APFRS Research Panel Addresses Key Research Issues in Derivatives Markets

March 4, 2010 - PRLog -- “Regulation is a prime opportunity for the exchanges,” said London Business School’s Visiting Research Professor Dr. William Fung of BNP Paribas Hedge Fund, “The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) newly proposed regulations may be unfavorable to investment banks, while the exchange structure for derivatives will provide a “structured comfort” to the legislature, much more so than the cloak and dagger of the OTC market.”   Dr. Fung was joined on the APFRS panel by Dr. Charles Cao, The Smeal Chair Professor of Finance at Penn State University, and Asia West Group President Patrick Catania.  

“While everyone may not agree with each of the panelists,” said Moderator Dr. Mark Holder, director of Kent State University’s Center for Financial Engineering, “it provoked a spirited debate amongst symposium attendees on pending futures regulations as well as current industry topics including; speculation, a transaction tax, central party clearing and OTC products. This is what the APFRS is known for,” continued Holder “and why year after year influential financial leaders and respected scholars from around the world attend this symposium.”

The Asia-Pacific Futures Research Symposium, one of the most respected derivatives research conferences in the world celebrated its 20th anniversary in Hong Kong last week.  The first symposium was hosted by The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Educational Research Foundation in 1990; today the symposium is organized by Kent State University’s Center for Financial Engineering, along with numerous sponsors.  

Eleven innovative research presentations with original, peer reviewed papers and discussant sessions highlighted the 20th anniversary symposium, as well as high caliber key note speakers and dignitaries that included Mr. Tae Yoo, director and head of strategic sales and administration of Asia’s CME Group, Mr. Chris Hehmeyer, chairman of Penson GHCo, Mr. Thomas McMahon, CEO of Singapore Mercantile Exchange, Mr. Douglas Chan, chairman of eBroker Systems Limited, and Mr. Tobias Knobbe, Eurex senior vice president and head of sales Asia and Middle East.

The APFRS in large part is funded through a major sponsorship by the CME Group Foundation along with the generosity of numerous local and global sponsors including; CBOT Educational Research Foundation, Kent State University, Dow Jones Indexes, eBroker Systems LTD., Hong Kong Baptist University, Xiamen University and WISE, The Institute for Financial Markets, The Journal for Futures Markets and Review of Futures Markets.

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Kent State University’s Center for Financial Engineering is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge in derivatives and is a catalyst for the development of the field of financial engineering through education, training, and research. The Center for Financial Engineering hosts the Master of Science in Financial Engineering (MSFE) Program, the Olga A. Mural Financial Engineering Trading Floor, the Asia-Pacific Futures Research Symposium and the Review of Futures Markets journal.