ICMA Podcast

ICMA Chief Executive Martin Scheck and Andy Hill, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA discuss how the European repo market has mostly held up well during the market turbulence stemming from the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, this has not been without some strains. In particular, as the demand for repo has increased, banks’ capacity to intermediate has remained constrained. Meanwhile, the market has had to deal with the disruption of operating remotely, with implications for both the supply of collateral and operational efficiency.

Nicholas Pfaff, Head of Sustainable Finance at ICMA speaks with colleagues, Simone Utermarck, Director, Sustainable Finance and Arthur Carabia, Director, Market Practice & Regulatory Policy, about our latest publication explaining how new and amended EU legislation is introducing sustainability and ESG related disclosure requirements impacting all participants in the European capital markets. This is arguably leading to what we are referring to as an “EU sustainability disclosure regime”. Our publication seeks to provide the market with an initial comprehensive and practical overview of these developments.

Robert Parker, Chairman of ICMA Asset Management and Investors Council, reviews the market events of the last week in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on potential further actions by the ECB and the Federal Reserve, the EU fiscal stimulus, and the asset management industry.

An ICMA Future Leaders podcast, Alex Malitsky of TD Securities speaks to Dr. Natalia Wiechowski, a leading specialist on Personal Branding, a Forbes Coaches Council Member, a Top 100 Leader in Education, and bestselling author. She defines the meaning of personal branding, why it matters not only for executives and entrepreneurs but also young professionals and discusses the tools that you can use, including social media and LinkedIn, to build your personal brand.  Dr. Natalia launched #ThinkNatalia to coach and consult people through thought leadership and personal branding.

ICMA speaks to Amanda Thomas and Jennifer Cresswell of Allen & Overy LLP to get their perspective on the practical implications of COVID-19 for European primary debt capital markets, covering a wide range of issues from central bank asset purchase programmes to challenges around financial information, its preparation and publication, as well as the implications of remote working for executing documents, due diligence, disclosure, risk factors and more.

Christophe Rieger, Head of Interest Rate & Credit Research at Commerzbank, speaks to ICMA about the different, and bold, measures taken by the central bank community as well as the fiscal responses from governments in mitigating and containing the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robert Parker reviews the market events of the last week, with specific focus on the oil price collapse and its economic and capital market implications, potential further actions by the ECB and investors' perception of a possible second wave of COVID-19 contagion.

As many of us tackle this brave new way of working for the first time, Kelly Kearsley, US based writer and content manager for some of the world's most recognized fintech, financial service and tech companies and experienced home worker, dispels the myths about maintaining a professional life outside the office and offers some helpful truths.

Cyrus Ardalan, Former Chairman of ICMA, Chairman of Citigroup Global Markets and Chairman of Oaknorth Bank, discusses the work of the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), which he also chairs, in raising funding for Gavi, the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisation. Gavi is a major force in vaccinating children in the world’s poorest countries. IFFIm’s Vaccine Bonds (which are aligned with ICMA’s Social Bond Principles) provide investors with a unique opportunity to realise both a secure rate of return and diversify their portfolios while helping save young lives. IFFIm has been instrumental in providing Gavi with funding which has helped to vaccinate more than 760 million children in the 2000–2019 period.

ICMA Chief Executive Martin Scheck and Irina Fan, Head of Insurance Market Analysis at the Swiss Re Institute, discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the insurance and re-insurance industry, resilience in the worldwide economy now compared to the period before the global financial crisis and prospects for global growth.