Minutes of the 57th General Assembly ACI Suisse 12 September 2014, 6.00 pm, Renaissance Zurich Tower Hotel, Zurich Welcome address The president of ACI Suisse, Bruno Langfritz, opened the general assembly and welcomed all ACI Suisse members, honorary members, guests and particularly Marshall Bailey, president ACI International Nigel Brandon-Bravo, board member ACI UK Sergio Zora, board member ACI Italy In his following speech the president addressed these topics: Investigations into alleged manipulation of the foreign exchange market Market update ACI Suisse board activities ACI World Congress 2017 ACI Suisse goes press Firstly, Bruno mentioned that the foreign exchange market has recently been very prominent in the press, however not because of volatile markets but due to investigations into alleged manipulation of foreign exchange rates and the misbehaviour of traders. In this context he highlighted the ACI Model Code and appealed to all members using the Model Code as a guide for best practice. Looking back on the market Bruno summed up that foreign exchange rates had been stuck in very tight ranges with low turnover, an environment which has been challenging for many banks especially as the regulatory burden continues to increase. Clearly, this has left most banks behind their annual budgets and Bruno expressed hopes that the last quarter will be the best quarter of 2014. Regarding the ACI Suisse board activities Bruno told the members that he was invited, among other market representatives, by the «Eidgenössisches Finanzdepartement (EDF)» to Bern to discuss benchmarks fixings and if regulators should take an active role in the fixing process. The outcome was that EDF will monitor to see if the market can manage to self-regulate itself. Furthermore Bruno and the members of the board visited many banks to discuss the future role of ACI Suisse and the expectations of its members. Bruno then turned to ACI Suisse’s application for the ACI World Congress in 2017. During the council meeting held in March 2014 at the ACI World Congress in Berlin, ACI Ireland and ACI Suisse both presented their application for the World Congress in 2017. The council voted in favour of Ireland, therefore the 56th ACI World Congress will be held in Dublin. ACI Suisse might apply again for 2018 but no decision has been made yet. The president then informed briefly that he has been supporting press and other media to pass on knowledge about foreign exchange trading. Bruno ended his speech thanking all board colleagues for their work and especially Rita Bührer for her great support. After the opening speech, Rainer Thüer presented the agenda for the general assembly Election of vote counters Approval of the minutes of the general assembly 2013 Activities reporting Finance Audit report Décharge of the board Confirmation of board members Budget 2015 Election of the vote counters Christian Rohrer, Luzerner Kantonalbank Roland Müller, Valcambi SA were elected as vote counters. Approval of the minutes of the general assembly 2013 Under guidance of the secretary, Bernd Roth, the general assembly unanimously approved the minutes of the previous 56th general assembly, which was held in September 2013 in Zurich. Activities reporting Secretary The secretary, Bernd Roth, presented the membership figures: Members Total 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 905 884 892 867 834 808 Deutschschweiz Romandie Ticino 630 590 605 584 555 527 196 190 187 180 183 188 79 78 75 70 61 57 Liechtenstein 0 26 25 33 35 36 Bernd then informed the members attending the general assembly that the board of ACI Suisse has decided to open the association to other financial Institutions such as asset & wealth managers, pension funds and trusts. Interested companies need to be regulated by a supervisory authority and must be active in FICC markets. As always all new members will be approved by the board individually. The next international events will be the following: 6-9 November 2014, 39th ICA Conference, Dubai 3-7 February 2015, 54th ACI Financial Markets World Congress, Milan 2016, 55th ACI Financial Markets World Congress, Jakarta 2017, 56th ACI Financial Markets World Congress, Dublin The secretary’s report ended with a short promotional film for the ACI World Congress in Milan. Operations Daniel Haid updated the guests on operations activities. He outlined the challenge that operations face nowadays: efficiency and low cost requirements on the one hand and regulatory changes on the other hand - both in combination with the continuous order to adapt new technology and process optimization. Furthermore, Daniel informed about the «Book of Work 2014» which focuses on transaction reporting and confirmation timelines, harmonization of regulatory product definitions and further automation