David Ratliff, Asia-Pacific head of investor sales and relationship management for Citi, is taking over as chairman of the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (Asifma).
The association’s board of directors has also elected two vice-chairmen for 2012 to 2013: James Shipton, Asia-Pacific head of the office of government affairs for Goldman Sachs, and Christopher Jackson, chief operating officer of Asia-Pacific fixed income at Morgan Stanley.
You may be wondering, what is Asifma? That’s the point. Ratliff will lead Asifma’s effort to evolve into a full-service trade association with expanded product area and geographic coverage. He will also guide Asifma’s activities related to institutional equities and Chinese markets.
Shipton will advise the association’s government relations efforts and Southeast Asian markets activities as well as India, and will chair its Asian capital markets white paper committee.
Jackson will focus on matters related to Asifma’s fixed-income division and Korean market activities, as well as relationships with global alliance members such as the Global Financial Markets Association, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which covers North America.
Asifma has already created a new equities division and formed committees to address post-trade and compliance issues. Additionally, the association will expand its reach and activities beyond the original focus on China, India and Korea to address issues affecting capital markets in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and other Asean member nations as appropriate.
Asifma also plans to lobby the Asian perspectives in the global dialogue surrounding financial regulatory reforms, including with respect to continuing work related to cross-border resolution and the implementation of a legal entity identifier. Asifma has already enhanced its foreign exchange markets presence in the region through the appointment of a GFMA global FX division representative in Asia.
“This is a very exciting and challenging time for the finance industry, especially in Asia,” said Ratliff. “I believe Asifma is well positioned to encourage the development of liquid, efficient and transparent capital markets in Asia to benefit domestic economies and the region as a whole.”
Mark Austen, Asifma’s recently appointed CEO, commented: “Asifma owes a huge debt of gratitude to outgoing chairman David Lynne [Asia head of foreign exchange, rates, global finance and commodities for Deutsche Bank], who was instrumental in establishing the association’s strong foundation.”
Lynne will remain on the executive committee and the board.
Additionally, representatives of Bank of China, DBS and Standard Chartered were elected to Asifma’s executive committee.
