The TRADE is excited to launch the digital edition of The TradeTech FX Daily, the official magazine of TradeTechFX Europe, full to the brim with the latest industry news and exclusive interviews with buy-side speakers. Covering top stories from recent months, the important regulatory developments and key industry insights from buy-side speakers at the event, The TRADETechFX Daily can be accessed here. The TRADETechFX Daily is available in print format at the event and can be located across the event and at registration stands. The TRADE team is also on the ground at the event so make sure to come and say hello to Claudia, Natasha and Karen! View The TRADETechFX Daily 2025 here.  The post The TRADETechFX Daily 2025 launches in Barcelona as your official guide to the event! appeared first on The TRADE.

For Gordon Noonan, head of FX trading – London at Schroders, a multi-asset approach to foreign exchange execution is not just effective, but essential.Across capital markets, specialisation remains key to many strategies across the street, however, Noonan argues that there are real gains to be won from a holistic approach to a desk. When questioned as to whether dealer relationship management presents a challenge for the multi-asset approach given that the perception is that specialised desks are often more successful at maintaining counterparty connections, Noonan conceded that it was of course a valid point.Noonan explained that an integrated approach is the ideal path forward, wherein work is being calibrated by experts in the background.“You’re never going to get to a point where the team is super multi-asset and everyone’s a five out of 10. We would never come up with that. “[…] In my world, how I visualise the desk is that I’m the FX guy but I will be able to pick up rates, I’ll be able to pick up credit etc. but it will have been calibrated by someone else who are experts in the area.”He added that the strategy should be focused on allowing expert knowledge to scale across multiple asset classes, without diluting core competencies.When further probed as to whether he would outsource the FX business management at his form, Noonan was firm, asserting that there is more value in keeping this inhouse. “Connecting you with the street is very, very important to us. So, we wouldn’t outsource. At the end of the day the trading desk is generally the central touch point for the street so we take in a lot of that information,  and we disseminate that into our PMs as well.”Read more: Specialism ‘just as important’ as standardisation when considering multi-asset goals Elsewhere, the conversation led to whether FX traders have something to learn from traders from other asset classes.Noonan highlighted that those in the equities and fixed income spaces tend to take longer to make decisions and take more time to mull next steps – something that is perhaps not always applicable in the foreign exchange sphere but still remains a point of reflection.“I’ve learned an awful lot from my equity colleagues especially as regards the connectivity they have with the different EMSs and their OEMSs […] they look at things just slightly differently and they have different ways of executing. “FX moves so quickly, and you can move risk so quickly but in the equity space, how they interact with venues I think is very, very interesting. I’m not sure it feeds into FX, but you learn so much from comparing”.The post Multi-asset desks are the way forward argues Schroders’ Gordon Noonan appeared first on The TRADE.

As alternative liquidity sources begin to gain more traction across the FX industry, discussions are now turning towards whether alternative options are contributing to fragmentation and the impact that greater choice is having on market structure.  For experts speaking at the liquidity and alternative liquidity panels at TradeTech FX 2025, finding ways to navigate between two distinct liquidity ecosystems spanning different access mechanisms and pricing models is a key challenge currently facing the FX market. Specifically, the panellists highlighted a split in market structure, indicating that in the primary markets and futures space, spanning venues such as major electronic communications networks (ECNs), non-banks seem to dominate due to different operational models and risk management approaches, while alternatively, banks are taking the precedent over bilateral market liquidity, such as dark pools and single-dealer platforms.  Speaking to this, Jeremy Smart, global head of distribution at XTX Markets, said: “I think the biggest single change that I’ve seen across the FX market in the last few years is this bifurcation of liquidity between primary markets and secondary markets and financial liquidity. “What you’re seeing is the question of how you translate this future to market liquidity, which I think is really quite deep and varied.” Additionally, experts pointed towards how alternative liquidity sources are contributing to market fragmentation. Blaise Sheppard, head of FX at OneChronos, said: “You’ve got to ask the question, is the venue solving a problem? Because if it’s just more of the same, then all that does is create more fragmentation and more places that you need to meet the same people.” However, the premise that a wide selection of liquidity choices contributes to market fragmentation was not a fundamentally negative aspect for all panellists.  “There’s this interesting thing about fragmentation, and everyone says it like it’s a bad thing. Is it necessarily a bad thing?” Smart added. “There are all of these different platforms, all these different ways of trading which have been created specifically so that you can get two pieces of matching interest to match in the best way that they possibly can. So all of these things are innovations which are designed to create better trading outcomes and better execution outcomes for people by not averaging things.” Market volatility – an alternative driver? Additionally, discussions turned toward the period of market volatility experienced earlier this year in April following Trump’s liberation day tariffs and the ensuing market activity that came from this.  Specifically, the panellists highlighted that during this period, banks and clients appeared to increasingly turn towards a direct basis, such as alternative, relationship-driven liquidity channels, rather than traditional anonymous ECN liquidity.  In April, UBS reported a 50% growth in direct client relationships and MVP (minimum variance portfolio) connections, while contrastingly, only a 15% increase was seen in the ECN space, indicating a strategic shift towards disclosed or bilateral relationships.  Commenting on this, Tgetg Roethlin, head of EFX principal trading EMEA at UBS, said: “One observation is that non-banks had stepped in, whereas our observation is slightly different. We’ve stepped back on ECN because we’re focusing on a direct basis, but I think the mix on a whole depends on what you have in your platform.” As alternative liquidity becomes more and more prominent across the industry, the impact this will have on market structure and fragmentation appears to be one to watch as this continues to evolve.  The post Is alternative liquidity deepening fragmentation in FX markets or solving it? appeared first on The TRADE.

