Wholesale Market Brokers' Association
The Wholesale Markets Brokers' Association (WMBA) is a London-based financial markets body representing the world’s nine largest inter-broker dealers such as BGC, ICAP, GFI, Tradition and Tullett Prebon. Its members trade in a wide range of over-the-counter (OTC) products and derivatives across capital markets, including credit default swaps (CDS).
According to the Financial Times, this once low key organisation 'has become more high profile as inter-dealer brokers push aside rivalry and seek to prevent what they fear could be collateral damage from the current push to “re-regulate” swathes of the financial industry'. [1]
Activities
According to WMBA's website:
- London money brokers are the dominant force in wholesale broking internationally with a product base which has grown from routine foreign exchange and money market loans and deposits to embrace bonds, equities and commodities, and their derivatives. The brokers provide the essential oil to the wheels of the dealing markets and their activities reflect the continual change taking place in these markets, particularly in the development of new financial instruments.
In response to the Financial Times asking in December 2010 whether WMBA felt that 'London, being such a strong financial centre, is getting enough voice [in Europe]? Chairman David Clark responded:
- As an association, we have found that approaching the [European] Commission, getting into see policymakers and the scribes has not been that difficult. There is an open process in Brussels so entities in London like the WMBA feel comfortable discussing these issues with Brussels, that they’ve gone up a learning curve dramatically. As far as the voice of London is being heard in Brussels, it is and it has been influential. If ask me what the UK government is doing, the answer is I don’t know who’s on the case. [1]
Lobbying
WMBA employs lobbying agency Hume Brophy.
People
- David Clark, chairman, has worked in the City for nearly 40 years and chaired the WMBA since 2006. He is the senior independent non-executive director at Tullett Prebon and has worked for Bankers Trust, Commerzbank and Midland Bank, HSBC and Bankgesellschaft Berlin.[1]
- Alexander McDonald, chief executive, has over 20 years background as a macro trader and portfolio manager. Former head at the BSAM Global Alpha hedge fund.[1]
Affiliations
Contacts
St Clements House, 27-28 Clements Lane, London EC4N 7AE
http://www.wmba.org.uk
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Philip Stafford, Q&A: Wholesale Markets Brokers’ Association, 29 December 2010, acc 15 December 2010
- ↑ Register Of All-Party Groups (as at 4 May 2012) Financial Markets and Services, accessed 15 May 2012
