The Pan Asia Securities Lending Association (PASLA) has appointed Stephen Howard as its first CEO, after beginning a search for the newly formed position in June 2022.
Based in Hong Kong, Howard will be responsible for establishing and implementing PASLA’s engagement strategy with regulators, exchanges and other key stakeholders across Asia Pacific. He will also advocate for the Association’s members.
Reporting directly to PASLA’s board as CEO, Howard brings nearly 30 years of experience in banking and securities markets to the role.
His knowledge extends to both the sell and buy side, having dedicated 20 years on the sell side within various organisations in Europe and Asia, moving to Hong Kong in 2000, and later transitioning to the buy side.
Throughout his career, Howard has been conducting, managing, and driving businesses where securities finance was an integral part of those firms. He brings core knowledge around securities finance and lending, along with his derivative expertise.
Howard is the founder of a financial markets consultancy with a focus on equity derivatives and prime finance. From 2020 to 2022, he was a member on the advisory board of The Sydney Stock Exchange. Prior to this, he served as head of trading and portfolio manager at Enhanced Investment Products, an Asia ex-Japan hedge fund, from 2014 to 2017.
He has also served in senior positions at NatWest Markets, ABN AMRO Bank and J.P. Morgan.
Commenting on the news, Howards says: “As a member of PASLA in the earlier days of the Association, I am impressed to see how much has been achieved over the past 28 years. It is an exciting time to be given the opportunity to lead the Association in my new capacity.
“Asia Pacific is undergoing a crucial period as capital markets gradually normalise post-pandemic. Our aim is to ensure that PASLA continues to play an integral role in promoting open, transparent and efficient securities lending across Asia Pacific, and support the growth of the broader equity markets across the region, and global participation in them.”
The future outlook for PASLA
PASLA is an industry association that represents the interests of institutions that conduct the borrowing and lending of securities or derivatives across Asian securities markets. It has been in existence since 1995.
Speaking to SFT, Howard says: “Statistics provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence indicate that securities borrowing and lending revenues for 2022 in Asia accounted for US$2 billion. It is a significant industry, one that is deeply embedded within the capital markets structure within Asia.”
The association is here to help deliver securities lending in its current and in future forms, in partnership with member firms to the industry as a whole, Howard explains. That is something that will resonate and will continue to be consistent going forward.
He adds: “The manner in which we do that is going to change, and it is going to change based on market dynamics, market backdrop, regulation and also on the economics of the business.”
“The fact that the executive team and the board have recognised that they needed to make the step of having a full time CEO is great,” Howard continues, “there is no reason why we can't be bigger, bolder, and aim for further growth and engagement through this process.”
The association has a large geographical footprint and a broad range of entities participating within it — with 61 members transacting in business across 15 regional markets.
As Howard begins his new role, he reveals three key initiatives that the Association looks to achieve over the next 12 to 24 months.
Growth is a core aspect of PASLA’s focus, and one which will take a number of different directions. Growth areas include bringing new organisations into the Association, and supporting the growth of those capital markets across the region so that members can accelerate their business footprints.
Howard looks to enable this growth through the use of engagement.
He explains: “Engagement is going to be more of a multi-layered process for us going forward, where we find new ways to engage with the existing membership, bringing new stakeholders into the association, and working with partner associations outside of the region, as well as within the region, to drive the agenda.
“This agenda needs to be 100 per cent aligned with our membership and what they are aiming to achieve from their businesses.”
In terms of the direction of travel that the Association is leaning toward, PASLA has re-engaged with the Chinese market since the pandemic reopening.
“During the last 12 to 15 months, the Association has been very active and will continue to be very active with our dialogue with the Indonesian and Philippine markets as they develop and roll out their broader securities lending framework and infrastructure across those markets,” Howard says.
“In addition, PASLA will focus on the construct of ESG, which could mean different things to different stakeholders,” he notes. “We are going to continue to work with the membership to determine how we can drive a path around what ESG means for the industry as a whole, finding a fit that is both pragmatic and something that can be utilised.”
Providing further commentary on the announcement, PASLA chair Jason Wells, adds: “His senior-level industry experience, deep understanding of securities finance in Asia Pacific and extensive global network will be immensely valuable to PASLA. I look forward to working with him to strengthen our relationships with regional regulators and exchanges as we advocate for the implementation of best practices across the Asia Pacific markets.”
Paul Solway, PASLA communications officer, adds: “We have had an extensive and thorough search for a CEO, which was conducted by the PASLA executive committee. We are excited to welcome Stephen as the first CEO of PASLA as we further professionalise the organisation and grow our outreach and our impact to the community and the markets in Asia.”
