3 minute read
FOREWORD
ICMA: a hub for the industry
by Marc Lewell
Writing this foreword at the point of the first anniversary of the initial European COVID-19 lockdowns, I am driven to reflect on the grief and loss so many people have suffered over the last 12 months. What is clear is that the pandemic has significantly changed the lives of the global population, with a breadth that has no parallels in the last half century. As we start to dream about the light at the end of the COVID tunnel, most of us have plenty of reasons to want to return to how life, work and the world was before 2020. But equally, many will have observed changes that we want to retain in the new recovered environment.
Often these changes are rooted in our home lives, but there have been changes in our working approach too that I think we will look back fondly on in years to come. Many of us experienced a decade’s worth of technological change in just a few months; meetings that took days to set up, and many plane journeys to reach, are now organised in minutes. In past forewords, Board colleagues have rightly highlighted the robust and resilient nature of the market, and the support that ICMA and its members provided to ensure the smooth running of so many segments and products around the world. We are now at a point that is largely adjusted to a new normal, and I sense that investors, issuers and bankers alike are now more focused planning for the longer term, a new post-COVID world. Over the last decade ICMA, as a hub for the industry, has helped market participants prepare for and deal with significant changes – whether regulatory (MAR, MiFiD II/R), political (Brexit), or exogenous events (COVID-19). Throughout, there has been a desire to ensure continuity and stability, while moving with the times and meeting the changing needs of our clients and the external environment. ICMA is often the light that guides the path of its member communities. We particularly value the engagement across disciplines – for instance, the commonalities between the Primary Market Practices Committee, the Legal and Documentation Committee and the Primary Market Compliance Forum – and the institutional history that means there is always a context and a detailed explanation available to members.
The leadership role played by ICMA in broadening the knowledge base of all our markets is also key. The various training courses and Handbook make a big difference. But arguably, the biggest contribution comes from the association’s natural impulse to reach out to new participants and new markets and to help raise or harmonise standards across geographies and products. 2020 was a banner year for ESG in the bond markets, and while each year is the biggest and best for such a rapidly growing area, it really feels like the pandemic has provided a tipping point where green products and ESG became almost the default setting in the primary bond markets. The ESG innovations that ICMA has pioneered in recent years – the Green Bond Principles, Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles and Climate Transition Finance Handbook – have helped define and build the sector. We are seeing an everincreasing investor focus while issuer discussion on these themes has reached crescendo levels; it is apparent that we are all looking at a bigger, broader, longer term picture. That may be one of many reasons that makes 2021 a more optimistic year than 2020. Stay safe and take care.
