The renovation of the global finance part

You are at the head of Nyse Euronext in Europe since exactly 100 days today. Why leave IBM to join the financial crisis

I understand that my application for this position was not necessarily of itself. Although knowing this industry, I was not part of the world of markets, the Bank and stock exchange operators. At that time, the press insisted on my profile of engineer. But it is mainly for my journey from Business Executive in IBM I interested Nyse Euronext. The career I had in this business is uncommon for a non-American. I chaired the branch of IBM Global Services in Emea (Europe, Middle East, Africa), first company in Europe and around the world, then the operations of IBM in Europe. I've contributed, alongside the President of IBM Corp., to reposition and globalize society.

In the discussions that I have had with Duncan Niederauer, CEO, and the Board of Nyse Euronext, there first this same desire to strengthen the Executive team to continue the repositioning, adaptation and the globalization of our activities. Even if it is not an end in itself, technology, one of my areas of expertise, can contribute when it combines with business expertise. Then I wanted to participate in one of the major challenges facing the world today. The renovation of the global finance part.

Is this renovation of global finance, according to you, well

It is on track. If it is a historical perspective, the finance was still vilified in successive crises. The crisis we just cross, which is an accumulation of macroeconomic tendencies, is certainly the most serious that it has known, its magnitude and the global nature of finance. It has generated unprecedented awareness. Never the need to strengthen the regulation and supervision of the financial world no will was felt strongly. Never such a rally had occurred between the political world, regulators and operators. Debates are lively, including in the field for me in the first place, that of market operators.

As time passes, but no scale reform was yet decided. Have regulators not lost the battle

Regulators, the AMF in mind, agree on the need to improve the current framework and enhance the transparency and the regulation of markets. They do a difficult job that requires an effort of unprecedented international coordination. The objective is to provide security without so surréguler. If I take the example of the financial markets sector, I note that the real debate is beginning to be: that between opacity and transparency. As far back, the opacity increased significantly two years on the market. On the market of shares, it has doubled in two years. Over-the-counter transactions are today more than 40 of activity. This share is much higher for all financial products traded daily on the planet.

How has it happened

The introduction, two years of the European directive MIF markets in financial instruments, Editor's note has completely changed the rules of the game, until then rather favorable to the traditional exchanges which enjoyed a quasi-monopoly situation. This directive had laudable goals: decline in enforcement costs and costs of access to capital. But focusing only on competition and the decline in the rates of execution and the compensation, directive MIF us was immersed in a competitive environment without equal in any other industry. And, while creating a series of potentially dangerous phenomena and distortions caused by uncontrolled fragmentation of the market.

Do you think the "dark pools"

The "dark pools" platforms for Exchange of opaque blocks, Editor's note were originally a reason to be legitimate, which is not to destabilise the market on the basis of the size of the blocks that are exchanged. Or a drift occurred kicked of exemptions: these platforms deal now with the orders of any size, source of greater opacity for the market. Another drift: the "crossing networks" system of exchange of securities in a same banking institution, Editor's note, that capture more in addition to volumes on equity markets. The opacity on these systems is almost complete, the execution of orders to the activities of publishing the transactions, with simple data aggregated, largely insufficient and very few transparent. This raises three questions: the first related to systemic risk, the second to the protection of investors and the transparency of the price formation and the last linked to fair competition. We participate in the ongoing debate "transparency vs. opacity" by asserting our positions to the Commission, even if we are not fighting with the same means as other major players. International banking institutions have hundreds of lobbyists in Brussels, when market companies have more than a small dozen.

Many issuers complain about not knowing who holds their credentials. That their answer you

I understand them. It is directly linked to the fragmentation of markets born of the MIF directive. She took to listed companies or even the final investors. This argues for greater transparency and better regulation of the markets.

Are you able to be heard on these issues

We carry in our genes to be regulated, neutral and transparent market. Our floor is therefore legitimate. Are what degree of opacity we prepared to accept on the markets and how to avoid excesses Other issues raised recently, as trade in high-frequency, the crossing are a perfectly transparent activity, source of liquidity and efficiency in the markets, are, in my view, secondary topics, a few months of the revision of the MIF. The Commission seems to have understood. The leaders of several major institutions that I have met over the past months, especially France, are not hostile to an approach of this nature.

In this context, what may be the future of the traditional stock exchanges

I am optimistic. Current debates on the development of the activities of OTC should rather be favourable. They could lead to incentives to treat these activities on restricted platforms and strengthen control obligations. Most of the stock markets are now well armed to cope with competition from the MTF platforms of alternative negotiations, Editor's note, which are not profitable but are not subject, far away, to the same requirements as the regulated markets. Our computer systems, sinews of war in our industry, meet very high regulatory requirements and have now reached extraordinary levels of resilience and performance. To win this technological challenge, Nyse Euronext is committed in a profound technological and operational change that now bears its fruit. Finally, we continue to monitor our costs, with recurrent savings of the order of 450 million per year since 2007.

The place of Paris has a future in the new configuration of the markets that you call your wishes

Yes, the place of Paris can and should have a future. It needs a realistic agenda, that it has a clear road map and that she displayed more cohesion. Many actors working in this sense. We can compete with the City, if we succeed in one unit of views on certain subjects keys between the main actors of the place: investors, issuers, intermediate, etc. Next to Paris Europlace, Nyse Euronext intends to play its role as market business. We are fortunate to have a Minister of finance, Christine Lagarde, who has invested fully this folder for example by supporting the emergence of a market of bonds of enterprises for the euro area and easy access of SMEs to public savings.

The Nyse and Euronext merger was particularly translate into an increase in the number of introductions of large international values. Where is it

Introductions in the stock market are dependent on the General macroeconomic environment. However it was not very favourable in the past eighteen months. For international quotes, the recent introduction to Paris of Rusal showed however that we are well placed to win market share. I am hopeful that other operations of scale occur in the coming months.

You are about to lose the concession of the palais Brongniart. Is this not damage

He returned to the Council of Paris to take a final decision. Even if this is the symbol, it would be a pity not to use this rallying point at the time, the place de Paris in mind, we fight for a more transparent finance at the service of the real economy and the citizens.

The entire interview on lesechos.fr/interviewlesechos.fr/interview