GFF Podcast

In our series four finale, we have a feature-length show with senior Ukrainian finance leaders Yuriy Butsa (Commissioner for Public Debt Management) and Yuriy Heletiy (Deputy Governor, National Bank of Ukraine). We discuss Ukraine's extraordinary financial system resilience in the face of a military invasion, its economic performance and strong monetary controls, and consider the costs and opportunities of postwar reconstruction. Join our regular hosts, Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler, for 45 minutes of lively chat and insight into one of the most remarkable economic success stories of the century.

Join us for this special live show recorded at the GFF Summit 2025. Dive into the insights and analysis from our keynote speakers: Charles Lichfield, Deputy Director of Geoeconomics at the Atlantic Council and James Pomeroy, Global Economist at HSBC, plus a special interview with Harri Vikstedt, Senior Director for Financial Markets at the Bank of Canada.With this year's key theme “Navigating Uncertainty: Geopolitics and Market Dynamics” - get our expert perspectives on the global economy in 2025.

Happy New Year! We are back with a special preview of the 2025 Global Funding and Financing (GFF) Summit – on “Navigating uncertainty: Geopolitics and market dynamics”. The summit will take place in Luxembourg on 29-30 January.In this episode, we discuss about the big themes and keynote speakers that will make up the event's agenda, focusing on collateral optimisation, regulatory changes and the importance of collaboration in adapting to evolving market conditions.Join Marton Szigeti (Clearstream), Elodie Putz (Clearstream), Johnathan Lombardo (Eurex) and Frank Gast (Eurex Repo) for a preview of the main GFF Summit, plus regular co-hosts Christian Rossler and Andrew Keith Walker to talk about the Central Bank and Sovereign Wealth Fund Forum.

Join us for our special year-end episode, where we reflect on a year of fintech innovation in securities lending and collateral management. We'll be making predictions about 2025 with regular hosts, Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler, plus our special guest Barnaby Nelson – fintech innovation expert and CEO of the Value Exchange. Additionally, our guest co-host, Fabrice Tomenko, will join us for a lively chat about tokenisation, DLT, CBDC, blockchain, AI, and the tensions between regulation, innovation and compliance in the current, rapidly evolving securities lending and money markets. Will it be a happy new year? Join us at the GFF Summit in January to find out.

In this special feature episode, we're joined by Olivier d'Assier (Lead Principal, Investment Decision Research, SimCorp) to discuss the reaction of global markets to Donald Trump's re-election, Labour's historic UK budget, and the rapidly changing political landscape in the EU. With co-hosts Andrew Keith Walker, Christian Rossler and James Cherry, we analyse the impact of these changes on inflation, fixed income, money markets, regulation and central bank policy from Asia to the EU and the Fed.

This is a reminder that our November episode will arrive the week after the US Election. We'll be joined by Oliver D'assier the Lead Principal, Investment Decision Research at Simcorp, and James Cherry the head of Business Development for Clearstream's Collateral, Liquidity and Lending Solutions team. Together, we'll predict the impact of the US Election, Labour's first UK Budget and European changes, all of which will affect securities lending, repo and economic policy within the EU and beyond. We'll see you after the US election...

This month we take a deep dive into treasury operations and the advantages of Clearstream's unique marriage broking service within triparty repo. We discuss how Clearstream matches sell-side and buy-side market participants with new market opportunities, plus bilateral and triparty repo, foreign exchange (FX) swaps, cleared and uncleared services to manage cash across multiple jurisdictions. Join our hosts, Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler, with Defi Kimenga, Head of Trading at Clearstream Treasury (Luxembourg) and Marc Poinsignon (Business Development, Marriage Broking) to discuss services that enable market participants to scale rapidly, reduce costs and be more agile in the money markets.

