1996 saw some of the most famous moments in history. Think Dolly the sheep, the divorce of Charles and Diana, the launch of the Spice Girls, and the death of Tupac. It was also the year that hosted the first Global Funding and Financing (GFF) Summit.
Hosted in Luxembourg by Clearstream and Eurex, the GFF Summit celebrates its pearl anniversary this year with a conference titled 鈥榃here the Market Meets鈥�.
Reflecting on the last 30 years, Marton Szigeti, head of collateral, lending, and liquidity solutions at Clearstream, and Frank Gast, member of the management board at Eurex Repo, discuss the evolution of the summit and the securities finance industry, how the roles of the firms have changed, and key themes from previous years that stand out as turning points within the industry.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Deutsche B枚rse Group鈥檚 GFF Summit. What does reaching this milestone mean for you and your organisation?
Marton Szigeti: It has been amazing to witness the GFF Summit鈥檚 30-year evolution into one of the major international events in the secured funding and financing industry, and into a truly integrated Deutsche B枚rse Group event, hosted jointly by Clearstream and Eurex.
The summit鈥檚 growing popularity reflects the industry鈥檚 increasing strategic importance, maturity, and sophistication 鈥� and the heightened need for high-quality collateral, lending and liquidity solutions to help industry participants manage risk and liquidity, and to make the most of their assets. For us at Clearstream, it also reflects the quality and durability of our long-standing client partnerships, and our ability to drive the evolution of the funding and financing markets while staying true to our purpose: to be where innovation meets trust.
Frank Gast: For us at Eurex, celebrating 30 years of the GFF Summit is especially meaningful because it reflects three decades of shaping the secured funding and financing markets through robust infrastructure, innovation, and strong risk management.
The summit is not just an annual gathering 鈥� it is a demonstration of our role as a central stabilising force for repo and financing markets across Europe. This milestone validates the trust that our clients and partners place in Clearstream and Eurex.
It also highlights how our long-term commitment to innovation, partnership, trust, and market development has supported the evolution of the European funding and financing ecosystem.
How has the summit鈥檚 purpose evolved since its early years, and what has remained constant?
Szigeti: The evolution of the GFF Summit has been in its scale and scope. From a pure Clearstream event with a focus on repo, collateral management, and securities lending, the summit has evolved into a Deutsche B枚rse Group event, involving both Clearstream and Eurex, thereby covering the entire lifecycle of trading, clearing, collateral management, and settlement 鈥� always exploring current developments and emerging trends like new technologies and AI.
In parallel, attendance has grown from a few dozen specialists in the 1990s to over 800 global participants in 2025, with an increasing number of C-suite speakers, and an agenda more varied than ever as topics such as regulation, digital assets, and AI have come to the fore.
The summit has increasingly become the platform where the market meets. It brings together bilateral repo, triparty, and centrally cleared funding and financing, offering a forum where a wide range of access models and market developments are discussed and shaped.
Gast: What remains unchanged is what we at Eurex call our commitment to being architects of trusted markets 鈥� building safe, efficient, and future-proof market structures. Continuous dialogue with our clients, central banks, regulators, and sovereign issuers is essential to meeting market needs in an environment that is increasingly shaped by regulation.
What has also stayed constant is that the GFF Summit is far more than a conference. It is an open forum for dialogue between us, our clients, and the broader market, providing extensive networking opportunities and a platform for sharing ambitions for the future.
Thinking back to the early years of the summit, how has the securities finance industry changed in that time?
Szigeti: From Clearstream鈥檚 perspective, the industry has gone through an incredible amount of change:
Digitisation has profoundly transformed the industry.
When the GFF Summit started, the industry was still relying on manual, phone-based processes. Today, we at Clearstream leverage automated data solutions and AI-based collateral management tools and are exploring distributed ledger technology (DLT)-enabled collateral mobilisation.
The platform economy has arrived.
The first GFF Summit still took place in a pre-euro era of highly fragmented national markets. Today, we are using unified and highly liquid platforms, such as the Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS), or the Canadian Collateral Management Service, a unique full-service domestic triparty collateral environment for the Canadian repo market, operated jointly by Clearstream and TMX Group.
Collateral and financing used to be an adjunct, now it is front and centre.
