader financial markets, such as treasuries. Key topics include impacts on systemic resilience and market transparency, as well as considerations for market participants, and the potential effects of mandates on liquidity, pricing, and operations in both primary and secondary markets. Was the OTC derivatives mandate calibrated correctly? Where are the natural limits of clearing mandates? We will also discuss the integration of treasury securities clearing with futures, swaps, and other products to optimise margin efficiency and reduce risk across asset classes, analyse the feasibility and implications of government bond clearing in jurisdictions beyond the US, and conduct a forward-looking examination of whether additional instruments should fall under mandatory clearing requirements.
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11:00 - 11:15
Coffee Break
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11:15 - 12:00
Academic Paper Presentation
Unveiling the Sophistication: Understanding Retail Investors' Trading Behavior in the U.S. Options Market
This paper examines dynamics and implications of retail trading in U.S. options markets, addressing prevalent limitations and misconceptions in existing literature across four key areas: flawed proxy data, missteps in profit/loss calculations, pitfalls in assumptions about market dynamics, and potential biases from limited data. Our analysis challenges the assumption that retail investors primarily engage in simple long options trading, highlighting the prevalence of complex orders and risk hedging techniques, and showcases retail traders' sophistication and risk management capabilities. Leveraging Cboe data related to retail platform trading and an expansive timeframe, our research provides valuable insights, addresses previous limitations, and contributes to a more informed discussion about retail options trading.
Presenter
Selina Han
Economist Cboe Global Markets
Selina Han is an Economist in the Public Policy department at Cboe Global Markets, where she applies her strong quantitative research and data science background to analyze U.S. market structure, focusing on options and equities. Her work includes assessing market dynamics, evaluating regulatory proposals, and conducting economic analysis to support the firm’s policy initiatives and senior leadership.
At Cboe, Selina contributes to critical research topics such as order competition, tick size adjustments, and access fee changes. She leverages advanced data analysis techniques to provide evidence-based insights that help the organization navigate evolving regulatory landscapes and better understand market efficiency and liquidity.
With a foundation in quantitative research and experience as a data scientist, Selina combines analytical rigor with practical solutions. She has worked on developing automated trading prototypes, optimizing trading algorithms, and enhancing data products to support decision-making and improve operational efficiency.
Selina brings over 15 years of experience spanning academia and the financial industry. Her curiosity and collaborative approach drive her work, as she aims to translate complex data into actionable insights that benefit both market participants and policymakers.
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12:00 - 13:30
Lunch (CCP Working Group Meeting from 12:30 – 13:30)
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13:30 - 14:30
Panel: Clearing 24/7 Trading - Challenges & Prerequisites
This panel explores the challenges and prerequisites for CCPs for 24/7 clearing, focusing on operational resilience, liquidity management, and technology. Does the cost/benefit analysis make sense? How is margin collected overnight? Will different risk models be needed for different times of the day? The panel will discuss required enhancements to operational resilience to ensure round-the-clock system stability and effective default management outside traditional market hours, as well as liquidity management vis a vis the complexities of intraday and overnight margin calls, and liquidity provision across different time zones. Our panellists will also address whether CCPs would need access to central bank deposit accounts to enhance liquidity, reduce settlement risk, and support continuous clearing, while weighing the regulatory and systemic implications.
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14:30 - 14:45
Coffee Break
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14:45 - 15:30
Academic Paper Presentation
The Effect of DLT Settlement Latency on Market Liquidity
This paper investigates the causal relationship between settlement latency introduced by permissionless Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and cryptocurrency market liquidity. We identify blockchain mining power as an instrumental variable for DLT settlement latency and find that settlement latency significantly lowers liquidity. We also document that such latency reduces the adverse selection costs and increases the inventory management costs faced by liquidity suppliers. The findings highlight the trade-off between decentralized, near instantaneous settlement cycles offered by DLT and the potential adverse impacts on market quality.
Presenter
Dr. Kaitao Lin
Senior Financial Economist The World Federation of Exchanges
Kaitao joined the World Federation of Exchanges in May 2020 and currently holds the position of senior financial economist in the Research Team. Kaitao holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Houston and is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) charterholder. His research focuses on market microstructure issues, such as trading rules, their effects on market participants, and market quality. His current work includes ESG and crypto assets. Kaitao’s papers have been accepted for publication in well-regarded academic journals, such as the Quarterly Journal of Finance, and presented in various international conferences, including the U.S. SEC Ph.D. Symposium, the China International Conference in Finance, and the Financial Management Association Annual Meeting.
