The International Stock Exchange Executives Emeriti (ISEEE) will hold their fifth annual meeting March 25-28, 2012 at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida according to Jim Schnorf, President of Wall Street Strategic Capital, Inc. Schnorf, who has served as the host of the forum since its inception in 2008, indicated there will be a record turnout of current and former senior stock and derivative exchange executives in attendance. “Don Calvin, a former top NYSE officer and Advisor to more than 25 Chairmen and CEO’s of exchanges around the world, has been the impetus behind starting the organization and growing the event each year, and has arranged for a significant number of new countries and to be represented this year in Orlando. Wall Street Strategic Capital (www.wsscapital.com) is thrilled to have the privilege of not only welcoming back a large number of distinguished current and former exchange officials who have attended in the past, but also to welcome a large contingent of new current and former senior exchange executives from multiple continents”, said Schnorf.
The ISEEE is a New York 501(c)3 not for profit educational organization that was established to provide current and former stock exchange chairmen and CEO’s from around the world an opportunity to collaborate on matters including issues and challenges facing the various exchanges, discuss best practices, review trends and concerns in the respective countries and economies, and make recommendations that are passed along to relevant regulatory and legislative bodies. According to Schnorf, the ISEEE has not only issued insightful recommendations on matters such as urgent capital market reforms that are needed, but also launched the “Small Business Task Force” which is headed by David Weild, former Vice Chairman of NASDAQ. Both Calvin and Schnorf are members of the Task Force, along with a small group of other ISEEE participants. “Don Calvin once again was the inspiration behind starting the task force, an idea that was immediately embraced by the entire ISEEE membership. David Weild made a compelling presentation to the group that stressed the decline of the small cap IPO market in the U.S., as well as the alarming reduction in the number of small cap listed companies. Don felt that the ISEEE would be the perfect group to tackle this issue and the task force was put in place with Dave agreeing to serve as Chairman. Substantive progress has been made including not only providing specific recommendations to regulatory authorities, but also creating awareness among key U.S. Senators and Representatives about the alarming situation with the small cap market in this country”, Schnorf indicated. The ISEEE website includes the “Orlando Declaration” and a summary of the most recent meeting held in March, 2011 as well as a list and short biographies on the members of the ISEEE.
This March there will be current and former executives from the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ, National Stock Exchange, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange from the U.S., as well as the Toronto Exchange from Canada. From South America there will be attendees that have served in executive level exchange and securities capacities from Brazil (Bovespa Exchange) and Peru. From Africa there will be officials that have served on behalf of the Cairo and Alexandria Exchanges in Egypt, as well as the Johannesburg Exchange. From Europe there will be senior exchange officials that have served on behalf of the London Exchange, Istanbul Exchange, Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets, the Zurich Exchange, the Dutch Boerse, the Stockholm Exchange, the German markets, Malta Stock Exchange, the Luxembourg Exchange, Vienna Stock Exchange, the Prague Stock Exchange, and the Borsa Italiana. In regards to Asian exchanges there will be attendees that have served as executives for the Hong Kong Exchange, the Moscow and Kazakhstan markets, and from Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur. In addition, executives that have served the Australia and New Zealand exchanges will also be in attendance. Two Vice Chairmen, Robert Aber (former General Counsel for NASDAQ) and William Foster (former CEO of the New Zealand Exchange and Chief Operating Officer of the Abu Dhabi Securities markets) who is currently an Advisor to the new Cambodian Exchange will also be attending. Special guests will include among others Stanley Sporkin, the legendary Director of Enforcement at the Securities & Exchange Commission and former Federal Judge and General Counsel to the Central Intelligence Agency. Schnorf indicated that since the size of the group has grown to such a significant number of attendees, it is now impossible to schedule dates even a year in advance that will accommodate all members’ schedules that want to attend. For this upcoming conference the former CEO of Eurex and the Berlin Stock Exchange, as well as the former CEO of the European Options Exchange, have conflicts and will not be able to participate, he said.
The ISEEE has chosen SNN to be the official media sponsor for the event. In addition to covering the forum, SNN will also be conducting interviews of many of the ISEEE officials which will be aired on the SNN radio network, and will be writing a lead article for the Microcap Review magazine recapping the conference. Schnorf said, “We are very pleased to have SNN as the media sponsor for this prestigious event. Given Shelly Kraft’s passion for the small cap market, as well as his knowledge of both U.S. and foreign markets and his relationships with thousands of public company executives over the years, we felt SNN was the perfect choice for our event. I know I speak on behalf of all of the ISEEE attendees in expressing our excitement of having SNN serve in this capacity”.
Last year Schnorf arranged for the newly elected Governor of Florida, Rick Scott, to attend the event and meet with the ISEEE participants. Among topics discussed was the prospect of potentially creating an “international financial center” in Florida. “The Governor was extremely interested in not only meeting this highly distinguished group of international financiers, but in also hearing recommendations as to how Florida could benefit from their experience, relationships, and past successes in their respective geographies. In addition, these are all very influential people in their respective countries, so the opportunity to further establish business relationships and strategic partnerships was clearly part of the agenda. Governor Scott, with his successful business background, clearly recognizes that two of the major impediments facing business today are lack of capital access, and excessive government regulation. He is clearly committed to resolving both of these issues on behalf of the State of Florida, and the fact that he changed his schedule on short notice to come from Tallahassee to meet with this group is indicative of his commitment to these initiatives. Small business is where jobs are going to be created in the future, and these are probably the two largest issues facing job growth. Clearly the lack of capital, especially in Florida where in years past in excess of 95% of venture capital invested in Florida came from outside the state, is an urgent issue that has to be addressed”, Schnorf said.
Although the forum is not open to the public, Schnorf has indicated there is an opportunity for a small number of highly relevant firms to attend one or more of the events as a lunch or dinner sponsor, which would include an opportunity to meet the ISEEE attendees and make a brief presentation about their firms. The forum begins with a welcoming dinner on March 25, with technical meetings, a luncheon and dinner on March 26, technical meetings, a luncheon, and a reception (which will include Orlando area senior business and political attendees) on March 27, and technical meetings and a farewell dinner on March 28. The Small Business Task Force will also meet on March 25. On March 26, the keynote dinner speaker will be Professor Melvin Escudero, the former head of the Peru Pension System who will discuss the rapidly growing Andean Stock Exchange. The March 27 luncheon keynote speaker will be Mohamed Abdel Salam, Chairman and CEO of the Egpytian Securities Exchange and Vice Chair of the Arab Stock Exchange. Firms that have an interest in participating can contact Jim Schnorf.
Jim Schnorf, CPA, CMA, MBA is the Founder and President of Wall Street Strategic Capital, Inc. and a number of other entities that arrange non-traditional debt financing including bridge loans, facilitate revenue opportunities with government agencies and large entities, and arrange strategic partners and high profile board members/endorsers for client firms in the U.S. and approximately 20 foreign countries. He is a frequent guest speaker at conferences and symposiums involving debt funders, major pension funds, and private equity firms and most recently presented at the SuperReturn Conference in Boston.
Syndicated with permission from Stock News Now and the Micro-Cap Review.