This month, we're joined by the SFT European Repo Team of 2024 - Eurex - to discuss the new balance sheet netting and collateral optimisation products developed in partnership with Clearstream. Join Jean-Robert Wilkin (Senior Adviser, Clearstream), Frank Gast (MD, Board Member and Global Head of Sales, - Eurex Repo) and Frank Odendall (Head of SF products and Business Development, Eurex Repo) for an in-depth tour of the new combined Eurex clearing services., These services enable cross-product margining and significant cost reductions for exchange-traded derivatives (ETDs), Repo and OTC interest rate swaps (IRS). Additionally, we discuss approaches for balance sheet netting, collateral optimisation and greater buy-side capital efficiency through new ISA Direct models, - as well as the market infrastructure that enables these advancements.

This month's show takes a deep dive into collateral management with Gaël Delaunay, Head of Collateral Management at Clearstream. Joined by Priya Sharma, Head of Data & Client Connectivity, we explore the technology and the data strategy underpinning the latest innovations in collateral management. We also take a closer look at major milestones in our D7 digital issuance platform, tokenisation, blockchain settlement advances, regulatory reporting and data quality - plus the latest advancements in AI-powered marriage broking (via OSCAR), automated margining, collateral mapping and the new enhanced Xact portal.

For our new season premiere, we're presenting a show with industry leaders from ISLA, BNY, Clearstream and HQLAx. Featuring insights and analysis from Ina Budh-Raja & Andrew Dyson (ISLA), Marton Szigeti, James Cherry, Banu Apers, Alexandre Roques, Marc Poinsignon & Jean-Robert Wilkin (Clearstream) and Elisa Poutanen & Charlie Amesbury (HQLAx). Listen for insights into collateral optimisation, liquidity management, balance sheet netting, regulatory compliance, blockchain settlement, tokenisation and more. Hosted by our regular team of central bank expert, Christian Rossler (Clearstream) and our resident podcast journalist Andrew Keith Walker.

In our final episode of Season 3, we take an in-depth look at Clearstream's newly added central bank money (CeBM) settlement for triparty repo. Integrated with the EU's TARGET2 real-time gross settlement platform, CeBM opens up uncleared triparty repos to a wider market of more diverse financial and non-financial counterparties. CeBM is designed to facilitate entities such as debt management offices and state treasuries that want to engage in the reduced risk of central bank money settlement, with less friction and back-office complexity for lifecycle events. As repo volumes increase and inflation, volatility and interest rates continue to be unpredictable, CeBM adds another liquidity management tool into the money markets in an industry first for Clearstream. Join James Cherry, Head of Business Development (and long-time contributor) and Christian Rossler as they break down the key issues and look ahead to the big macroeconomic issues that will shape the next year of global funding and financing. 

In this show, we discuss the arrival of ETFs in securities lending and the new product and service offerings to meet the demand for ETF lending at Clearstream. As ETFs with fixed income underlying assets are now available for securities lending and eligible for use in both fails and strategic securities lending products, we go in-depth with ETF expert Allan Stewart (Exec. Director of ETF Sales and Relationship Management) and Catherine Pring (Senior Product Manager for Securities Lending Products) on the mechanics, opportunities and roadmap for Clearstream's new ETF lending programme. We also look at the broader ramifications of ETFs being held in central bank reserves and get out our GFF crystal ball to predict where this innovative new market will be this time next year.

Tune in to the newest episode of the #GFFpodcast featuring Bart Coppens, one of the architects of OSCAR, our AI-based application for collateral management, and Fabrice Tomenko, innovation leader and CEO of Clearstream International S.A. Together with host Andrew Keith Walker they explore the latest #AI fintech innovations and the next generation of AI workplace tools. 

In this show  we interview senior leaders live at the GFF Summit on the rising repo markets, T+1, collateral management, intraday trading & liquidity concerns, AI in finance, Central Banks, CCPs, changing monetary policy & ECB operations, clearing US Treasuries, sustainable development goals, green finance and more - with Dr. Karsten Stroborn (Deutsche Bundesbank), Leslie Maasdoorp (New Development Bank), Jean-Marie Masse (EuroGreen Capital Partners), Richard Comotto (ICMA), Adrian Dale (ISLA), Jorge Sanz (IBM), Christoph Rieger (Commerzbank), Nehal Udeshi (BNY Mellon), Nick Short, Erica De Rosa & Charlie Amesbury (HQLAx), Catherine Pring, Elodie Putz (Clearstream), Frank Gast (Eurex Repo) and Marton Szigeti (Clearstream). Plus more. Don't miss this live show recorded at the 2024 GFF Summit in Luxembourg.  With co-hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler.