Following an extensive and lengthy selection process over the summer, The TRADE is delighted to announce the shortlists for the Leaders in Trading Editors’ Choice London Awards 2025.Following a record number of nominations for this year’s categories, our editorial judging panel compiled the list, with the winners set to be revealed at The Savoy Hotel on 6 November 2025, alongside our other prestigious awards including the EMS, Algorithmic Trading and Buy-Side categories.The mainstay awards of the Editors’ Choice segment are back again: Outstanding Exchange Group, Equities Trading Venue, Dark Trading Venue, Fixed Income Trading Venue, FX Trading Venue, and Derivatives Exchange Group.Other categories span Technology, Market Data, TCA Clearing, Market Structure Services on the Sell-Side and more.Now in its fourth year, the vote for the Industry Person of the Year 2025 will once again be opened up to a public vote on the awards night, so keep your eyes peeled for a shortlist announcement in the coming weeks.Visit our event page for more information.Should you wish to attend the awards, please contact Daljit Sokhi daljit.sokhi@thetradenews.com to book a table for the dinner. If you are a member of the buy-side community and would like information on attending Leaders in Trading as a guest of The TRADE, please contact Karen Delahoykaren.delahoy@thetradenews.com.Congratulations and best of luck to all of our nominees!Editors’ Choice Awards 2025 shortlists:Outstanding Exchange GroupDeutsche BorseEuronextLSEGSIX GroupOutstanding Equities Trading VenueCboe EuropeLSEGNasdaq NordicSIX GroupOutstanding Dark Trading VenueAquis Matching Pool (AMP)LiquidnetSwissatMidVirtu POSITOutstanding Fixed Income Trading VenueBloombergICE BondsMarketAxessTradewebOutstanding FX Trading VenueDeutsche Börse, 360TLSEG, Refinitiv FXallLMAX ExchangeMillTechOutstanding Derivatives Trading VenueCME GroupEurexEuronextICE Futures EuropeBlock Trading Venue of the YearCboe BIDS EuropeInTickLeveL Markets, LuminexLiquidnetClearing House of the YearCboe Clear EuropeICE Clear EuropeEuronext ClearingLCHTCA Provider of the YearBestXbig xytTradefeedrVirtu FinancialOutstanding Market Data Services Provider – Equitiesbig xytBMLL TechnologiesExegyPicoOutstanding Market Data Services Provider – Fixed incomeBloombergEdiphyPropellant.DigitalS&P Global Market IntelligenceProprietary Trading Firm of the YearIMC TradingJane StreetVirtu FinancialXTX MarketsOutstanding Trading Technology ProviderAdaptiveBroadridgeTransFICCTS ImagineSell-Side Market Structure ExcellenceGareth Exton, LiquidnetByron Griffin, ODDO BHFEmma Lokko, SusquehannaRobert Miller, Kepler CheuvreuxThe post Leaders in Trading 2025: Editors’ Choice Awards shortlists revealed for London event appeared first on The TRADE.

OSTTRA has moved to expand its compression with the addition of USD/CNH cross currency swaps to its arsenal.The post-trade solutions provider confirmed that it completed its first compression run for the cross currency swaps in August, cleared via HKEX’s OTC Clear service.Five financial institutions took part including Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Crédit Agricole CIB and a total of $5.8bn in notional value was compressed during the pilot run.The firm said the move comes amid a significant growth in demand for compression services in Asia.“As CNH activity increases in the region, this service will provide valuable capital and operational efficiencies for banks needing to manage risk in this fast-growing currency pair,” said Erik Petri, head of optimisation, OSTTRA.OSTTRA cited that compressed notional value more than doubling in the first six months of 2025 compared to the same period last year.Elsewhere, the notional value of APAC currency contracts closed in 2025 to date surpassed $33.1 trillion.OSTTRA said it intends to conduct another compression run for the currency pair with a larger group of market participants in the coming months on HKEX’s OTC Clear.John Luk, head of emerging markets trading for Greater China, Crédit Agricole CIB said: “As an active player in HKEX’s OTC Clear, we are pleased that the inaugural cleared USD/CNH CCS – a key client offering of our bank – compression service has been introduced to the local market. Crédit Agricole CIB is a prominent proponent of compression for its cost and risk mitigation benefits, which also aligns with our operational strategy for our market activities franchise.”The post OSTTRA completes first compression of USD/CNH cross currency swaps appeared first on The TRADE.

US Bank has joined payment-versus-payment (PvP) service, CLSSettlement as a settlement member.  Chris BraunThe move makes the Minneapolis-headquartered bank the service’s seventy-sixth settlement member, and the third to join in 2025.  The addition of US Bank aligns with a growing adoption of PvP settlement solutions by financial institutions, as the industry begins to increasingly prioritise FX settlement risk management and operational efficiency.  Lisa Danino-Lewis, chief growth officer at CLS, said: “ Having one of the US’s largest banks by assets under management join our network is a testament to the benefits CLSSettlement provides to FX markets participants. The service not only offers funding and liquidity efficiencies through multilateral netting but also mitigates settlement risk through PvP settlement.” In H1 2025, CLSSettlement settled an average of $7.9 trillion daily, marking a year-on-year increase of 12%. Additionally, the solution spans 18 currencies to provide services for settlement members, as well as its over 38,000 third-party participants.  US Bank is also currently the fifth largest bank in the US.  “Our continually expanding FX business helps firms across the US manage currency risk with tailored mitigation strategies, deep market insight and reliable execution,” said Chris Braun, global head of FX, US Bank. “Joining CLSSettlement is another step forward in our progress in delivering comprehensive, best-in-class FX services to our clients.”  US Bank’s addition follows news in June 2025 that OTP Bank, one of Hungary’s largest commercial banks, had joined CLSSettlement as a settlement member. Similarly, in the same month ABN AMRO re-joined the service, after having previously been part of the initial first group of settlement members that went live when the service launched in 2002, before moving to an indirect, third-party participation in 2009.   The post US Bank becomes third member to join CLSSettlement this year appeared first on The TRADE.

