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Central Bank , representing the buy-side in an ESMA secondary markets working group , and operating in senior roles at not-for-profit Plato Partnership and Neptune Networks . Capital markets regulation has evolved significantly throughout Hock ’ s tenure at Union , with MiFID II being implemented in 2018 and bringing with it best execution requirements among swathes of other changes . The ongoing aftermath of the UK and Europe ’ s Brexit fallout in 2016 has subsequently meant institutions like Union must navigate an ever more divergent regulatory landscape .
“ MiFID II generally led us to a more complex world . However , the subsequent fragmentation has also been a key driver for bringing higher levels of transparency and driving exchange fees down . This complex ecosystem gives us the opportunity to decide what is the very best way for us to get each individual order done . This flexibility and variety of channels we have actually is highly supportive in terms of delivering best-in-class execution to our investors ,” says Hock .
“ The spirit of regulation has to point in the same direction . I think at the end of the day regulators know about the importance of an equal level playing field across the regions . Our job is to deliver best-in-class execution to our investors and that ' s regardless of whether the investors are domiciled here in Germany or whether we are talking about investors we have in the UK or in Scandinavia and therefore we need a regulatory environment that takes this into account . That ' s why I ' m not tired of having discussions and meetings and phone conferences with various regulators and being heavily engaged to achieve this goal .”
Sustainable trading In the area of environmental , social and governance ( ESG ), Union Investment is one of the institutions to lead the charge particularly in the recent market initiative aimed at involving the trading community in the ongoing green conversation .
Announced by Duncan Higgins in November , the Sustainable Trading initiative is a membership network open to the buy- and sell-side alongside FinTechs and trading venues that will act as a forum for institutions to meet and create industry best practices to be implemented in the trading markets . It ’ s aimed at addressing the issues specific to trading , including the sustainability of institutions ’ internal operations and external supply chains including counterparties .
Union was among one of the first supporters of the initiative alongside T . Rowe Price , Liontrust Asset Management , Invesco , Federated Hermes , Jefferies , BMO , Redburn , Instinet , and Euronext . “ There ' s absolutely no reason why ESG should stop in the process chain at the portfolio managers desk and not involve trading at all ,” Hock explains .
Union under Hock ’ s leadership has proved to be a thought leader in an ever-changing market landscape , projecting its own style and perspective onto ongoing trends , including the rollercoaster that is the market ’ s uptake in tokens and its laboured transition to a more sustainable operating model . The institution ' s new horizontal , multi-asset and automisation focused structure is reflective of how the market has been moulded by increasing globalisation and consolidation .
“ It ' s a hybrid organisational structure . In trading , it ' s not two silos that we ' ve created which are completely independent and separate from each other . When trading , communication and sharing thoughts , ideas and observations is really key .”
“ There ' s absolutely no reason why ESG should stop in the process chain at the portfolio managers desk and not involve trading at all .”
46 // TheTRADE // Winter 2021