http://www.atmonitor.co.uk Where sophisticated traders access unique data Copyright 2011 ATMonitor.co.uk. All rights reserved. The overarching objective of increasing market resilience and stability during periods of turmoil is shared by most, if not all, market actors. But that is where the agreements seem to end. How to achieve this, and how successful the regulators can hope to be is something that could be debated and discussed endlessly. We certainly had a good go at it during a recent panel discussion at SunGard’s London Industry Seminar, and I made the following observations from the event. Regulation is here to stay, and its reach and coverage will continue to change rapidly. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=regulation-and-compliance-here-to-stay&blog=magnus-almqvist May 15, 2012 As some of you have already seen, the clever chaps back at Fidessa Labs have created a live version of our award-winning Fragulator. This enables you to watch the ebb and flow of fragmentation for any European stock or index on a real-time basis (sorry, no other markets just yet). As you can see below, it was especially useful last Tuesday when Deutsche Börse had a hiccup and delayed its opening by 80 mins. The absence of trading during the outage proved, yet again, that the market is still overly dependent upon the primaries for price formation. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=welcome-to-the-world-of-daytime-fragulation&blog=steve-grob May 15, 2012 The shock news this week is that JPMorgan, that mighty institution of financial stability that has steered through this crisis with ease and made Jamie Dimon, its CEO, the sage of finance … has been rocked by a trading scandal on the scale of a Nick Leeson, Jerome Kerviel and Kweku Adoboli. This time the culprit is Bruno Michel Iksil. Iksil struck fear into other bankers, for being the biggest better in London.  Known as the London Whale – or within banking circles he was often referred to as Voldemort after the evil wizard who cannot be named in the Harry Potter series – he reportedly was earning around $100 million a year. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=drew-dimon-volcker-and-voldemort&blog=chris-skinner May 14, 2012 Although this was my first attendance at a TradeTech event, TradeTech Europe felt surprisingly familiar. I wasn’t sure whether it was the comfortable, spacious hall layout or perhaps the presence of the usual trading technology providers. In hindsight, it was actually the themes, talking points and underlying concerns of presenters and attendees alike that felt reassuringly familiar. TradeTech regulars will have anticipated the low latency /algorithmic trading focus of the event; yet it was close running between dark pools, HFTs and the regulators as to who is the industry’s number one enemy. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=feeling-at-home-at-tradetech-europe&blog=simon-jones May 10, 2012 The noise created by the flood of new regulations proposed for the global capital markets, plus the resulting storm of debate, continues to grow louder. I’ve been participating as a technology supplier – but also as a bank depositor, retail investor and pension fund holder. I ask myself how the changes are going to help me:  after all, some of the regulatory initiatives – notably MiFID 2 – have the interests of the retail investor as central principles. But as currently framed, I fear that few of the proposals will hit this target, and I wonder whether it’s time for a radical rethink. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=capital-markets-regulation-time-for-a-rethink&blog=david-morgan May 09, 2012 If any country epitomizes the wilder side of capital markets trading in Asia, it’s Malaysia. But there are signs that Malaysia is ripe for a bit of refinement, which would give this dynamic country the focus it needs to be more competitive in global markets. On the upside, there are many growth opportunities and a lot of energy to be found in Malaysia. The more relaxed regulatory environment is a striking contrast to the more mature markets of Europe and North America. It’s also a market where major brokers are consolidating to get ready for the next stage of Malaysia’s national evolution. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=the-promise-of-malaysia&blog=nasser-khodri May 09, 2012 Trade Tech London 2012 the major technology fair for Capital Markets was a successful event for OneMarketData, as it has been over the past few years. We look forward to our annual booth-duty, catching up with old friends, past colleagues and meeting new acquaintances. This year was particularly eventful since we had big news with the announcement of major client wins. OneTick continues to be the platform of choice for global financial marketplace providers, university researchers and the quantitative trading community. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=onetick-at-tradetech-2012&blog=lovas May 07, 2012 I’ve been getting around a bit this week.  