Head of foreign exchange trading at T. Rowe Price, Toby Baker, began his career in trading like most young traders looking to start out in this industry – grafting for work experience wherever he could and then capitalising on an empty seat on a desk as soon as one arose. He first caught the trading bug after doing work experience at the London Stock Exchange when he was 14, solidifying his desire to work within the markets when he finished school. After landing a role at the London Stock Exchange and subsequently working in settlements and middle-office roles at various firms, he finally arrived at T. Rowe Price 24 years ago.“Back in the day, you could jump from one job to another quite quickly by temping. It’s a shame because there is less of that nowadays,” he says. “I started at Japanese bank Daiwa in a settlements role and one day their trader decided to leave quite quickly and they looked around the desk and saw me sitting there and gave me my opportunity.”FX as a linchpinFor Baker, joining the foreign exchange markets was a no-brainer as the largest and most liquid market in the world. Sat in T. Rowe Price’s Paternoster Square offices, with the backdrop of St Paul’s Cathedral spread out behind him, he explains that foreign exchange is the linchpin between the equity and fixed income markets.“If we buy an international asset at T. Rowe Price and you can’t pay for it in the local currency, then the equity or the bond isn’t going to settle. And so, having FX that works efficiently means that for any other asset we buy internationally – we’re based in dollars – we would have to swap dollars into that currency to cover for the asset that we’re buying,” he explains.“If that falls down, then the whole process falls down.”What’s more, given how liquid the FX markets are in comparison with other classes, for example equities, Baker explains that the end of the trading day is cleaner cut.“I like to have a clear blotter when I arrive at work and I like to have a clear blotter when I leave. Other asset classes may have to warehouse or work orders for longer.”Tenure at T. Rowe PriceBaker’s 24-year stint at the real money asset manager is a testament to its culture. As the third person to join fixed income international at T. Rowe Price and the first trader to join fixed income, he’s seen many of the team through from their first day.“I like to say that I’ve trained everyone in FX along the journey.”The FX trading team favours a mixed approached of high or no touch when it comes to execution. High touch being algorithmically traded and no touch being auto priced and executed, with no intervention bar the necessary tolerance checks. “The idea being that trades arrive on the traders’ blotters and we can seek to gain alpha. If we can’t then they’re going to get put through the automation route,” says Baker.“There is not a great deal of value we can add on that [automated] ticket. The high touch orders are the ones where we use algos. They’re probably something that is a larger size than we deem auto priceable. With an algo, the buy-side trader is in complete control. You’ve only got yourself to blame if it’s a good or bad performance. It’s a bit like going to a restaurant with a hot plate, cooking your own steak and then moaning afterwards that you’ve overcooked it.”“The risk now for the industry is that no one wants to pick up the phone anymore and you lose the edge of speaking to a salesperson or a trader and hearing their voice on what you’re trying to give them. We’ve made it so ‘push button’ that we’ve lost the trader’s edge of understanding what we’re trying to give to the street.”Workflow optimisation Baker, like many in his seat, spends a large portion of his time assessing how the desk might further optimise its workflows to give traders more time to spend on the trades that generate the most alpha for their clients. “I’ve been trading the same way, buying and selling for the last 30 years and we will continue to do that for the next hundred years, but there are different ways of executing and getting different outcomes,” he says.As a real money shop that trades on behalf of clients as opposed to its own book, T. Rowe Price isn’t able to use some of the workflows that other firms on the street, for example hedge funds, leverage to simplify their operations. But, in an ideal world, this is something Baker would like to achieve to speed up the counterparty onboarding process.“I would love T. Rowe Price to have the ability to trade like a hedge fund, not in the way that they execute, but just have the ability to trade with who they want, when they want,” he says. “Hedge funds have it easy because they can trade in their own name and they have prime brokerage. Whereas T. Rowe Price trades on behalf of our clients and we have to have tri-party relationships with the clients and the counterparties in terms of ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) documentation. Anything that involves an ISDA generally involves legal counsel. That slows the speed of [counterparty] onboarding.”Like many heads of trading, Baker is responsible for keeping tabs on new innovations coming to market that may simplify workflows on the desk. His mantra? Try before you buy.“Never be afraid to try before you buy, and you don’t have to buy,” he explains. “There’s a lot out there doing the same thing. It’s important to try and differentiate and not to waste too much time. We do a lot of peer evaluation on the platforms and the liquidity providers. Rather than just talking about things, we need to be able to kick the tyres.”Playing for volatilityT. Rowe Price collateralises its FX forwards and swaps flow and this is something that Baker explains sets the institution apart from its peers, particularly in times of volatility. And, given the tariffs saga that has followed ‘Liberation Day’ in the US, markets have been extremely volatile as of late.“That [collateralisation] puts us in a strong position in comparison with some of our peers that don’t collateralise,” he says. “There is nothing wrong with not collateralising, it’s just that when a bank looks at clients A, B or C, and if there is a lot of market volatility, they’re more likely to give stable pricing to the counterparties that do collateralise versus the ones that don’t.”“People probably went into the tariff announcements with a long dollar position and they’ve probably gone to a more neutral position now. Volatility has actually gone up, but that opens up opportunities in other instruments such as FX options where you’re literally playing for volatility.”FX options is one area that Baker notes is ripe for innovation through further automation, and this has been an area that T. Rowe Price has been exploring in recent months.“We’ve been working with Digital Vega and we’re looking at a few other option providers to enable us to be able to trade an FX option the same way we would be able to electronically trade EUR/USD,” he explains. “That is holding back a lot of real money clients. It still feels like the ‘back of a cigarette packet’ in terms of technology but if as an industry we can get better, then that should mean we can automate more as well.”The importance of diverse counterpartiesFor Baker, success in trading, in particular foreign exchange trading, lies in having a diverse roster of counterparties to work with in any given situation. This isn’t unique to foreign exchange, but, given the size and the speed of these markets and their susceptibility to volatility, this becomes ever more important in this sphere. “You can’t put all your eggs in one basket. Banks may have their own internal restrictions or issues going on,” he says. “If a bank is constantly streaming pricing and it stays the same if volatility goes up or down, then that is absolutely fantastic. But they will most likely alter their pricing accordingly to what volatility does. They will also alter their pricing potentially depending on regulation issues. With Basel III and risk weighted assets (RWA), banks that have large balance sheet restrictions may not price as aggressively as someone with less restrictions.”Given that the foreign exchange markets are still largely bilateral in their nature, pricing is less consistent for the buy-side, in particular during times of volatility as Baker notes, but moves are being made to introduce a more central limit order book (CLOB) like structure for some instruments. “The 360Ts of the world have got some really forward-thinking products out there where effectively they’re trying to build a central limit order book for swaps,” explains Baker. “That could be really good. There is another question however, as to whether banks want to show all of their liquidity on an open forum or do they like to keep some for certain clients?”More and more, the buy-side are relying on transaction cost analysis (TCA) and analytics to help determine their counterparty selection processes. This is particularly prominent in asset classes like foreign exchange where relationships tend to be more bilateral.“Our job as buy-side traders is to sheriff the pricing we get back from our counterparties. As long as it’s all in a nice tight range everyone’s happy. It’s trying to understand where we sit on the bank’s panel, whether our flow is deemed as good flow or problematic and does pricing to us change accordingly? That’s where we rely on trade cost analysis,” explains Baker.“You might receive a trade on your pad and if you’ve got the luxury of two or three hours, you can do some fantastic pre-trade TCA, but realistically you’ve got two or three minutes before you can start to go to market. It’s about giving the traders the ability to know in advance where they should be pointing the trade. We’ve started doing more machine learning.”The benefits of TCA are not limited to execution, affirms Baker. T. Rowe Price, like many of its peers on the street, is also exploring how this information can be used to understand and potentially change how decisions are being made upstream of the trading desk. “We’re working with our market structure team to do a deeper dive on the cash team that raised the tickets. Can they improve the process prior to that? When are PMs giving us the trade tickets? Is it during the best liquidity time of the day?,” he says.“If not, are you then inhibiting the trader’s performance by giving them something that they know is difficult but they need to get done? You can’t always avoid that, but if we can find better ways of enlightening everyone involved in the process that there are better liquidity windows and we can access them, then it gives us the ability to speed up, slow down, or hold a trade for a longer period of time.”The future Looking ahead, Baker is clear on the innovation set to make the greatest splash in foreign exchange: instantaneous settlement. While North America moved to T+1 for its post-trade cycle in May 2024, Europe, the UK and Switzerland have set out plans for their own shifts to take place in October 2027. The next step would be instant settlement via blockchain, as seen in markets such as crypto.“T. Rowe Price did a test trade on the blockchain trade in the sand pits. Anything that can reduce trillions of dollars getting pumped around on a daily basis is going to be a cost and efficiency saving,” says Baker. “There’s going to be less chance for erroneous trades going off and not being able to be pulled back. The technologies of blockchain will drive all assets going forward. It’s how we start to implement that in the EMS’ and our general workflow.”Like many in his seat, Baker is continuously assessing what might improve the trading desk’s workflows in order to optimise outcomes for their clients. In his 24-year tenure he has helmed the foreign exchange desk through many storms and will likely see them through many more.The post Foreign exchange: The linchpin between asset classes appeared first on The TRADE.