of the confirmation process. Business & Product Events Marcel Zimmermann looked back on the past business & product events: 10 December 2013 «FX Turnover Survey» with Andreas Schrimpf, Bank for International Settlements (BIS) followed by a panel discussion in Zurich The next planned business & product events are: 15 October 2014 «Abenomics» with Yujiro Goto, Nomura and Thomas Köhler, a Swiss travel agent in Zurich 20 November 2014 «Apéritif Marché Monétaire» with Fritz Zurbrügg, Swiss National Bank in Geneva. Marcel then provided an update on the developments regarding the TOIS fixing where ACI Suisse has been the administrator since 2001. A working group has drafted a new TOIS fixing agreement and new fixing practice standards which both should enter into force soon. ACI Suisse will keep the role of administrator of the TOIS fixing. In his role as vice president of ACI Suisse Marcel took over the role of chairman of the «ACI International President Delegated Selection Committee» in October 2013. The task was completed in March 2014 when Marshall Bailey was elected as new ACI International president. Communication Rainer Thüer informed the members about initiatives from ACI Suisse to establish closer contacts with local media and mentioned the various international bodies where ACI Suisse board members take an active role. Education Christoph Niggli congratulated the new ACI Diploma holders Mehdi Schnider, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Manuel Christen, Basler Kantonalbank David Marasco, Aargauische Kantonalbank Matthias Keller, Aargauische Kantonalbank and handed over a little gift to the graduates present at the general assembly. Christoph the explained the new ACI International exam portfolio and presented Bloomberg as new partner for the certification. Looking ahead, Christoph told the guests, that under the lead of ACI Suisse the German Language Group is organizing a «Think Tank Workshop» in the first quarter 2015. Interested and motivated members are invited to discuss global changes and future challenges and their implications on the foreign exchange market and especially the ACI organisation. Marketing and Sponsoring Andreas Hablützel named the sponsors of the general assembly 2014 and thanked all sponsors for their important financial support over the year. The sponsors are: Bgc Bloomberg Cosmorex AG Degussa EBS Eurex GTX LMAX Exchange SwapClear/LCH.CLEARNET Tradition Thomson Reuters WEY TEC 360T velcor sa Social Events Peter Bollier presented the past social events: June 2014 «ACI Soccer Tournament» July 2014 «World Cup Public Viewing» Peter thanked all sponsors and looked ahead to the next planned social event: November 2014 «Wine Tasting» Romandie The ambassador of the Romandie, Eric Vauthey, reported on the past events: 21 November 2013, Apéritif «Marché Monétaire» with Swiss National Bank in Geneva 11 June 2014 «Soirée de l’amicale des cambistesC in Geneva. The next events will be: 20 November 2014 «Apéritif Marché Monétaire» with Fritz Zurbrügg, Swiss National Bank in Geneva «Repas de l’amicale des cambistes», tba. «Table ronde», tba. Ticino The ambassador of Ticino, Carlo Delgrosso, outlined a few activities organized for the foreign exchange community in Ticino. Liechtenstein The ambassador of Liechtenstein, Paul Göldi, highlighted one product event in Liechtenstein: November 2013, ACI FL event «FX e-tools - beyond the obvious» in combination with a «Meet the president of ACI Suisse» The next planned event is: 12 March 2015, «Collateral & Liquidity Management» in Bendern. Finance The treasurer, Urs Zurbrügg, outlined a number of details of the ACI Suisse financial situation for the reporting year 2013. Details can be requested directly from the treasurer by any ACI member. ACI Suisse closed the year with a loss of CHF 25’791.--. Audit report The auditor, Daniel Barmettler, explained that he reviewed the financials based on the “Schweizer Prüfungsstandard 910” (standard for associations like ACI Suisse) and proposed the general assembly to approve the finance report. Décharge of the board Asked by the secretary, Bernd Roth, the ACI members discharged the board unanimously. Confirmation of board members The members unanimously re-elected Andreas Hablützel and Urs Zurbrügg for three years (2014-2017). Budget 2015 The treasurer, Urs Zurbrügg, presented the budget for 2015 and explained the major points. The budget was accepted by the members unanimously. After the speech of Marshall Bailey, president ACI International and short messages from the platinum sponsors Killian O’Hagan, Bloomberg, and Heiko Cassens, SwapClear/LCH.CLEARNET, ACI Suisse president Bruno Langfritz officially closed the general assembly 2014 at 7.20 pm. Bernd Roth Secretary ACI Suisse
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