In this special year-end episode, we explore the changing EU money market ecosystem. We discuss quantitative tightening, new developments in Minimum Reserve Requirements, changes to sovereign deposit remuneration and excess liquidity. With expert insight from Christophe Rieger (Head of Commerzbank's Rates and Credit Research) and Martin Nazary (Head of Short Term Products at Deutsche Finanzagentur, a major source of liquidity in EU repo markets), both speakers at the upcoming GFF Summit in Luxembourg (31 January to 1 February 2024).Together with hosts Christian Rossler and Andrew Keith Walker, we explore the significant economic impacts of these developments and look at year-end 2023, focusing on the rapidly expanding cleared repo market and the un-cleared triparty repo market.Additionally, we round off 2023 with some money market predictions for 2024 and the upcoming changes in the ECB operational framework. Lastly, we wish all our listeners a good holiday season and, if you celebrate it, a Merry Christmas.

In this show, we celebrate our award-winning ASLplus platform. Lifetime Achievement Award winner Alexandre Roques (Head of Sec Lending Trading Desk) and Head of Securities Lending and Borrowing Banu Apers join us for a look at the innovative features and trade ideas that earned this prestigious win from a survey of borrowers around the world. We also look at how Securities Lending markets have changed over the years and consider the major impacts of quantitative tightening over 2023, the maturity of the final tranche of TLTROs in 2024 and our special expertise in handling US Treasury Bonds and access to the Federal Reserve. Plus, we look forward to conditions in 2024, considering the potential impacts of T+1, CSDR and settlement services for ETFs... and more.

In this episode Marton Szigeti (Head of Collateral, Lending and Liquidity Solutions) and Marcus Austin (Head of Sales, UK Ireland & Americas, CLLS) give us the insider view of this year's SIBOS event. We go behind the headlines to explore what the implications of T+1 will mean for markets globally; how AI and data will shape collateral and lLending over the coming years; and explore a diverse range of headline topics from CBDC to the growth of Triparty Collateral Management, blockchain, tokenisation and the future of digital assets. Don't miss this feature-length, in-depth analysis of the current state of play for global markets - plus we wish the Eurobond and the Aston Martin DB5 a happy 60th birthday.

In this special extended episode, Christian Rossler and Andrew Keith Walker are joined in a lively discussion by special guests David Escoffier (CEO, LSF) and James Cherry (Clearstream) to discuss the LSF Secretariat's plans to reduce the burden of financing costs for African Sovereigns and high-quality counterparties through establishing secondary markets for African repos, and increase African green bond issuances to help finance their climate goals.David discusses the mechanics of the LSF's plans to build a $20Bn plus repo market within 5 years, and James discusses the role that Clearstream's Triparty Repo solutions can play in these new Eurobond-backed repo markets - plus we consider the vital role of the private sector, Sovereign Wealth Funds and large financial counterparties to reaching Africa's climate goals and net-zero targets.Plus we have a little time to celebrate Bastille Day and discuss our holiday plans before the August break.

In this new episode, our hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler are joined by two guests: Steve Everett, Head of Business Strategy & Innovation at the Canadian Depository for Securities (TMX CDS), and Fabrice Tomenko, CEO of Clearstream International. Together, they discuss the unique partnership between TMX and Clearstream and its far-reaching implications for collateral management and mobilisation in Canada, which has given rise to Canada's first triparty collateral management platform.But that's not all – the conversation also focuses on the future of collateral management in Canada. As the emergence of digital tools, tokenisation and blockchain solutions is reshaping the financial industry globally, our guests provide valuable insights into how Canadian market participants can leverage these developments. They also dive into the Canadian ESG sector and its green bond initiatives.