Cboe Europe Derivatives (CEDX) is set to launch Cboe Flexible Exchange options (FLEX options) in Europe to enhance risk management tools for institutional investors in the region.  Iouri SaroukhanovThe new contracts are expected to go live in Q1 2026, subject to external assessments, and will provide a regulated exchange environment which allows market participants to customise key contract terms such as strike price, expiration date, settlement type and exercise style for stock indices, individual equity and ETF options.  Initially, FLEX options will be offered on a select set of underlyings, spanning single country and pan-European Cboe Europe equity indices, individual equities and ETFs, and CEDX expects to expand this coverage over the course of 2026.  Specifically, the offering will combine the flexibility of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives with exchange-traded products, to help investors pursue goals including income generation, downside protection or enhanced growth.  “We’re excited to bring Cboe FLEX options to the European market, reflecting our continued commitment to innovation and building a bigger, more efficient and transparent listed derivatives ecosystem across the region,” said Iouri Saroukhanov, head of European derivatives at Cboe Europe.  “This launch represents a major milestone in our efforts to expand the range of exchange-traded tools available to European investors, enabling them to better manage risk and tailor strategies to meet increasingly complex investment objectives.” The contracts will also be cleared and settled by Cboe Clear Europe.  The plans build on the introduction of FLEX options to the US market over three decades ago in 1993, which since launch, have seen strong adoption across the region, with total open interest in contracts increasing from two million in 2019 to 35 million so far in 2025.  The European launch of the contracts is also being supported by ETF issuers, First Trust Global Portfolios and Vest Financial.  “Cboe’s FLEX options provide the transparency and customisation that are key to developing products that seeks to enable investors to pursue defined outcomes, including downside protection, income generation, and enhanced growth,” said Matt McFarland, senior vice president of Vest Financial.  “This is an exciting step towards greater access in Europe to exchange-traded instruments that are designed to replicate the precision and flexibility we have long relied upon in the United States.” The upcoming launch follows further recent expansion of Cboe’s derivatives suite. In September 2025, Cboe Global Markets announced that it would offer cash-settled futures and options on the soon-to-be launched Cboe MGTEN Index to provide investors with opportunities to access ten of the most actively traded US-listed large-cap stocks for AI technology and growth-oriented companies.   The post Cboe Europe Derivatives to launch FLEX options for European investors appeared first on The TRADE.

Market maker Optiver has joined SIX Swiss Exchange’s ETF Quote on Demand (QOD) as a liquidity provider.  Pasquale CapassoThe addition makes Optiver the seventh provider to join the service, and marks a further expansion of the service, initially launched in 2020 to increase ETF trading on the exchange.  David Andrew Smith, head of ETF sales at SIX Swiss Exchange, said: “I’m delighted to see Optiver become our seventh liquidity provider in ETF QOD, as we are continuously looking to improve the trading conditions on our market for our participants and grow our service offering.” Specifically, the ETF QOD service enables institutional investors to execute orders through a bidding process through direct links with registered liquidity providers, as well as gain potential price improvements compared to existing order services.  Read more – SIX and Swiss Post-Trade Council issue T+1 recommendations for Switzerland and Liechtenstein migration Currently, the exchange’s ETF QOD offering provides access to more than 6,800 ETFs and ETPs to allow for trading across major European markets such as the London Stock Exchange, Euronext and Borsa Italiana.  Similarly, Optiver offers market making in 695 passive and six active ETFs listed at SIX Swiss Exchange.  “By joining the QOD platform of SIX Swiss Exchange, Optiver strengthens its ability to provide competitive and reliable ETF liquidity to institutional counterparties in Switzerland,” said Pasquale Capasso, ETF institutional sales at Optiver. “This step reflects our commitment to enhancing transparency, improving execution quality, and supporting the continued growth of the Swiss ETF market.” Optiver’s addition follows news in June 2025 that Societe Generale had also joined the QOD solution as the sixth liquidity provider on the service.  The move also marks further developments for Optiver this year, with the firm announcing in April that it had moved to convert into a systematic internaliser (SI), allowing the business to expand the number of stocks it can offer up liquidity for.  The post Optiver joins SIX Swiss Exchange’s ETF Quote on Demand service appeared first on The TRADE.

Pirum has appointed Zoë Balkwell as head of pre-trade and trading solutions, to help drive the evolution of the firm’s pre-trade connectivity solution.  Zoë BalkwellAs part of her new role, she is set the support the adoption and development of Pirum TradeConnect and will also collaborate with clients and spearhead complementary trading solutions to build out the firm’s pre-trade business.  Speaking on her new position, Balkwell said: “I’m excited to join Pirum at this pivotal moment for pre-trade innovation. As a long-time admirer of Pirum’s post-trade solutions, I’ve seen the firm’s successful track record in launching fantastic products that solve real-world problems. The opportunity to head up Pirum’s pre-trade offering was therefore hugely appealing.” London-based Balkwell has worked across securities finance automation and trading for more than a decade, and joins the firm from JP Morgan, where she served as head of flow trading for EMEA for nearly five years, working at the forefront of the bank’s agency securities finance operations.  Prior to this, she worked at State Street for more than three years in a role covering securities finance trading.  Read more – Fireside Friday with… Pirum’s Jon Ford Previously in her career, she has also held senior positions at firms including EquiLend, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, where she began her industry career as a securities finance software engineer.  “She [Zoë] brings the perfect combination of deep securities lending expertise and strategic technology vision – understanding both how technology can optimise existing trading flows and how it can unlock new opportunities for industry participants,” said Robert Frost, chief product officer at Pirum. The post Pirum taps JP Morgan EMEA flow trading head to lead pre-trade offering appeared first on The TRADE.

