The Future of the Repo Market: an International Conference

Senior Visiting Fellow at the ICMA Centre, Richard Comotto, will be speaking at the upcoming conference organised by the ICMA European Repo Council, titled "A collateralised future - what really happened in the repo market during the crisis and how will it cope with growing collateral demand, stagnant supply and regulatory uncertainty?". Richard Comotto will be a panellist in a workshop session titled: Is repo an unstable source of funding? The issues of procyclicality of leverage, interconnectedness, asset encumbrance, collateral re-use and fire sales.

2013 will be a watershed for the repo market, as it faces tougher regulatory oversight, while at the same time being required to meet the financial system’s increasing demand for collateral. As the operation and the role of repo have in the past not been well understood, this conference seeks to provide insights into the instrument and its pivotal role in the financial system. It will also weight the contradictory evidence about the performance of the market during the crisis and assess regulatory responses based on these contested perceptions.

Looking to the future, the conference will consider how much collateral will be needed, where will it come from? What will be the impact of mandatory collateralisation of the markets, new prudential regulation, shifting capital flows and emerging trading, clearing and settlement technology on the structure and efficiency of the repo market in Europe? Experts from regulatory authorities, central banks, academic institutions and the market will take part in the debate with a view to reviewing and reassessing the role of repo in the financial crisis.

The conference features keynote addresses by: Andrew Hauser, Head of Sterling Markets Division, Bank of England; Francesco Papadia, Chairman of the Board, Prime Collateralised Securities (PCS) former Director General for Market Operations at the European Central Bank and Manoman Singh, Senior Financial Economist, IMF.

Among the topics to be debated by expert panels at the conference will be:

• What actually happened in the repo and other financial markets in 2007-09? Was there really a ‘run on repo’?
• To what extent did repo contribute procyclicality and the build-up of excessive leverage? Are the problems posed by interconnectedness and asset encumbrance exaggerated? Is collateral re-use a source of risk?
• The future market for collateral and the prospect of systemic shortages. How can collateral efficiency be improved?

Date: 11 June 2013 Time: 08.30 - 15.45

Venue: The Thomson Reuters Building 30 South Colonnade Canary Wharf London E14 5EP

Attendance: free but advance booking required.

The full conference agenda is available from this link.

Please register through the ICMA website from this link.