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15:30 - 15:45
Coffee Break
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15:45 - 16:45
Panel: Predicting The Future CCP: DLT, Atomic Settlement, Disintermediation, and Auto-Liquidation
This panel will examine how emerging technologies—such as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), disintermediated clearing, and auto-liquidation—may reshape the future of CCPs. What efficiencies and cost savings could blockchain and smart contracts unlock? How can interoperability between DLT platforms and traditional clearinghouses be achieved? Discussions will also address the sustainability of disintermediated models, regulatory gaps, and the effects of automation on market stability. Is there market demand for such services? Which market segments are most likely to embrace these innovations, and where will resistance be strongest? If intermediaries are displaced, how will CCPs evolve, and will this lead to greater market fragmentation or improved efficiency?
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19:00 - 22:00
Gala Dinner
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08:30 - 09:00
Registration
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09:00 - 10:00
Panel: Artificial Intelligence in Clearing
This panel explores the role of Artificial Intelligence at CCPs, and how AI-driven solutions may influence operational efficiency and decision-making in central clearing. Attendees will gain insights on potential uses in areas such as margining practices and predictive analytics, as well the challenges of integrating AI into traditional clearing systems. How should AI models be monitored? To what extent can AI models operate on their own? The panel will discuss how to maintain transparency in AI models, manage regulatory compliance in a rapidly evolving technological environment, and navigate the associated complexities of data governance and cybersecurity.
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10:00 - 10:15
Coffee Break
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10:15 - 11:00
Academic Paper Presentation
Covariance-Filtered Historical Simulation using Simultaneous Diagonalization
The classical filtered historical simulation (FHS) offers a robust, non-parametric way to estimate portfolio risk measures and is more and more frequently used by clearing houses to set margin requirements. The simulation filters the variance of the past returns to the current level, providing samples representative of the present market conditions. The FHS however cannot filter changes in the correlation structure of the returns, which typically leads to an underestimation of risk in volatile times, as correlation often increases during these periods. Orthogonal-FHS offers a solution by applying the classical FHS framework to an orthogonal transformation of the returns. We describe a generic framework for the Orthogonal-FHS and show under which conditions it offers robust risk measures. Using a simultaneous diagonalization algorithm we implement an Orthogonal-VaR and show its effectiveness on both simulated and empirical data.
Presenter
Nicola Zaugg
Senior Researcher & Quant Engineer swissQuant
Nicola Zaugg is a senior researcher and quant engineer at swissQuant, a Swiss software company and leading global provider of counterparty clearing software solutions. As a quant in the capital markets team, he drives the design and development of the clearing methodology for swissQuant's CleaRisQ—an award-winning, data-driven clearing software that calculates real-time margin requirements for clearing members. Alongside his work at swissQuant, Nicola is pursuing a PhD in Mathematics at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, where he conducts research in financial mathematics and contributes to innovative academic advancements in the field. Prior to joining swissQuant, he worked as a quant for the Dutch investment bank Rabobank.
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11:00 - 11:15
Coffee Break
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11:15 - 12:15
Panel: Aligning CCP Enterprise Risk Management at Group Level
This panel explores how CCPs within market infrastructure groups align enterprise risk management (ERM) at the group level while maintaining subsidiary autonomy. Discussions will cover governance, risk identification, operational resilience, regulatory alignment, and technology integration. Key questions include how subsidiaries share risk practices, balance local and group oversight, and ensure consistency across diverse markets. What are the fundamental principles of ERM? How does the group model compare with the ERM for standalone CCPs? The audience will gain insights into fostering unified risk cultures, leveraging technology, and managing cross-border regulatory challenges to enhance overall group resilience.
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12:15 - 13:30
Lunch
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13:30 - 14:15
Academic Paper Presentation
The effect of clearing de-fragmentation on fragmented trading
In many markets, trading occurs across multiple exchanges or trading venues, leading to fragmentation. Central counterparty (CCP) clearing can either mirror this fragmentation or be consolidated through a single CCP or multiple interoperable CCPs. This paper examines the impact of choice of clearing model on trader behaviour under trading fragmentation. The paper shows that when the inter-exchange arbitrage costs are high, informed traders may prefer supplying liquidity on less liquid exchange. However, when such costs are reduced on account of netting after consolidation of clearing, they prefer supplying liquidity on more liquid exchange instead. Using data from implementation of CCP interoperability in India, the paper shows that clearing de-fragmentation improves price informativeness, narrows bid-ask spreads, and improves welfare by reducing adverse selection for uninformed traders.
Presenter
Aniket Bhanu
Vice President NSE Clearing, National Stock Exchange of India
Mr. Aniket Bhanu has been associated in various capacities with the National Stock Exchange of India group since 2009. His areas of expertise are risk management, derivatives, regulation and policy and has been instrumental in implementation of several market reforms in the CCP space in India. He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
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14:15 - 14:30
Coffee Break
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14:30 - 15:30
Panel: Consolidation, Integration, and Interoperability
This panel will explore the future of post-trade infrastructure, weighing the benefits of market consolidation and integration versus fostering interoperability and open access. What challenges exist? How do legislative frameworks impact prospects for consolidation? Our panellists will also discuss the impact of vertical integration on transparency, risk management, and clearing members, and outline whether post-trade consolidation is a viable route to boost competitiveness in Europe.