As developments in cloud-based technology start to take precedent throughout the industry and traditionally outsourced functions are increasingly being brought in-house, buy-side and proprietary trading firms are beginning to take more control over margining and clearing operations, an Acuiti report has revealed.  According to the study, produced in collaboration with FIS, firms are increasingly looking into opportunities to become direct members of a central clearing counterparty (CCP), with 44% of the firms surveyed stating that they would be open to exploring or adopting self-clearing in the future. Additionally, 12% of respondents said that they had already become an individual clearing member.  To explain this trend, the report pointed towards the upcoming SEC’s US Treasury clearing mandate as a key driver for self-clearing by creating a demand for ‘done-away’ models, with the deadline for cash market transactions set for 31 December 2026, followed by the repo date on 30 June 2027.  Specifically, 50% of the firms considering becoming a clearing member said that the mandate and associated cross-margin schemes were either central or very important to their decision, while a further 25% highlighted this as quite important.  Cost reduction, competitive advantage and improving operational efficiency were also cited as incentives behind becoming a clearing member, although challenges such as understanding and complying with regulatory requirements were also recognised by participants.  “With the US Treasury clearing mandate acting as a catalyst, we expect the self-clearing trend to accelerate further over the next five years, although the number of exchanges that firms self-clear on is likely to remain limited,” said Ross Lancaster, head of research at Acuiti.  Lancaster also indicated that as margin management evolves across the industry, the adoption of automated and technology-driven processes is also likely to grow.  He said: “As firms review their technology and operational requirements to self-clear, we expect more to explore Business-Process-as-a-Service (BPaaS) options to reduce the barriers to entry.” An increased interest in self-clearing opportunities also coincides with the growing trend of more buy-side firms taking greater control over their margin processes, with 69% of respondents saying they have increased their authority over margin calculation and payment, and a further 10% stating they also plan to do so.  This increase follows developing sophistication and transparency of margin analysis and calculations in the modern derivatives market over the last few years, with the report also indicating that recent spikes in market volatility are encouraging firms to deliver more investment into modelling and predicting margin calls and exert greater control over these processes overall.  Acuiti and FIS produced the ‘Margin Management and the Rise of Self-Clearing’ study based on a survey and interviews with 64 senior executives from buy-side and proprietary trading firms.  The post Nearly half of buy-side and proprietary trading firms open to self-clearing, report reveals appeared first on The TRADE.

Jefferies Rafael Madrid has left Morgan Stanley to join Jefferies as a managing director in emerging markets credit trading.   London-based Madrid has worked extensively across trading, emerging markets, credit analysis and derivatives over the course of his career, and most recently served as co-head of European CEEMEA trading at Morgan Stanley for a year.   He also previously worked as a CEEMEA credit trader at the firm for more than two years.   Prior to this, he also worked at Goldman Sachs for over four years as an emerging markets trader, and before this held a position as executive director, head of LatAm credit trading at UBS.   Previously in his career, he also served as a vice president at Deutsche Bank from 2009 to 2013, working across emerging markets external debt.   Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank has hired former Mizuho head of European government bond trading, Amedeo Scippacercola as a rates trader. Scippacercola will be based out of London in his new position, and joins after spending over a year at Mizuho. He brings over a decade of experience working across financial markets to his new role, and also previously lead European government bond trading at NatWest for more than a year. He initially joined the firm as a director in October 2022. Prior to this, has also worked at firms spanning Citi, Barclays, Symmetry Investments, Societe Generale and JP Morgan, serving in positions covering portfolio management, fixed income trading, interest rate exotics and FX.  HSBC HSBC has hired Damien Travers as an equity derivatives sales associate.  London-based Travers is set to work across equity derivatives and fixed income structured products in his new role, and joins the firm from BNP Paribas CIB.  While at BNP Paribas, he served in a position covering cross-asset structured product sales for more than two years, working out of Geneva.  Previously in his career, he has also worked across cross-asset sales at Crédit Agricole.  Travers confirmed his new role in an announcement on social media. HSBC had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.  The post People Moves Monday: Jefferies, Deutsche Bank and HSBC appeared first on The TRADE.

As the UK market prepares to shift to a T+1 settlement cycle on 11 October 2027, implementing strong data standards and automation are key to ensuring a successful transition, according to experts at Euroclear’s Modernising Securities Markets conference.  Across the board, all panellists agreed that automation was critical for a T+1 shift, highlighting that settlement efficiency can be achieved in 10 seconds with proper automation, however this is often hindered by industry-wide challenges of adoption and enforcement.  Highlighting the consequences that poor settlement rates could have on the market, Tim Mcleod, global head of lending and liquidity operations at BlackRock, said: “On average in Europe market participants pay €70 million in cash penalties for failed trades. If you add that to a full year and round up, its €850 million that we’re paying in penalties.  “If we don’t transition to T+1 in a way that improves our settlement rates, I would say even standing still is going to see us past a billion. And are we really comfortable with a billion euros?” Specifically, issues such as a lack of standardisation in settlement instructions can pose obstacles for adoption, however challenges of shifting to T+1 is not an industry-wide challenge for all firms. According to Gary O’Brien, global head of bank and broker segment strategy at BNP Paribas, his firm currently settles approximately between 10 and 15% of trades on a T+1 or T+0 basis daily, yet the wider issue lies in ensuring preparation is widespread, rather than individual.  He said: “The reality is, of course, that the market is much wider than ourselves. What we need to do as an industry, and particularly what individual firms need to do as part of this, is not just question are they ready to do T1 in the framework that they did T2 in, but is the framework that they used for T2 the right framework for them in T1?” Ensuring that firms have strong data standards was also at the forefront of conversations around how to achieve strong automation.  Speaking on this, Andrew Douglas, chair of the UK Accelerated Settlement Taskforce, highlighted that firms should start working towards achieving these automation goals now, rather than waiting for the transition deadline.  He said: “We have made no bones about it from day one of the project that one of the secret recipes for success in meeting T+1 is automation, and automation is predicated on having good data standards. There’s no point automating stuff if its garbage in garbage in, garbage out. And so good data standards will enable good technology implementations.  “We also want people to think about how you re-engineer your system so that you don’t necessarily need to automate what you’ve got today, not tomorrow, not the end of this year, but actually how do you want your business to run in five years from now and automate with that in mind.” Panellists were also quick to underline that there is no acceptable trade-off between speed and operational resilience when implementing T+1 standards, as halving settlement times should not lead to increased associated risks. “If operational risk can be managed adequately, so successfully, automating, testing, post-trade processes, adhering to the operational resilience policies, then the markets can be faster and more resilient and there’s no trade off,” said Sasha Mills, executive director, financial market infrastructure, Bank of England. Additionally, panellists looked to emphasise that that firms should aim to comply with T+1 standards before the official settlement cycle comes into play.  Douglas added: “People used to say to me what do you expect to happen on the eleventh of October 2027? And my honest answer is I’d love there to be nothing happening on because everybody’s already compliant.” The post Settlement failure costs could soar into the billions under T+1 without automation and strong data standards appeared first on The TRADE.

