Waters
James Rundle: Patterns of Behavior
While technology has allowed for ever more intelligent market manipulation over recent years, James argues that the intelligent application of emerging methodologies also provides the sell side with the means to effectively and comprehensively beat the…
Tablets on the Trading Floor
We are witnessing a true revolution in how financial services firms do their work. More than two decades after the arrival of PCs, the internet, and electronic trading tools, financial services professionals are looking to be truly mobile.
Max Bowie: Fifty Shades of Grey Areas on Exchange Data Contracts
Exchanges have long bonded clients to strict contracts to monitor usage of their market data. But with few standards around these contracts, Max says these bonds are increasingly becoming devices of torture that not even the Marquis de Sade would enjoy.
Pulling Weeds: Sell Side Confronts Technology Stack Upgrades
Despite the current era in the capital markets as one of tight budgets, firms across the sell side are waking up to the fact that radical changes are needed to their technology stacks. From banks, to brokers and exchanges, questions remain around how…
Constrained by Capital Requirements, Wealth Management IT Struggles to Comply
Wealth managers and private banks, the heirs of aging technologies and manual processes, need to change. Prodded by regulators to deploy more efficient and flexible operating infrastructures, most of them have been left with big gaps to fill and…
Risk Management special report
October 2013 - sponsored by: Eagle Investment Systems, S&P Capital IQ
Edwin Marcial: No More Mr. ICE Guy
Edwin Marcial has been in the technology driver’s seat since before ICE’s meteoric rise. In the early 2000s, he wore the ‘upstart’ label like a badge of honor. But with the purchase of the NYSE, he doesn’t seem so comfortable with it anymore. By Jake…
Is the Low-Latency Race a Zero Sum Game?
Financial services firms will always strive to be faster and more efficient. But increasingly, the cost and risk of this evolutionary drive are proving too great for some. As a result, the ability to measure and monitor latencies across the enterprise…
Max Bowie: New Data Types Need a Big KISS
As market data becomes more voluminous and more complex, Max says providers of new content and the technologies for making sense of it are not only expected to provide clarity from the data, but also guidance on how to get the most out of it so potential…
Michael Shashoua: Focusing on Fatca’s Readiness
The US Fatca foreign tax compliance regulation has received significant recent attention, although not because firms falling under its purview are ready to comply with its requirements. Michael says it’s time to turn that attention into action and…
Anthony Malakian: Getting the Jitters
While poorly defined, jitter is an unavoidable byproduct of low-latency trading. But as Anthony explains, that doesn’t mean that firms need to submit to it.
James Rundle: The Gray Debate Around T2S
The Target2–Securities debate has shifted from asking whether it will happen, to when it will happen. The deadlines seem to be set in stone, but many question whether they’re as solid as they seem. This is a dangerous game, James says, considering the…
October 2013: Proving the Worth of Marginal Gains
Just as cyclists focus on incremental improvements to enhance their performances, Victor points out that marginal gains in the high-frequency trading realm can still reap substantial rewards.
In the Public Interest: Tech Critical as Public Investors Seek More Active Approach
A small but influential set of private equity’s limited partners, many of them quasi-public entities like pension plans and sovereign wealth funds, are considering co-investment strategies with their general partners, or even arranging deals directly…
Tech Questions Loom After Major Exchanges Tie the Knot
A period where no meaningful exchange M&A made it to the finish line has been followed by two announced megadeals that appear likely to be approved. Jake Thomases looks at what IT advantage is gained by such massive mergers, and whether these latest…
African Exchange Links Could Draw Investment, Liquidity
The alliances that stock exchanges strike between themselves often turn out to be game-changers for a region’s economy. Marina Daras looks at regional initiatives to link up exchanges in one of the fastest evolving regions of the world—Africa.
Financial Industry Faces Up to Cybersecurity Challenges
While the internet has revolutionized nearly every aspect of the financial markets, it carries with it an implicit level of risk that has only recently started to be properly examined by institutional trading firms. But when it comes to cybersecurity,…
Big Data Special Report
September 2013 - sponsored by: Cloudera, Intel, MarkLogic
The American Financial Technology Awards 2013 Are Here
The ninth annual American Financial Technology Awards (AFTAs) are set to open for entries on Monday September 9, 2013.
Multi-Asset Trading Platforms: Sweating Your Assets
As buy-side firms have looked to diversify their investment strategies and include new asset classes, their incumbent trading technologies have been found wanting. But, as Linedata’s Gene Mitchell explains, help is at hand in the form of cross-asset…
Max Bowie: In With the New (But Not Out With the Old)
With traditional datasets and tools no longer adequate for price discovery and risk management in today’s trading environment—as evidenced by the credit crunch and financial crisis—Max says real innovation requires revolution, not just evolution.
Anthony Malakian: Regulators Literally Doing the Best They Can
In an environment of budgetary constraints, regulators must invest in top-tier analytical technologies. But, as Anthony explains, there is no “try” when it comes to preventing another 2008.
Michael Shashoua: Confounding Interests
Following the twists and turns of the legal entity identifier story, Michael finds clashing regulatory authorities, political maneuvering, and attempts by outside interests to sort through the wreckage.
James Rundle: Prizing Open Markets
The introduction of competition, according to capitalist doctrine, is a pre-requisite for establishing an efficient and growing economy. But for the capital markets, James says, plans to open trading landscapes to new venues come with their own…