Having had long conversations with cybersecurity experts, I’ve also been having long conversations with treasurers. Many of them, mainly with the world’s largest corporations. And it’s been interesting, as they all share one over-riding common concern. Regulations. Now I thought bankers were the only ones worried about changing regulatory regimes, but corporates are just as concerned as it impacts their working capital, cashflow and liquidity as much as, if not more so, than banks. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=crd-4-basel-3-does-that-mean-crd-wins&blog=chris-skinner May 04, 2012 Around the globe, cross-asset trading is a new darling for banks and traders who are desperately seeking upside potential in a world where traditional asset silos are largely stagnant. Today’s firms seek to break with tradition, driving toward a future where trades of every variety—mixing equities, foreign exchange, derivatives, commodities, and others—are not only possible but are driven to the extremes of efficiency thanks to automation and low latency. The surge of interest in multiasset trading is occurring at a time when another relatively new trading practice, trading across geographical markets, has grown commonplace. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=breaking-tradition&blog=irfan-khan May 02, 2012 Had a distinct sense of déjà vu at TradeTech in London last week. Seems like much of the debate and chatter was the same as it was last year – HFT, ill thought through regulation, etc. It struck me, though, that maybe the regulators should let the market decide what is good or bad for us rather than agonising over these issues on our behalf. Take HFT for example. Whilst different definitions abound, electronic market making has just as much right to exist as any other business model in today’s trading ecosystem. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=still-hacking-away-at-hft&blog=steve-grob Apr 30, 2012 With 2012 underway, it’s clear that caution is at an all-time high among investors. This is reflected in shrinking trading volumes and tighter brokerage commissions—a sharp contrast to years past, according to major media reports. To stay ahead, brokerages across the globe will likely have to redouble their efforts to attract and keep more investors this year. Luckily, trading firms will have an array of regulatory reforms and directives, electronic trading and connectivity tools, emerging standards and some cutting-edge options at their disposal to help them attract more investors and bolster their fortunes. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=what-brokerages-must-do-to-succeed-in-2012&blog=ralston-roberts-jr Apr 19, 2012 Since the financial crisis hit, there has been a regulatory spotlight shining on the whole of the banking sector.  That light is now trying to bring vision to the shadow banking sector.  Will it succeed?  The European Commission is trying to close regulatory gaps that may allow risks from shadow banking to amass in the financial system. A fortnight ago, the Commission called for increased capital requirements for non-banks, vis-à-vis Basel III and Solvency II style proposals, and new powers to help regulators identify and deal with any dangerous lending bubbles. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=bringing-light-to-the-shadows&blog=chris-skinner Apr 18, 2012 ITG’s team of experts survey 48 respondents in Europe to better understand perceptions and realities related to TCA usage. When digging into the details of trading performance, no one likes oneto- one conversations like we do. When searching for the wisdom of crowds, you need a crowd. Markets operate on this principle. So, we also like surveys, especially in the area of transaction cost analysis (TCA), where standardization is not a term in the data dictionary. Firms such as Aite, Tabb Group, and Greenwich Associates all are active in the area. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=transaction-cost-analytics-in-europe-the-london-paris-divide-and-where-they-meet&blog=ian-domowitz Apr 05, 2012 It’s that time of the year again – when badge scanners, tchotchkes, industry leaders and new ideas fill a massive room with vendors and capital market firms alike. Yes, I’m talking about tradeshows.      With the highly anticipated event, TradeTech Europe, just around the corner, I thought why not recap one of their sister events that I recently attended in New York? The “Institutional Equity Trading and Technology” Conference was two days of knowledge sharing and thought leadership. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=tradetech-first-stop-new-york&blog=jmorton Apr 04, 2012 I see more and more these days about cybercrime. The latest thing was a survey that landed in my inbox from PwC, which finds that cybercrime is the second most common economic crime affecting companies in the financial services sector after traditional fraud.  Key findings include: In financial services, cybercrime accounts for 38% of all economic crime incidents, compared to 16% for other industries. In particular, mobile finance is making it worse with apps to access banking services and mobile phones to make payments likely to increase, rather than decrease the risks. http://www.atmonitor.co.uk/blog/post/entry.aspx?post=awall-street-crash-through-a-cyberattack-could-it-ever-happen&blog=chris-skinner Mar 30, 2012