David Lewis, senior vice president of Sungard Astec Analytics, kicked off IMN's 18th European Beneficial Owners’ Securities Lending conference in London with a market update.
Lewis’s presentation entitled, An Industry in Flux, gave attendees a succinct overview of what has happened in the market in 2013, from short selling and shadow banking to the Financial Transaction Tax and Basel III.
He said that the securities lending market is “steering a difficult course through regulatory issues and market problems” and that one of the most daunting prospects facing the industry is the “fear of the unknown” with regards to regulation, as until implementation there is no way of knowing or predicting how it will pan out.
Lewis concluded his discussion by looking to the future. He explained that the securities lending market “evolves and morphs all the time”, making it hard to predict. He therefore invited the audience to form its own industry forecasts by participating in discussions and sessions over the two-day conference.