As the prospect of 24/7 trading begins to gain traction across the industry, proprietary trading firms are split over whether this will positively or negatively impact the market, a recent Acuiti study has found.  As revealed in the Proprietary Trading Management Insight Report, produced in partnership with Avelacom, 37% of the proprietary community felt positively towards the concept of round-the-clock trading, while 38% expressed negative views.  Of these responses, North American firms were more supportive of a shift to extended hours than their European counterparts. The report also revealed that ultra-low latency firms appear to be more likely to support 24/7 trading than point and click or algo firms.  Additionally, while there was recognition of the benefits 24/7 trading could bring, such as the ability to react to news at any time which was cited as the main advantage for approximately 56% of respondents, firms were more aligned on the challenges posed.  Specifically, more than 80% of proprietary trading firms surveyed were most concerned about the operational staffing and resource requirements that extended hours would need, with liquidity fragmentation and risk management complexity also recognised as challenges.  “The proprietary trading community recognises the potential benefits of 24/7 trading but is cautious about the operational and liquidity challenges it introduces,” said Ross Lancaster, head of research at Acuiti.  “It is clear that infrastructure across the market, particularly with regards to payments and the movement of collateral will have to be upgraded.”  Read more – Reducing market hours makes sense in practice, but feasibility remains a question The possible need for investment was also touched upon in the report, with the majority of participants recognising that some level of funding will be required to make this shift.  Of these, 45% said that only a small investment would be necessary, while around a third (34%) instead believe a larger investment will be required.  Further funding challenges were also highlighted. Since the prospect of moving to a 24/7 model will require money mobility to also move round-the-clock, 59% of the proprietary trading firms in the survey agreed that upgraded banking facilities would be required to support market infrastructure, indicating the wider changes that extending trading hours would bring to the industry.  Discussions around extended trading follows an uptick in industry developments within the sector. In recent months, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Cboe Global Markets and Nasdaq have all proposed plans to extend US equities trading hours, while firms including Clear Street, Trillium Surveyor and LiquidityBook have unveiled partnerships with Blue Ocean Technologies to offer extended trading capacities to their clients.  Building on this, the shifting landscape towards extended trading hours will also be explored at The TRADE’s upcoming webinar, 24/7 equities trading: A red herring or an inevitable reality?Acuiti and Avelacom collated their report based on a survey of the Acuiti Proprietary Trading Expert Network, spanning senior proprietary trading executive across the globe.  The post Prospect of 24/7 trading sparking divide between proprietary firms, report finds appeared first on The TRADE.

