Chair – Pauline GUERIN (Société Générale)

The Financial Markets Working Group (FMWG) brings together IBFed members to discuss issues relating to the operation of financial markets. This includes engagement with key institutions and policymakers, sharing intelligence on key developments globally and in each jurisdiction as well as discussing areas where IBFed intervention may be useful.

The issues that the FMWG has been looking at include the transition of benchmarks away from IBOR (interbank offered rate); crypto-assets; market fragmentation; the UK’s departure from the European Union and measures taken as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. Through this the FMWG aims to encourage economic growth by advocating efficiency and liquidity in the global financial markets, to support the banking and financial services industry’s efforts to serve the customers’ needs for financial products and services, to promote the continued development of financial transaction technologies and innovation, and to support maintaining public trust and confidence in the strength, regulation, and resiliency of the global financial markets.

The FMWG actively engages with the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), an important global regulatory standard setter in the securities field, as it seeks to establish a more structured dialogue with the financial community. The FMWG aims to be an IOSCO banking sector partner of choice through constructive input to the work of the IOSCO Technical Committee, by drawing on IBFed members’ expertise in global markets. The Working Group also facilitates the involvement of IBFed members in its activities so as to provide the banking sector view in key elements of the work of IOSCO, whether individually or together with other international bodies such as the Financial Stability Board and the Bank for International Settlements.