Dear all participants,

A warm welcome to the 13th Annual Conference of the Asia-Pacific Association of Derivatives (APAD), hosted by the Korean Derivatives Association!

Since the first conference in Busan in 2004, the APAD conference meetings have been a greatsuccess in promoting scholarly studies of derivatives markets and asset pricing. In particular, they have not only provided a valuable opportunity to keep abreast of the latest developments in derivatives markets but also served as an important arena of dialogue between the academics, practitioners, and policymakers.

This year the conference features 30 rigorously peer-reviewed papers, with authors from diverse parts of the world. The papers address a wide range of important theoretical and empirical topics including options, futures, CDS and other swaps, asset pricing, investment, market microstructure, and behavioral finance. In addition, our keynote speaker, Professor Suresh Sundaresan, will deliver an insightful speech entitled “Changes in Derivatives Markets Evolution.”

We are also proud to present a special symposium entitled “Competition for Order Flow and Market Liquidity in a High Frequency World.” The advent of high frequency trading and concurrent changes in regulations have altered the strategic behavior of high frequency traders, other traders, and the exchanges. Exchanges and trading venues engage in an intense competition for the order flow, all the while without trying to sacrifice the market liquidity. We hope this
symposium serves to enhance our understanding on these recent developments and their regulatory implications.

We are confident that all 30 papers presented will invariably offer stimulating research questions as well as fresh insights. On behalf of all APAD members, we would like to express our deep gratitude to all presenters, discussants, session chairpersons, and attendees for sharing their valuable ideas and experiences. We also acknowledge our great sponsors who provided generous support to make this conference possible.

We sincerely hope your time here at the conference is enjoyable and worthwhile.