Tell us about your journey to becoming a fixed income trader at Janus HendersonMy journey to becoming a fixed income trader at Janus Henderson started about 10 years ago, when I decided to move to Europe from Tajikistan where I was born and raised to pursue a master’s degree in finance. I had always wanted to be a part of the financial markets since I was a teenager, so I knew that in some shape or form I’d be involved in it. I must admit that in the beginning I had no idea what asset class I wanted to be trading, but during my master’s I really fell in love with everything fixed income. The sheer volume and variety within the fixed income universe, the challenges and fragmentation of the market and the complexity of the bonds (interest rate risk, credit risk, inflation risk, currency risk etc.) and their deep tie to macroeconomics were some of the most appealing factors.I initially started as a fixed income evaluator at Thomson Reuters Pricing Services where the team was responsible for pricing the bonds for the variety of indices. Then I moved into asset management by joining State Street Advisors where I worked for about six years as a fixed income portfolio management analyst and subsequently as a fixed income trader. I had a great few years at the company, where my managers and colleagues involved me in numerous interesting projects including fixed income ESG strategy building within the quant research, as well as trading a wide range of fixed income products for different mandates such as developed rates, and emerging markets, to name few.My Janus Henderson chapter started last year in November when I joined the company in pursuit of a new challenge and exposure to active fixed income portfolio management.What’s the most important lesson you’ve learnt so far in your career?It’s hard to pinpoint the most important one, as all the lessons thrown at me throughout my career have brought a lot of value to my professional and personal development.One I would highlight is adaptability. No matter how much experience one thinks they might have, there is always an element of unpredictability, especially in the line of work we do.Markets shift, the macro environment can change in a matter of a single ‘tweet’, technology evolves and so does our role. If we don’t adapt and constantly challenge and improve the way we do things we risk being left behind or left staying inefficient which we cannot afford given our fiduciary duty to our clients. So be it picking up coding and big data analysis or partnering with new emerging fixed income platforms we always keep our finger on the pulse. Being open to change, actively listening and adjusting the course is what truly drives the long-term success.The second lesson I would highlight is one’s attitude to hardships. It is not easy sometimes to deal with hardships and setbacks, especially early on in one’s career. It might feel soul crushing to be close to achieving a goal and fall just a bit short of succeeding. Be that a dream role or a dream project or a desired certification. The key is to see those failures as stepping stones towards the future success as each failure teaches you about your weaknesses and areas where you need to improve. That is a very valuable insight, the one some people would pay for.This year has been one for the books in terms of macro unpredictability, how has the Janus Henderson fixed income desk handled the volatility so far this year?It has been indeed! Our fixed income desk throughout the years has seen several volatile periods. But as we have discussed before, no matter how much market turmoil one might have lived through, nothing ever prepares you fully for the next one. One thing we always keep in mind is delivering the best outcomes to our clients.Our desk is built around collaboration, transparency and feedback. We try to keep each other aware of important developments around the trades we are handling. It’s important to keep abreast of what is going on around you at all times, as markets tend to go into panic mode during volatility and it’s crucial to catch the moment and react very quickly. We are in the business of transferring risk in the markets and should always be extra aware and informed.The other thing that helps us navigate such challenging times is our relationships with our counterparties. The sell-side is not only a source of liquidity for us but an important partner. To nurture these partnerships the team engages with street daily on the phone, avoiding being solely reliant on messaging services like IB chats. By cultivating trust and partnership with your counterparties in sometimes not the best and most liquid markets you can manage risk much more efficiently.Stress resilience and reliance on each other helps a lot, we are always open to stepping in and helping out where necessary to prevent situations when one might be overwhelmed and stretched too thin and not able to handle the trade with the utmost precision and best execution.On the whole how would you say the fixed income trading sphere is changing when it comes to traders’ day to day?I previously discussed the electronification of the fixed income markets a while back and it still seems to be evolving in that direction. We see the rise in various protocols that are designed to streamline and systematise trading, if not for the whole fixed income market but for the most liquid segments of it. A lot of new vendors pop up here and there with the ambitions to help develop the market tape and enable electronification of the primary markets. If they were to succeed in the near future, that would significantly help the markets elevate some of the processes. Adaptability really comes in handy here, as mentioned previously being on top of the newest developments and learning quickly is essential.The way I see the fixed income trading sphere changing is embracing data. Our desk has developed and built a range of data analysis tools to help us make decisions more efficiently. On a day-to-day basis we leverage our data analysis capabilities to detect the market sentiment, identify technical factors that affect trading in our markets and look at ad-hoc reports to evaluate our performance and efficiency. And I am sure we are not the only desk to embrace and harness data.But it must be said that one thing that won’t change and will be a part of our day-to-day is being ready to face the situation where volatility spikes up, data becomes unreliable and the only way to trade is through the phone with the counterparties you’ve spent years developing partnerships with. In times of panic and chaos people switch off their screens and even the smallest of trades sent via the electronic platforms impact the markets in a big way.What’s the future outlook for algos in fixed income, is it something which is on your radar?Algos have been a great source of liquidity in fixed income markets – the rise of alternative liquidity providers has proven so. In liquid markets and smaller size trades, algos can price quite aggressively and help traders achieve best levels. A lot of sell-side banks have developed their own algos to try win and increase their market share in these small and liquid trades.Algos are on our radar, and they are very helpful in our day to day when it comes to sourcing liquidity. Given desks now move towards a more systematic way of trading, utilising algos will be fundamental in building these processes moving forward. The trades then can be divided into low and high touch allowing traders to focus on more challenging and less liquid parts of the market. Where algos are not efficient is in high beta segments of the credit markets and illiquid instruments, where traders are very protective of their positions and do not post their axes, reporting data on the trades can be deferred for considerable periods depending on the regulatory regime, prices are stale and there is just not enough of the amount outstanding in the market. This is where we will always need to rely on our experience, relationships and careful risk transfer to achieve the best outcome.Active fixed income has been less dependent on algos just because of a nature of our business, but where algos are most embraced is passive fixed income. Daily flows, smaller trade sizes and investing in benchmark names is what needed to be properly utilising the power of algos.The post The Big Interview: Khursheda Fazylova appeared first on The TRADE.

The Swiss Securities Post-Trade Council (swissSPTC) has published its recommendations for the Swiss and Liechtenstein markets to ensure a successful adoption of a T+1 settlement cycle.SIX, as the primary Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI), is participating in the specialised Task Force and has stated that it will integrate the swissSPTC’s requirements into its own project.Switzerland and Liechtenstein will move to a T+1 settlement cycle on 11 October 2027, in coordination with the EU and UK and in support of the key objective of a joint migration.The recommendations are the result of an extensive analysis carried out in 2025 with the participation of more than 20 entities from the Swiss and Liechtenstein financial ecosystem.The swissSPTC has undertaken a national initiative to guide the financial markets of Switzerland and Liechtenstein through the transition from the current T+2 settlement cycle to the new T+1 standard.This strategic change follows months of rigorous cross-financial sector analysis involving leading institutions from trading, clearing and settlement infrastructures, banks, issuers, and industry associations. Throughout the process, regulatory and supervisory authorities have been kept closely informed.The swissSPTC’s work has been structured around six dedicated workstreams: operational processes, international alignment, liquidity management, legal and regulatory considerations, lessons learned from the North American transition, and stakeholder communication.The proposal framework covers all transferable securities executed on Swiss trading venues and settled within the Swiss central securities depository (CSD), SIX SIS.To assist the industry in preparing for the transition, the swissSPTC has initiated a market consultation on T+1, open until 10 October 2025. In addition, the swissSPTC will present its recommendations, implementation plans and timeline at an event hosted by SIX on 23 September 2025.The post SIX and Swiss Post-Trade Council issue T+1 recommendations for Switzerland and Liechtenstein migration appeared first on The TRADE.

As Europe’s execution landscape broadens with a greater variety of venue choice post-Mifid II, European equity execution is increasingly shifting towards bilateral trading, a Bloomberg Intelligence report has revealed. According to the 2025 European Equity Trading Study, bilateral trading now accounts for approximately 55% of total European market activity, spanning systematic internalisers (SI), off-book on-exchange and over-the-counter (OTC) trading.  Specifically, the report showed that SIs currently made up approximately 14% of European equity execution activity in Q1 2025.  Out of the heads of trading and senior traders evaluated in the survey, 48% said they were in favour of bilateral liquidity, with large funds in particular showing strong support.  As a result of this lit market trading has experienced a simultaneous decline over the past few years, dropping from 47% in Q1 2018, to 40% in Q1 2025, according to big xyt data.  Meanwhile, dark pool trading has remained largely consistent over the same period, currently accounting for approximately 5% of market activity.  The growth of bilateral trading across European markets also coincides with an increasing uptick in buy-side engagement with electronic liquidity providers under the systematic internaliser (ELP SI) regime, largely as a result of providers enhancing their volume and price quality, indicating future growth in this sector.  For buy-side participants in the survey, Goldman Sachs came out on top as the leading choice for directing SI flow, with JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley ranking second and third.  Speaking on this increase, one small asset manager interviewed in the study said: “We’re seeing more and more liquidity opportunities as these ELPs obviously are upping their flow. They’re just coming in and they’re willing to offer you prices, or willing to offer you liquidity more and more. So we’re kind of engaging more with that bilateral liquidity.” Read more – The liquidity conundrum persists as experts unpack the current state of play at TradeTech Europe 2025 Specifically, the study pointed towards increased integration of market makers and ELP SIs into buy-side trading workflows, such as their execution management systems (EMS), with 40% of the funds surveyed stating that they interact directly with market maker Optiver.  Additionally, 24% reported accessing Optiver’s liquidity indirectly via their broker, with the study indicating that more ELP SIs are likely to further explore direct integration with buy-side EMS as bilateral availability and adoption is set to expand further.  Bloomberg Intelligence interviewed 103 head and senior buy-side traders from largely from traditional asset managers as well as hedge funds to collate its 2025 report, from firms managing more than £25 trillion in assets, and respondents in the EU, UK, North America and Switzerland.   The post Bilateral trading accounts for 55% of total European market activity, finds report appeared first on The TRADE.