Welcome back to season 3 of the GFF Podcast. In this new season, we kick off episode 1  with an in-depth discussion on the work being done by Clearstream and its partner VERMEG on the Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS).The ECMS will bring together the 20 Eurozone national central banks with a single, unified system for managing assets used as collateral in Eurosystem credit operations. Set to go live in April 2024, ECMS represents a major innovation for market participants across the Eurozone to access triparty collateral management and the European Central Bank (ECB). Join Michael Carignano Head of Market Innovation at VERMEG and Jean-Robert Wilkin, Senior Advisor at Clearstream, plus regular hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler for this lively chat about the impact of ECMS on the Eurosystem, and the upcoming Clearstream ECMS Roadshow.

In this show we preview the upcoming GFF Summit 2023 in Luxembourg with CEO of Clearstream Securities Services Samuel Riley, and Head of Collateral, Lending and Liquidity Solutions Marton Szigeti. Together with co-hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler, they discuss the major themes that will dominate 2023 in the securities lending and repo markets, plus the theme of this year's GFF -  "Thriving in a Changing World". With a preview of the events and influential speakers at this year's event, this is the must-listen guide to the GFF Summit 2023.

In this festive review of the year, Clearstream's Head of Securities Lending & Borrowing Banu Apers,  Head of Business Development James Cherry and the new Global Head of Collateral Management Gaël Delaunay join Christian Rossler and Andrew Keith Walker to discuss the major collateral and securities lending developments of 2022 and the new products and services on offer from Clearstream in 2023. Plus our usual Merry Christmas message in the many languages of the Banking, Funding and Financing team.

In this episode we discuss the emergence of sustainability-related repo products, explore the development and categorisation of sustainable practices within the repo market, and how sustainability-related repo plays a role in the transition to green finance - with Zhan Chen (Associate in Market Practice at ICMA) Carsten Hiller (Head of Fixed Income Derivatives, Funding & Financing Sales for Central Europe at Eurex & Vice Chair of ICMA's Sustainable Repo Taskforce) and Marc Poinsignon (Business Development Tri-Party Collateral Management at Clearstream). 

In this show we report back from the GFFSummit  2022 and catch-up with some of the guests, speakers and industry leaders that made the event such a huge success - including interviews with Farrah Mahmood and Adrian Dale (ISLA), repo expect and commentator Richard Comotto (ICMA), ESG investment and sustainable development expert Leslie Maasdoorp (CFO, New Development Bank), green bond pioneerJean-Marie Masse (MD Blue Like an Orange Sustainable Capital) and Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bond Initiative. Plus we are joined by Marty Szigeti (Head of Banking Funding and Financing, Clearstream) to give his view on this year's summit - and reveal exciting news about GFF 2023.

In this month's show we present a preview of the 2022 GFF Summit in Luxembourg, which will be one of the biggest and most prestigious events on the European finance industry calendar. We meet the organisers, and talk about the big themes and topics that will make-up the agenda for the event - featuring senior leaders from politics, finance, central banks and green initiatives, plus dozens of speakers from over 25 major organisations and market participants, multiple networking events, closed sessions, and of course the famous Gala dinner. We're discussing the state of the market, diversity & inclusion, ESG for SecLending and Repo, digitalisation and all things GFF with Jonathan Lombardo (EUREX), Banu Apers (Clearstream),  Elodie Putz (Clearstream), Frank Gast (EUREX) and regular hosts Christian Rossler and Andrew Keith Walker. (And don't forget to register at www.gff-summit.com)

New technologies such as blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) continue to be in the focus of financial market players as well as central banks. In this episode , we discuss the use of securities (collateral) and cash (digital currencies) in a DLT environment. We also consider the challenges facing Central Bank Digital Currencies, and the advances in digital issuance, tokenization, DLT collateral management and settlement systems.

