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Summer 2010

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF'S LETTER

SURVEYS

DIARY OF A COMPANY WIFE (RET.)

Custodians in custody
The best and brightest of the securities services industry gathered (or were amicably detained?) in Plaisterers' Hall for the sixth annual GC Awards for Excellence Dinner

FOREFRONT

Entrusting Markit
Northern Trust employs Markit's entire suite of valuation and processing services
Patrick Colle succeeds Marson as head of BP2S
The former UK country manager takes over as chief executive of BNP Paribas Securities Services at a critical time in the industry and at the firm
Fostering buy-side community
Industry veteran Robert Kay has founded ATMonitor, a Web site for traders focused on algorithmic and electronic trading

CUSTODY

Renminbi settlement: journey or destination?
Compared to mid-2009, the push for internationalization of China's currency has cooled slightly, but many still see opportunities, if not the end of dollar dominance, around renminbi settlement
Who will lead us next?
Senior executives in the industry all say that investing in people is a top priority, but certain roadblocks remain in attracting and training the securities services leaders of today and tomorrow
Korea: Major or emerging?
It depends whom you ask - though, despite labels, Korea's capital markets and infrastructure are moving forward with aplomb

SPECIAL REPORT: Middle East and North Africa

MENA gets crowded
Rival custodians - having established securities services in the Middle East over the past three years - have their sights set on taking on HSBC to become the region's dominant service provider
Financial centers compete for supremacy
Despite the well-advertised financial problems of Dubai, the emirate is still a contender with Bahrain and Qatar in relentless campaigns by the three regional financial centers to convince foreign investors and institutions that theirs is the best point of entry into the Middle Eastern marketplace
Israel: Work in progress
Israel recently has been upgraded from "emerging" to "developed" by the MSCI, it has been admitted into the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), and it has made strides in recent years to improve its capital markets infrastructure. Yet it still has work to do to reach global standards and earn the confidence of foreign investors
Stock exchanges: growing pains
A fair share of the innovation in the Middle Eastern capital markets is emanating from the Gulf exchanges themselves. But with lofty aspirations and their sights set on global standards, are they growing too quickly for their own good?

PRIME BROKERAGE

Less is more
How have hedge funds taken to the UCITS III structure?
Fidelity keeps faith with prime brokerage
After five years of steady commitment, rapid growth in client numbers and balances during the crisis, new leadership in place, continuing investment in people and technology, and a full prime brokerage service now on offer, nobody can accuse Fidelity any longer of toying with the idea of being a prime broker

SECURITIES LENDING AND FINANCING

Central counterparties and securities lending
Editor-in-Chief Dominic Hobson discusses CCPs as an alternative route to the securities lending market with Gregory DePetris, co-founder and chief srategic officer of Quadriserv

MARKET INFRASTRUCTURE

Alternative trading systems to challenge TSE?
Japan's equity trading system took a big leap forward in January when the Tokyo Stock Exchange introduced a high-speed processing system - placing it among world's top trading venues in terms of the milliseconds needed to process deals. Is the time ripe for another even more fundamental change?
Interoperability still a distant prospect
Genuine competition between equity market CCPs in Europe depends on achieving interoperability between them. Three and a half years after the European Commission ordained interoperability

SPECIAL REPORT: Central and Eastern Europe

The custodial appeal of CEE
In comparison to their major counterparts, the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe are a crowded field of both single market, regional and international custodians that all see opportunities in the region - a sentiment that has been only buoyed by the recent economic turnaround and the return of investor appetite - but securities services requires tangible forms of commitment and investment in people and technology. Who is making it?
Reducing risk in Ukraine
The capital markets in Ukraine are an infamous and often tricky landscape for foreign institutional investors, though the opportunities remain too appetizing to ignore. But the government and sub-custodians are working together on some new initiatives to improve the country's image
Russia refocuses on reforms
As its economy recovers, Russia attempts to improve its financial infrastructure

FUND ADMINISTRATION

Akshaya Bhargava
The CEO of Butterfield Fulcrum discusses the familiar changes to hedge fund administration

NATURAL LAW

Why people hate bankers
Examining our expectations around reciprocity is a good place to start

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