After our official membership was approved by the Asia-Pacific Central Securities Depository Group (ACG) in May 2024, Merkezi Kayıt Kuruluşu A.Ş. (MKK) participated in the first program organized by the ACG which has 41 members in total, and introduced our products and services that we serve to local and international markets.
Our CEO and Board Member Dr. Ekrem ARIKAN and MKK delegation attended the program in Hong Kong and made crucial contacts with the aim of developing existing cooperation with the countries in the region, taking the e-GEM (Electronic General Meeting) project which has been successfully carried out with Indonesia to the next level and developing concrete cooperation with other countries, and further strengthening our role as a bridge between continents and markets.
Within the scope of the program, Dr. ARIKAN and the MKK delegation first visited our Consulate General in Hong Kong and met with our Consul General Mr. Kerim Sercan EVCİN and Commercial Counselor Mr. Dinçer TATLIOĞLU and made evaluations on potential collaborations and opportunities between the organizations of the two countries.
Dr. ARIKAN met with Senior Vice President of the Investment Office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China David YU, and held consultations with the officials of ACG member institutions at the opening dinner of the event held at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
In the opening session of the program, Dr. ARIKAN's speech titled "MKK and Turkish Capital Markets" was followed with great interest and he shared MKK's fields of activity, financial technology products and services developed with its own resources, as well as market data with the participants. Dr. ARIKAN presented data on the significant increases in the number of investors and portfolio values in Türkiye's markets in recent years, and emphasized that MKK acts as a bridge between Asian, European, Middle Eastern and African depository institutions, and this role has been further strengthened following its membership to the ACG. Dr. Ekrem ARIKAN underlined that the General Assembly meeting which will be hosted by MKK in İstanbul on October 2-4, 2024 and organized by the Association of Eurasian Central Securities Depositories (AECSD) of which he is the chairman, has expanded its scope and turned into an important Summit program with the participation of Africa & Middle East Depositories Associations (AMEDA). Dr. ARIKAN underlined that they are currently expecting participation from a total of 44 countries in this meeting of capital markets in İstanbul, which unites the continents, and he stated that they will be very happy to host the ACG management and members within the scope of the summit and invited the participants to the summit.
Dr. ARIKAN held private meetings with ACG President Dr. Wenhua DAI and underlined that MKK is not only a financial infrastructure institution providing services with its powerful technology, but also a fintech institution producing financial technology products and services with its role as an R&D center. He emphasized that Indonesia, one of the countries in the region, has been actively using the e-GEM (Electronic General Assembly System) product since 2020 developed by MKK, that more than 5,000 general assembly meetings have been successfully held via e-GEM by almost 900 companies in total, and that they have developed a general assembly system for debt instruments in this country, and stated that they aim to carry out joint projects with other countries in the region.
CEO of MKK Dr. ARIKAN held a meeting with CEO of the Central Securities Depository of Pakistan Mr. Badiuddin AKBER, and the accompanying delegation, and agreed with his counterpart to continue contacts and strengthen institutional interaction with a focus on evaluating and realizing cooperation opportunities between the two institutions. He and the accompanying MKK delegation also held a special meeting with the Central Securities Depository of Sri Lanka and discussed potential collaborations and new period targets.
MKK Investor and Corporate Governance Application Development Director Mr. Mustafa AKGÜN made a presentation at the Investor Services Panel held within the scope of the ‘Cross Training Seminar’ program organized by ACG in Hong Kong between 23-26 July in order to increase the exchange of knowledge and experience among member countries. Mr. Mustafa AKGÜN explained the custody, corporate governance and data services provided by MKK as an element of trust, as well as the platforms and products offered to investors and the opportunities for the development of the markets.
Commenting on the program, Dr. Ekrem ARIKAN said that: "As MKK, we have very strong muscles in the field of financial technology and many products and services required by the sector. One of our main strategies in the new period is to become an institution that produces and exports more information and technology. To this end, we held highly productive meetings and contacts to explain and promote MKK in the first program organized by the Association after our ACG membership was approved. We sincerely believe that we will carry out successful projects with Indonesia as well as other countries in the region in the coming period, and every day we continue to take new initiatives in this direction."
