David Howson, who became global president of Cboe in May, likens market infrastructure to a motorway. “It’s like joining a queue at a toll booth,” says the head of the world’s largest equity options exchange, which has a market capitalization of $12.3 billion. “You’ve got some clerks that are faster at taking the money and doing things, and others that are slower.

“It’s about choosing the queue that is going to burn quickest. It’s not always the shortest queue—sometimes it can be the longest.”