TS Imagine is entering the securities lending market with a new solution for stock loan, repo and collateral management to pair with its synthetic prime brokerage offering under a single platform. Rob FlatleyThe new solution, LoanSmart, is a front-to-back, multi-asset solution allowing users to operate securities-backed lending and repo businesses while automating key securities lending processes through a single system. The launch underscores an aggressive expansion plan from TS Imagine which is looking to combine trading and financing into a single stack and take on a market which it believes is in need of modernisation due to disparate systems and manual processes.  Known for its trading and risk management, TS Imagine acquired and integrated PrimeOne in 2024 from S&P as part of a push into prime brokerage, with securities lending then seen as natural next step for the organisation. LoanSmart has subsequently been introduced following the acquisition of a Tier 1 bank’s securities lending platform and will be led by industry veteran Gary Flower who boasts 35 years of experience from leading desks at firms including Morgan Stanley and Nomura. Speaking to The TRADE, Rob Flatley, chief executive of TS Imagine, described the launch as a “major strategic milestone” and highlighted how the organisation is looking to solve for expensive legacy technology, operational inefficiencies and lack of transparency. “There is a huge need for real-time financing and control,” he explained. “It’s always been there, but it was definitely underscored with the Archegos episode that hit the market. “You need a single pane of glass with positions, balances and holdings. You can understand what’s going on in that customer and then you can run financial control metrics around it. So, after Archegos, it became a big deal to have real time controls in that market. And the best way to do that is if you own the positions and the financial control mechanism like we do with risk management.  “So that was a really big deal in terms of the future of the market and why we’re trying to have as much in our stack as we can to solve that problem.”  Flower added: ”The securities lending market – long plagued by outdated manual processes, inconsistent pricing, and a lack of transparency – is ripe for modernisation.  “LoanSmart offers counterparties a single, integrated solution that automates key stock loan repo functions for the buy and sell-side. It’s a proven solution that has already been deployed at a major bank and addresses deep-seated issued in the securities lending market.” The post TS Imagine enters the securities lending space as part of wider prime brokerage push appeared first on The TRADE.

Cboe Global Markets is set to launch cash-settled futures and options on the new Cboe Magnificent 10 index (MGTEN Index).  The new offering, which is subject to regulatory review, makes use of the soon-to-be launched Cboe MGTEN Index, which provides a thematic, equal weighted benchmark, set to provide investors with opportunities to access ten of the most actively traded US-listed large-cap stocks for AI technology and growth-oriented companies.  The exchange expects the futures and options listings to trade on the index on an almost 24×5 basis, to provide market participants with sufficient tools to manage risk and enhance yield.  Specifically, the options will be cash-settled and European style to remove the need for physical delivery and early exercise, and the exchange plans to offer the opportunity for global investors to trade zero-days-to-expiry (0DTE) by listing weekly pm-settled options with expiries set each trading day.  “Both institutional and retail traders are increasingly looking for smarter ways to gain exposure to the most influential, market-moving stocks – along with tools to manage their positions and hedge risk more precisely, both intraday and around the clock. With our new MGTEN Index futures and options, we’re bringing the best of Cboe’s indexing and derivatives expertise to meet this demand,” said Catherine Clay, global head of derivatives at Cboe, at Robinhood Markets’ HOOD Summit in Las Vegas. Currently, the MGTEN Index’s constituents span all the Magnificent Seven stocks of Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, as well as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Broadcom, and Palantir.  Both the futures and options contracts on the MGTEN Index are set to be cleared by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC).  Clay added: “These products deliver curated exposure to a select group of high-impact stocks in a single solution – rather than managing 10 separate positions – while helping to reduce the concentration risk that may come with trading individual stocks. “In particular, as market participants increasingly utilize cash-settled index options for short-dated strategies, we believe MGTEN options will similarly be a powerful tool for implementing daily trading strategies around these in-demand stocks.” Launch is scheduled for Q4 2025, with weekly pm-expiring options set to go live in Q1 2026, subject to regulatory review.  The new offering follows recent news that Cboe is set to launch continuous futures on Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) on 10 November 2025, to provide traders with access to perpetual-style futures within a US-regulated, centrally cleared and intermediated environment.  The post Cboe Global Markets to launch cash-settled futures and options on new index appeared first on The TRADE.

BestEx Research has launched a new offering, Pulse Analytics, aimed at enhancing pre-trade and execution analytics.  Specifically, the platform is set to support portfolio managers and traders in estimating, measuring and improving trading costs, by allowing them to either integrate with a REST API or access Pulse Analytics through BestEx Research’s algorithm management system (AMS). The launch also sees the platform’s first offering, the Pulse Market Impact Model for Futures going live, to provide both historical and forward-looking transaction cost estimates in both market impact and order placement cost components. The offering enables clients to gain access to further execution-relevant analytics such as trade imbalance, spread, depth of book and benchmark prices spanning VWAP, participation-weighted price (PWP) and arrival price.  Speaking to The TRADE, Hitesh Mittal, chief executive and founder of BestEx Research, said: “With the Pulse Market Impact Model, we address a long-standing challenge in futures transaction cost estimation, presenting a model that calculates the true cost of liquidity by accounting for futures-specific nuances such as shadow liquidity, tick size, and intraday variation.  “The result is a highly accurate representation of trading costs across products, maturities, and times of day for various order sizes and trading speeds. Built from a large sample of high-frequency market data and verified on real execution data, the model offers a unique curve for each futures base symbol—putting reliable cost estimates directly into the hands of portfolio managers and traders.” Currently, the platform covers 70 base futures products in categories spanning energy, agriculture, metals, FX, equity indices and interest rates.  Additionally, the firm is set to further expand its Pulse Analytics platform in the future, with developments expected across additional asset classes, a broker-neutral transaction cost analysis, execution optimisation tools and futures roll analytics. The post BestEx Research launches Pulse Analytics platform for pre-trade and execution analytics appeared first on The TRADE.