In this special extended show we go in-depth into the current state of climate finance, with former Finance Industry CIO of the IFC and COP26 panellist Jean-Marie Mass. As someone who was working with the IFC when its sister organisation the World Bank launched the first green bond in 2007, and went on to structure the first (and largest) green bond fund in the world with the IFC and Amundi in 2018, Jean-Marie Masse is acknowledged as one of the leading minds in the field of climate finance today. In this show, he explains the new tools and instruments available to market participants - such as Sustainability-linked Bonds, Blended Finance and Carbon Arbitrage. He also frames the two central activities that are shaping climate finance - Mitigation projects and Adaptation projects - and driving the rapid rise of capital flows into the green and sustainable investments.

In this show we meet the Co-founder and CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, Sean Kidney, for a lively and wide ranging conversation about the vital role green bonds and green finance will play in preventing the worst effects of climate change. This show gives us some insights into the scale of the challenge, and the huge progress being made - which will be a key topic and panel event at this year's GFF Summit, 13-15 September 2022.Sean is a world-renowned expert, who in addition to his work with Climate Bonds overseeing the development of green bond definitions and certification schemes, plus markets development programs in Brazil, Mexico, ASEAN and Africa,  is also an advisor to the Chinese Central Bank and Professor in Practice at SOAS University of London. Joining Sean is Carsten Hiller, Head of Fixed Income Sales for Central Europe at EUREX, also Vice-chair of the ICMA Repo Sustainability Taskforce - also the man who launched the first green GC collateral basket for EUREX.Plus our usual hosts, Fintech journalist Andrew Keith Walker and SVP Securities Lending Products at Clearstream Christian Rossler return with more news about this season of the GFF Podcast, which will showcase more of the people and issues on the agenda for the GFF Summit in 2022 and 2023.

In the last show of season 1, we are delighted to present a feature-length virtual panel event with Margaret Kuhlow (Global Finance Practice Leader, WWF) and Viola Lutz (Head of Climate Solutions, ISS ESG). Our special guests (who are also speaking at the 2022 GFF summit in September) join Christian Rossler and Andrew Keith Walker to discuss the progress of ESG initiatives to affect sustainable change in the global funding and financing community.With expert insights, we discuss the activities of the WWF and ISS ESG in the fields of financing green and greening finance. We consider different approaches to E, S and G in different global regulatory jurisdictions, explore the greenwashing challenges and 'greenium' possibilities for market participants, and consider the economic impact of Covid, volatility and geopolitical risk on meeting ESG and Net Zero targets in the EU and beyond.

In this month's show, we welcome Phil Simons (Eurex Global Head of Sales for Fixed Income Derivatives, Funding and Financing) and Frank Odendall (Eurex Head of Repo Product & Business Development) to discuss the current conditions and challenges in the EU 27.We discuss the huge growth in cleared repo, driven by the need for margining and variations in a volatile EU marketplace, meeting the challenges of the 'perfect storm' of inflation, QE tapering, post-COVID economic recovery, EMIR refit, UMR phase 6 and the geopolitical situation in Ukraine. Plus the issues on the horizon relating to Euro clearing moving away from LCH, plus the need for Pension and buy-side firms to report under new rules. We also explore solutions for market participants, such as Eurex's hugely successful ISA Direct programme, innovations in balance sheet optimisation and cost-reduction for back office operations, plus the rise of Total Return Futures and equity swaps over uncleared, bilateral trades. 

In this show Frank Gast (MD Fixed Income Derivatives & Exec. Member Eurex Repo) and Carsten Hiller (Head of  Fixed Income Derivatives, Funding & Financing Sales for Europe, Eurex) join the show to discuss the growth of GC Pooling and the Eurex Repo Partnership Programme. Plus we explore the forces driving innovation and product development in the markets - from greater involvement of the Buy-Side and new market participants, through to the need for greater flexibility in Balance Sheet Netting and the emerging DLT and blockchain enabled Securities Lending markets around the world.

In this episode we look in-depth at the way blockchain technology and DLT is changing the world of collateral management with Fabrice Tomenko (CEO Clearstream International) and Nick Short (COO HQLAx). We go in-depth with the game-changing tools at HQLAx that can transfer collateral ownership across locations and jurisdictions at precise times, and consider the new concept of Collateral Immobility and how it can reduce pain points for market participants, remove settlement friction, reduce collateral fragmentation and create greater interoperability between infrastructure, custodians and triparty agents. 

