Exchange Officials Address Key Issues in Derivatives Markets at the APFRS

Feb. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- “Asia represents the next major opportunity in derivative market growth,” said Product and Research Development Director Mark Holder of the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange. “Growth in China consumptions of commodities will be a major driver of commodity derivatives in Asia.”  Dr. Holder was joined on the APFRS panel by Kirby Daley, Senior Strategist, Head of Capital Introductions for Newedge in Asia-Pacific, and Rama Pillai, Senior Vice President, Institutions & Traders Markets Group, Singapore Exchange Limited.

“The symposium has been associated with these markets for the past 20 years and has provided a solid foundation for academic research,” said Moderator Patrick Catania, President, Asia West Group, “This is what the APFRS is known for,” continued Catania, “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 21st year with record attendance in Singapore. The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Educational Research Foundation hosted the first APFRS in 1990; today the symposium is organized by Kent State University’s Center for Financial Engineering, along with numerous sponsors.

Thirteen innovative research presentations of original, peer reviewed papers and their discussant sessions highlighted the symposium, as well as high caliber key note speakers and dignitaries that included Mr. James Oliff, Board of Directors Member of CME Group, Mr. John Donato, Vice President of Business Development and Research for ICAP Electronic Brokering, Mr. Douglas Chan, Chairman of eBroker Systems Limited,  Mr. Rolf Agather, Director of Research and Development, Russell Investments and Dr. Arnoud De Meyer, President of Singapore Management University.

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, eBroker Systems Ltd., Russell Investments, Singapore Management University, Xiamen University and WISE, The Institute for Financial Markets, The Journal for Futures Markets and Review of Futures Markets Journal.

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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 financial engineering through education, training, and research. The Center hosts the Master of Science in Financial Engineering (MSFE) Program, the Olga A. Mural Financial Engineering Trading Floor and the Asia-Pacific Futures Research Symposium.