Collateral management and financing used to be simply about getting a trade done. Today, with increasing regulatory requirements and balance sheet pressures, focus has shifted to multi-factor optimisation to ensure compliance and profitability. What was once a fragmented operational task has evolved into a strategic priority: collateral and balance sheet optimisation now sits firmly at the forefront for our clients鈥� minds.
Gast: From Eurex鈥檚 perspective, the industry鈥檚 transformation has also been profound:
Central clearing has become a cornerstone of the market 鈥� and its importance will continue to grow.
Regulatory developments have had significant implications for cleared repo markets. Increasing reliance on standardised approaches under Basel鈥疘II is expected to tighten capital and balance-sheet constraints, further supporting demand for cleared repo. Basel frameworks, transparency requirements, and clearing incentives have already accelerated the shift toward central counterparty (CCP)-based repo.
Buy side adoption, sponsored access, and risk-efficient netting have reshaped market structure.
Collateral has become strategic. Eurex鈥檚 risk frameworks, offset methodologies, and netting efficiencies are now integral to liquidity planning and balance-sheet optimisation.
Digitisation and real-time liquidity management are redefining market operations.
Eurex is at the forefront of digital repo initiatives, intraday clearing efficiencies, and the exploration of tokenised collateral flows.
Are there any moments or themes from past GFF Summits that stand out as turning points for the industry?
Szigeti: The Lehman collapse in 2008 proved to be a true watershed moment for the entire industry as the subsequent financial crisis and tightening regulation re-shaped risk management and collateral practices for years to come. It also directly affected the GFF Summit, happening just days before the event was scheduled to take place.
Given the turbulence at that time, we decided to move the event to January 2009 鈥� a decision that proved to be wise. Today, both we and our clients value the timing at the beginning of the year, as it provides a natural kick-off to discuss what keeps us awake at night, how to address emerging challenges, and what we should collectively focus on for the future.
Another defining moment was the Covid pandemic. We held the summit in January 2020, just before the outbreak in Europe. When planning the 2021 edition, we chose not to cancel the event but quickly transformed it into a virtual conference, which achieved strong participation 鈥� mirroring the resilience proven by the entire industry.
As the pandemic began to ease, we shifted the event back to September in 2022 to avoid another potential winter season cancellation of a physical meeting. This edition coincided with the return to positive interest rates 鈥� a development with significant impact on European funding and financing markets. Riding the momentum in the European repo markets, we moved back to the January schedule in 2023, resulting in two major conferences within just five months.
How have the roles of Clearstream and Eurex within the summit reflected broader
changes in market infrastructure?
Gast: The evolution of our joint summit highlights the increasingly integrated role of Clearstream and Eurex in shaping market infrastructure.
The summit is where the close collaboration between the two organisations becomes most visible 鈥� from cleared repo to collateral mobility to liquidity solutions across the full transaction lifecycle. It showcases how joint development and operational alignment between Clearstream and Eurex support a more resilient, efficient, and future-ready market structure.
The summit is a prime example of a unified Deutsche聽B枚rse Group effort, bringing the entire community together in the interest of our clients. This spirit of collaboration reflects the underlying DNA of the event and reinforces Eurex鈥檚 and Clearstream鈥檚 contributions within the Group鈥檚 cohesive market infrastructure strategy.
This year鈥檚 GFF Summit theme is 鈥榃here the Market Meets鈥�. What does that phrase mean to you, particularly regarding the summit鈥檚 30-year history?
Szigeti: 鈥榃here the Market Meets鈥� captures the essence of what the GFF Summit has represented for over three decades.
The summit has become the place for the securities finance industry to come together 鈥� a forum where key trends, market challenges, and emerging opportunities are discussed openly. It brings together a uniquely broad community: dealers, regulators, infrastructure providers, and increasingly also buy side firms. It is a platform that reflects market reality in all its diversity.
This meaning extends not only to the audience but also to the speakers. Each year, the summit brings some of the brightest minds in our industry on stage, sharing their perspectives and experiences with delegates and helping shape the dialogue for the year ahead.
For many participants, the summit has become a tradition 鈥� a way to start the year among peers, clients, and colleagues who, over time, have become trusted partners and often friends.
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Image: Clearstrea and Eurex Repo 