Today, I will be joining several of my colleagues and many more industry peers in Geneva, Switzerland as we gather for this year's SFOA Burgenstock conference, a global forum on derivatives markets held each year . Whilst there are key developments and trends taking place in the industry, particularly moving towards central clearing and increasing market demand for a greater variety of products, such as swap-futures, the focus of the event is likely to be on risk and the impact of the increased emphasis on risk management for the industry. We see three themes that will be discussed in detail in the coming days.
First, within this context of risk, one of the key topics that will be discussed at length is regulation. While further elements of Dodd-Frank have come on line this year, including the phase-in for swaps clearing in the United States, attention is now turning to Europe and the important milestones on the horizon, namely the remaining implementation of EMIR and the continued evolution of of MiFID II/MiFIR.
Part of the reason for Europe lagging behind the U.S. in terms of financial services regulatory reform timing, is that whilst Dodd-Frank moved through legislative and regulatory process as one large package in the U.S., multiples of packages each with different timelines are working their way through various legislative and regulatory levels in the EU.
MiFID II is particularly important as it covers various trading rules including proposals introducing position limits regimes, regulations on high-frequency and algorithmic trading, and provisions on open access for trading venues and central counterparties. We are monitoring the development of these rules closely, as overly restrictive trading rules could stymie trading volumes and industry innovation.
Second, given the focus on risk mitigation and transparency, central clearing has become more important for regulators and market participants alike, resulting in record volumes of cleared trades. However, some are suggesting that clearing houses are the next big threat to the financial system, arguing that risk has just been transferred to and concentrated within clearing houses, rather than increasing mitigation.
From our experience, clearing houses have already adopted the necessary protocol, such as twice daily mark-to-market analysis to ensure members stay within appropriate parameters. Clearing houses racing to the bottom on margin or collateral, as some are suggesting, is not a strategy being employed as it would only escalate the clearing house's own risk exposure. The drive towards more clearing is a positive trend and one that is likely to continue over the next few years, particularly as further EU reform is implemented.
Finally, as we watch the roll-out of various financial services regulatory reform initiatives transforming the market place, we are seeing new opportunities emerge for exchanges, particularly when it comes to providing new solutions to niche and underserved markets. For example, one of the reasons for applying to launch our new London based exchange, CME Europe, largely comes down to the opportunities presented by market demand for currently underdeveloped products across the European region. You will be hearing more from us in the near future about our plans to expand CME Europe into a multi-asset class exchange.
The real challenge for exchanges ahead is ensuring that their solutions keep up with growing market complexity and the rapid pace of innovation, otherwise systemic risk can take hold. This is why it is vitally important that the two key tenets of transparency and better risk management remain the driving force behind regulatory changes. We are all looking forward to engaging with the many international regulators and market participants attending the Burgenstock conference and sharing our views in the coming days on how we can better serve the market place during this time of change.
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