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15:30 - 15:45
Coffee Break
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15:45 - 16:30
Academic Paper Presentation
Betting Against the Crowd: Option Trading and Market Risk Premium
We find that the cross-sectional average of equity call options order imbalance (ACIB) negatively forecasts future market risk premium. The predictability by ACIB is robust to different horizons, from days to months. Though constructed from the options market, ACIB represents a general investor sentiment which is closely related to the Baker-Wurgler sentiment index. We do not find a significant effect of the average put options order imbalance. Further evidence indicates that ACIB tends to reflect sentiment from retail investors. We document consistent results using stock market returns from fourteen alternative financial markets.
Presenter
Dr. Jie Cao
Professor, School of Accounting and Finance Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Professor Jie (Jay) Cao is currently a full professor of finance at the School of Accounting and Finance, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). He also serves as an Advisory Council member for Monetary Research at the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research (HKIMR), an Academic and Accreditation Advisory Committee member for The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong, an Academic Working Group member for the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, and a member of the Board of Directors for Chicago Quantitative Alliance Asia (CQAsia). He is an Associate Editor of Financial Management, an Editorial Board Member of Financial Analysts Journal, a Co-Editor of The International Review of Finance, and an Editor of China Accounting and Finance Review. Before joining PolyU, he served as a tenured associate professor of finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School and worked there for 13 years.
Prof. Cao received his Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009 and BA in Economics from Peking University in 2002. His research interests center on empirical asset pricing, derivatives, and sustainable finance. His papers are published or forthcoming in top finance and management journals such as Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Management Science. He is the Principal Investigator of several Hong Kong competitive RGC grants and many other research grants from both academic and industry sponsors such as The Canadian Derivatives Institute (CDI) and Geneva Institute for Wealth Management. He has received various research awards such as AAM–CAMRI Prize in Asset Management by Asia Asset Management and NUS, the ETF Research Academy Award by the Paris–Dauphine House of Finance and Lyxor Asset Management, Chicago Quantitative Alliance (CQA) Academic Competition Award, and the best paper awards at several academic conferences such as the 28th Australian Finance & Banking Conference, 2020 FMA Consortium on Asset Management, 2020 Northern Finance Association Annual Conference, etc.
Prof. Cao has taught undergraduate Investments, MSc Fixed Income, finance MBA Quantitative Investing, and Ph.D. Empirical Asset Pricing during the past years. He received the Outstanding Teaching Award of CUHK Business School. He has also provided consulting services for several fintech start-ups and hedge funds. -
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16:30 - 16:45
Concluding Remarks & Announcement of WFEClear 2026
Speakers
Nandini Sukumar
Chief Executive Officer The World Federation of Exchanges
Nandini Sukumar is the Chief Executive Officer of the World Federation of Exchanges, the global association for exchanges and CCPs. The WFE represents more than 250 exchanges and clearing houses globally, educating stakeholders on the vital role played by market infrastructures in the real economy and as a standard setter, finding the consensus on issues among the global membership. Of its members, 35% are in Asia-Pacific, 45% in EMEA and 20% in the Americas. WFE exchanges are home to 47,919 listed companies, and the market capitalisation of these entities is over $109 trillion; around $137 trillion (EOB) in trading annually passes through WFE members (at end 2020). WFE’s 57 member CCPs collectively ensure that risk takers post some $800bn (equivalent) of resources to back their positions, in the form of initial margin and default fund requirements. Ms. Sukumar is Vice Chair of IOSCO’s Affiliate Members Consultative Committee and Chair of the AMCC’s Sustainability Taskforce.
Dr. Pedro Gurrola Perez
Head of Research The World Federation of Exchanges
Pedro joined the World Federation of Exchanges in October 2019 from the Bank of England, where he led the Financial Market Infrastructures Directorate’s Research Team. He had joined the Bank of England in 2013, after two years at the UK Financial Services Authority. Previously, Pedro spent more than 15 years lecturing and doing research at a range of well-regarded academic institutions, including the University of Barcelona and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).
Pedro holds two PhDs: one from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and one from the University of Montpellier, France, and has published across key academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Market Infrastructures, the Journal of Risk, International Finance and the Journal of Futures Markets. His recent work includes research on the economics of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) for securities settlement, on the network structure of settlement fails and on market liquidity risk in CCPs. He has also published research on payment systems, back-testing methodologies and on the structure of interest rate futures markets. In 2007 he received the National Award on Derivatives Research, awarded by the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer).
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16:45 - 19:30
Farewell Reception
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