In this episode we are joined by Jean-Robert Wilkin (Head of BFF Business Development, Clearstream ), James Cherry (SVP Collateral & Liquidity Management, Clearstream) and Simon Millington (Head of Business Development, CloudMargin) to talk about the new tech solutions that are enabling new market participants to comply with UMR regulations and the new Phase 6 changes that arrive in 2022.We explore the challenges for the hundreds of newly in-scope counterparties under UMR Phase 6 to achieve the connectivity, data quality and automation they need to optimise their collateral requirements - and thrive in an increasingly regulated global market.

This episode our hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler go in-depth for a lively chat about Clearstream's banking products and services with the banking products Head of Product Management Défi Kimenga and VP of Business and Product Development José Manoka.We go in depth with the way Clearstream has developed a wide range of business enabling tools for market participants to manage their balance sheets and optimise their cash strategies. We explore the innovative credit, settlement, treasury and FX tools that leverage Clearstream's dual status as an ICSD and a CSD, plus the wider Deutsche Börse Group companies like Eurex and 360T, and Securities Lending programmes like ASLplus and Triparty Collateral Management. The goal is to offer low-friction, end-to-end services to Clearstream clients - and prepare the way for full ISO 20022 adoption and the impact this will have on central bank settlement worldwide.

This episode our hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler go in-depth for a lively SecLending chat about Clearstream's innovations in the field of Triparty Collateral management with Jonathan Lombardo (Chairman, ISLA) and Marc Poinsignon (Product Manager & Business Development of Triparty Agency Services).With the insights of industry expert Jonathan Lombardo, we discuss the increasingly important role of Triparty agents in the Securities Lending market, with a particular focus on how they are helping a diversified client base of financial and non-financial counterparties, asset managers and funds bring greater liquidity into the market and enable more complex collateral basket solutions - preparing the way for green ESG collateral and the next generation of blockchain based solutions at Clearstream and their partners within the Deutsche Börse group.

This episode our hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler go in-depth for a lively SecLending chat about Clearstream's innovations in the field of Repo (repurchasing agreements) with Richard Glen (Head of Collateral Management, Clearstream) and Para Saratchandran (Product Manager for Repo, Clearstream).Like Repo markets, this is a fast moving show where we explore the evolution of Repo, the challenges for NFCs (non-financial counterparties) who are entering the world of secured lending for the first time and the role of products like GC Pooling, CMAX and Triparty lending services that reduce the risks and increase the speed of lending, borrowing and downstream reporting. Plus we consider the role of Repo as the Swiss Army Knife of finance, in terms of increasing liquidity, precise borrowing of specific assets and its role in balance sheet netting and strategic goals for the banking sector. 

In this show our hosts Andrew Keith Walker and Christian Rossler go in-depth for a lively SecLending chat about Clearstream's new fails lending product ASL Principal, which bridges the gap between ICSDs and CSD settlement on the T2S platform. The leads on this unique new product - Banu Apers (Head of Securities Lending and Borrowing, Clearstream) and Catherine Pring (Product Development Expert for Securities Lending and Borrowing at Clearstream) talk about the role of the product, its unique new features and opportunities it provides to lenders and borrowers to optimise their efficiency and increase liquidity when settlement issues arise. 

Stay connected with the GFF community across the globeIn this episode we explore the need for Central Banks to lend high quality liquid assets acquired through ECB asset purchasing programmes - PSPP and PEPP - back into securities markets to increase liquidity. Our special guests are Tilman Fechter (Head of Banking, Funding & Financing at Clearstream) and Alexandre Roques (Head of Securities Lending, Trading & Distribution Desk, Clearstream) talking about the role of Clearstream's ASLplus platform which is a major part of Central Bank HQLA securities lending and foreign reserve lending for Central Banks and Sovereign Wealth Funds around the world. Each of the 30 minutes of lively episodes are hosted by Andrew Keith Walker, Finance and Tech Journalist and Christian Rossler, Senior VP, Securities Lending and Borrowing Products at Clearstream.