EMTA is the principal trade group for the Emerging Markets trading and investment community and is dedicated to promoting the orderly development of fair, efficient and transparent trading markets for Emerging Markets instruments and to helping integrate the Emerging Markets into the global capital markets. Above all, EMTA provides a forum that enables EM market participants to identify issues of importance to the trading and investment community and, when necessary, to review alternatives and develop consensus approaches to addressing industry problems and opportunities.
EMTA was formed in 1990 by the financial community in response to the many new trading opportunities created by the Mexico and Venezuela debt reschedulings under the Brady Plan. In an effort to develop market mechanisms to trade nearly U.S. $50 billion face amount of newly issued debt securities, a small group of debt traders from major international financial institutions formed the LDC Debt Traders Association. The organization's name was changed to the Emerging Markets Traders Association in May 1992 in order to reflect the evolving nature of the market more accurately. In 2000, the Association assumed its present name, simply EMTA, and expanded its mission to include promoting greater confidence in the EM asset classes for the benefit of all market participants.
As Emerging Markets countries and companies have re-entered the capital markets and internal capital markets have become more highly developed, Brady bonds have been replaced by a wide variety of Eurobonds and other financial instruments (including ever-increasing amounts of instruments denominated in local currencies). The investor base has also become much more diversified. As the marketplace has evolved, EMTA's activities have changed to meet the needs of market participants, and EMTA's projects, alone or in collaboration with other financial industry trade groups, now involve Market Practices, standard documentation and building infrastructure for Emerging Markets bonds, derivatives, foreign exchange, equities and local currency instruments, as well as advocacy for industry positions that promote the EM asset class. Consistent with its role as a forum for Emerging Markets issues, EMTA sponsors a range of informational meetings and seminars each year and also maintains an extensive website designed to provide market participants with a wide variety of both current and archival information, including New Developments and Key Industry Views, as well as notices relating to various EMTA activities and projects.
EMTA's current Mission Statement is available by Clicking Here.