2023 Plato Market Innovator (MI3) Conference

Working with academia to improve the markets of tomorrow

On Wednesday 21st of June 2023, Plato Partnership hosted its seventh Market Innovator (MI3) Academic Conference at One Moorgate Place in London.

MI3 is where the leading academics and practitioners meet to discuss the most pertinent topics in capital markets.

The conference will took place on:

Wednesday 21st June: 09:00 AM - 17:00 PM (UK time)

2023 MI3 Conference Papers


Quote Competition in Corporate Bonds

Presented by Kumar Venkataraman, Southern Methodist University

Discussant: Yesol Huh, Federal Reserve Board

Authors: Terrence Hendershott, Dan Li, Dimitry Livdan, Norman Schurhoff and Kumar Venkataraman


Trust in DeFi: An Empirical Study of the Decentralized Exchange

Presented by Dr Zhuo Zhong, University of Melbourne

Discussant: Jiasun Li, George Mason University

Authors: Jianlei Han, Shiyang Huang, and Zhuo Zhong


Who Benefits from Securities Exchange Innovation?

Presented by Andriy Shkilko, Wilfred Laurier University

Discussant: Jean-Edouard Colliard, HEC Paris

Authors: Andriy Shkilko, Konstantin Sokolov and Eduard Yelagin


Trades, Quotes, and Information Shares

Presented by Björn Hagstromer, Stockholm Business School

Discussant: Pierre Collin-Dufrense, Swiss Finance Institute of the EFPL

Authors: Björn Hagstromer and Albert Menkveld


2023 MI3 Agenda

Morning

  • 08:30 – Event registrations open & breakfast served

  • 09:00 – Welcome from Mike Bellaro, CEO of Plato Partnership, and Carole Comerton-Forde, Professor of Finance at The University of Melbourne

  • 09:10Quote Competition in Corporate Bonds - presented by Kumar Venkataraman, Southern Methodist University, discussed by Yesol Huh, Federal Reserve Board

  • 10:00 Trust in DeFi: An Empirical Study of the Decentralized Exchange - presented by Zhuo Zhong, University of Melbourne, discussed by Jiasun Li, George Mason University

  • 10:50 – Morning tea

  • 11:20 Industry panel

  • 12:35 - Lunch

Afternoon

  • 13:35 Who Benefits from Securities Exchange Innovation? - presented by Andriy Shkilko, Wilfred Laurier University, discussed by Jean-Edouard Colliard, HEC Paris

  • 14:25 – Afternoon tea

  • 14:55Trades, Quotes, and Information Shares - presented by Björn Hagstromer, Stockholm Business School, discussed by Pierre Collin-Dufrense, Swiss Finance Institute of the EFPL

  • 15:45 - Closing remarks

  • 15:55 – Drinks reception

MI3 Industry Panel

This year’s MI3 Conference will feature a panel of leading market participants, researchers, FinTechs, and regulators discussing a collection of the most pertinent topics facing the marketplace.

This year’s topics will include:

  • T+1 settlement – challenges and implications

  • Retail trading - Improving data access for retail investors, institutional access to retail flow

  • Impacts of tick size regulation

  • Impacts / Concerns of regulatory arbitrage between UK and EU, and

  • Impacts / Concerns of high market data costs on market participants

MI3 Panel

Meet the Panellists

Fabio Braga

Fabio Braga

Manager - Trading Policy at the Financial Conduct Authority

Fabio Braga, CFA manages the Trading Policy team, in the Infrastructure & Exchanges division at the FCA. The team is responsible for the policy on Exchanges, MTFs and OTFs and for investment firms’ obligations in relation to trading, including the requirements relevant for algorithmic and HFT trading. The team is also responsible for the regulatory regime applicable to data reporting services providers like APAs and CTPs and for commodity derivatives.

Before joining the FCA, Fabio worked for Borsa Italiana.


Maria Salamanca Meja

Maria Salamanca Mejia

Head EMEA Market Structure at Morgan Stanley

Maria Salamanca Mejia is an Executive Director in Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Equities Division. Maria joined the firm in 2021 and is based in London where she looks after Morgan Stanley’s EMEA Market Structure practice. Prior to joining Morgan Staley, Maria held Market Structure positions in other organisations. She is also Board member of the Plato Partnership and represents the EMEA equities business in a range of trade association committees. Maria graduated from Imperial College, London with an MSc in Management.


Daniel Mayston

Daniel Mayston

Head of Electronic Trading and Market Structure EMEA at BlackRock

Dr. Daniel Mayston PhD, FRM is responsible for overseeing electronic trading initiatives, adapting the trading platform in the light of market structure evolution, and delivering execution research across all asset classes. His role's mandate includes strengthening the role of quantitative data, modelling and technology in the trading process to drive execution performance. His research responsibilities include the delivery of execution and liquidity models which combine econometric techniques with innovative machine learning approaches. Dr. Mayston partners closely across BlackRock's modelling, risk management and investment teams to provide thought leadership on liquidity and liquidity risk for the firm. He also represents BlackRock externally on various industry bodies and at conferences to advocate for trading and market structure solutions in the interest of the end investor.

Dr. Mayston earned a PhD in Finance with his academic focus on liquidity risk. He is a Financial Risk Manager (FRM) charter holder.


Rebecca Healey

Rebecca Healey

Managing Partner at Redlap Consulting

Rebecca is considered to be a leading industry voice on market structure, regulatory reform, and financial services technology. Writing research since 2011, Rebecca has authored a plethora of qualitative reports and commentaries covering the impact of market regulation on all asset classes, the impact of the rise of fintech in capital markets, the switch to electronic trading and provision of liquidity across all asset classes, as well as the impact of the move to ESG and sustainability in asset management; focusing on how technology can help address current challenges, improving secondary capital markets access both for participants and investors.

Rebecca is the co-chair for FIX EMEA and member of ESMA’s Secondary Markets Standing Committee and a member of the FCA’s Secondary Markets Advisory Committee. In relation to ESG, Rebecca is Co-Chair of the FIX Working Group on ESG; Convenor for the ISO/TC 68 Sustainable Finance Advisory Group; a member of ISO TC 68 Strategic Leadership Group and serves on the ISO Technical Management Board committees of Climate Change Coordination Committee (CCCC) and ISO Positioning and Consultation Responses (CCCC-TG 4).


Anish Puaar

Anish Puaar

Head of European Equity Market Structure at Optiver

Anish joined Optiver in August 2022 as head of European equity market structure, where his responsibilities include managing exchange relationships, steering advocacy efforts and assisting with public affairs. Prior to joining Optiver, Anish was Head of European Market Structure at Rosenblatt Securities, responsible for the firm’s European market structure reports and events. Anish is a frequent speaker at industry events across the globe and in 2021 he was awarded the Plato Partnership’s MI3 Market Structure Award for Excellence. Prior to joining Rosenblatt, Anish was a journalist covering market-structure topics for over seven years.


Nej D'jelal

Moderated by: Nej D'jelal

Group Head of Workspace Platform at LSEG

Nej D'jelal is Group Head of Workspaces Platform at LSEG (London Stock Exhange Group). Nej has over two decades of experience in building and commercialising digital platforms at leading firms including UBS, Barclays, and Goldman Sachs. Nej is also Co-Founder and former Co-Chairman of Plato Partnership.

Market Innovation

Watch Plato Partnership CEO Mike Bellaro and Carol Comerton-Forde, Finance Professor at the University of Melbourne, discuss Plato Partnership, the MI3 Initiative, its role in the market and how it brings innovative answers to market structure problems by combining the expertise of academics and practitioners.