The World Federation of Exchanges (the WFE), the global industry association for exchanges and clearing houses, is pleased to invite the submission of theoretical, empirical, and policy research papers on issues related to clearing and derivatives for its 42nd Annual Clearing and Derivatives Conference, WFEClear 2026. The conference will be hosted by TMX Group in Toronto, Canada, from 21st to 23rd April 2026. 

Papers will be selected by the conference’s Scientific Committee based on their relevance, originality, and academic rigour. Accepted papers shall be presented at the conference and will be assigned an industry discussant.

Aims and topics
The objective of the conference is to bring together academics, practitioners, and policymakers from around the world to share original research and to exchange ideas on the opportunities and challenges for the future of central and bilateral clearing. By bringing academia and industry together in a mutually enriching conversation, the conference aims to stimulate the generation of new ideas and approaches to these topics. The programme will comprise of keynote speeches, expert panels, and academic paper presentations. 

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: 

• Innovations in collateral management (especially to cater for 24/7 trading)
• Innovations in options trading
• Derivatives in emerging markets 
• Clearing structures and incentives (e.g., auction design, corporate governance, client clearing, non-default losses (NDLs), impact of clearing regulations)
• Market resilience (e.g., clearing networks, liquidity contagion, cyber threats, collateral flows)
• Vertical integration and market consolidation
• Supervisory structures and data reporting standards
• New clearing and risk models
• Operational risk (e.g., third party risk management, transitioning to the cloud)
• Impact of new technologies (e.g., clearing of crypto assets, crypto derivatives, DLT applications, smart contracts, the use of AI)
• Liquidity risk transmission (e.g., network models, procyclicality). 
• The impacts and suitability of the clearing mandate 
• Barriers impeding cross-border activity
• Climate-related issues (green derivatives, clearing carbon emissions, water futures, carbon markets derivatives, etc.)

Paper submissions 
Submissions should consist of a full paper sent in PDF format to
callforpapers@world-exchanges.org, to be received no later than Wednesday, 22nd October 2025. Papers should be in English and include an abstract. Authors of accepted papers will be notified by 25th November 2025. Final versions of the selected papers are due by 23rd March 2026.

Scientific Committee
Evangelos Benos (University of Cyprus)
Barbara Casu (Bayes Business School)
Fernando Cerezetti (ICE Clear Europe and King's College London)
Gerardo Ferrara (Bank of England)
Richard Haynes (CFTC)
Stanislav Ivanov (ICE)
Albert Menkveld (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Travis Nesmith (Federal Reserve Board)
Dmitrij Senko (Eurex)
Froukelien Wendt (ESMA)

Practical information
Attendance is by invitation only and typically limited to WFE members, affiliates, long-term partners, academics, and special guests. Academics who wish to join the conference are welcome and should send their request to research@world-exchanges.org.

Additional information on the conference and its programme will be available at the WFE website.

The programme for our prior conference in Seoul can be found here.