Current Global Trends on Financial Market Regulation and the Impact on the Philippines

Manila The PDS Group and Thomson Reuters are co-sponsoring the Round Table Forum “Current Global Trends on Financial Market Regulation and the Impact on the Philippines” on the 15th of July, 2009 at the Makati Shangri-La, Rizal Ballroom C from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

This gathering draws on the close collaboration between the PDS Group and Thomson Reuters to make domestic financial markets more efficient and transparent and opens avenues of dialogue among the market stakeholders on issues that confront the market. The two companies are committed to continue providing relevant seminars and activities that engage and further this market dialogue.

In response, to the global economic downturn, national banking and securities regulatory authorities all over the world have been examining and re-evaluating regulations for financial markets. Regulatory focus around the world brings closer attention to increased transparency, improved monitoring of risk exposures and better definition of accountability, with the aim of preventing a recurrence of the banking and capital market crisis that impacted the world economy.

A centerpiece of U.S. plans are vesting regulators with new powers over “systemic risk” in the economy with the aim of preventing future disasters, forcing large financial firms to boost their capital cushions and regulating over-the-counter derivatives and securitized instruments.

How will this affect Philippine markets? What are the appropriate regulatory responses in the Philippine environment? The round table forum will open the dialogue on these issues for a sharing of ideas among key leaders and decisionmakers in the market.

Mr. Jas Singh, Global Head of Treasury, in the Markets Division of Thomson Reuters, will introduce the subject and provide global insight on the debate on regulatory reforms in the wake of the global financial crisis. Mr. Singh’s Treasury unit is responsible for providing services and trading solutions to the most established FX community in the world. He brings the topic to discussion, bearing on his wide experience in markets. He was Director of AVT Technologies Ltd. prior to its acquisition by Reuters in December 2002. He also worked at JP Morgan for 13 years, where he held numerous senior technical and business positions, culminating in COO of European Foreign Exchange and Head of E-Commerce for Global Emerging Markets & Foreign Exchange. Jas was one of the founding directors of the Electronic Broking Services partnership (EBS) where he served on the Executive and Audit Committees. Jas served on the board from 1990 to 1998.

A group of eminent panellists from the Philippines will then join the discussions to share their ideas and vision, including:

Hon. Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr.
Deputy Governor
Supervision and Examination Sector
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Hon. Roberto B. Tan
Treasurer of the Philippines
Bureau of the Treasury

Hon. Ma. Juanita E. Cueto
Commissioner
Securities & Exchange Commission

Mr. Antonio C. Moncupa, Jr.
Open Market Committee Chairman
Bankers Association of The Philippines

Mrs. Ma. Lourdes C. Cristobal
President
Investment Houses Association of the Philippines

Mr. Ernest Leung
Market Governance Board Vice Chairman
Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.

The discussion will then be opened up to the audience, a select group of the senior-most finance professionals in Manila from the private and public sectors and the CEO’s of top corporates. Reuters News Bureau Chief Raju Gopalakrishnan will moderate.

This event is being co-sponsored by Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, and the PDS Group, which delivers a complete infrastructure solution for the Philippine financial markets, from trading all the way to settlement and post-settlement disposition. It is composed of the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx), its trading arm; the Philippine Depository & Trust Corp. (PDTC), its securities services arm, and the Philippine Securities Settlement Corp. (PSSC), its payments and settlements infrastructure arm.

Thomson Reuters has exclusive global real-time redistribution rights of PDEx content in FX and Fixed Income Government and Private Debt traded on their platforms. The information tie-up between the Thomson Reuters and the PDS Group is coupled with expertise-sharing arrangements for each to take advantage of their respective proficiency areas in market development and infrastructure building.

Mr. Vicente B. Castillo, President & Chief Executive Officer, PDS Group of Companies, said: “PDS Group, sensitive to global trends, finds pleasure in providing this forum where our local players can appreciate world events with respect to regulatory trends, and compare, contrast or otherwise draw on these to assess what we have co-developed in partnership with the rest of the market.”

Mr. Rainer Fuchsluger, Managing Director, Thomson Reuters, Philippines, said: “The global expansion of the regulatory framework will result in changes to market structure, participants and the activities they engage in. In order to improve the efficiency and price / risk transparency Thomson Reuters encourages the adoption of electronic trading systems across the asset classes, in particular also for OTC derivatives. Regulators look to require real-time reporting of price information, open positions, trading volumes of all trades.

As an independent and trusted partner for the financial market Thomson Reuters feels committed to continuing our investment to facilitate local market requirements. Our market standard automated solutions are based on a secure, reliable network that processes trade notifications and communication in real-time to meet Compliance regulations.”