THETRADETECHFX DAILY agenda
What to look out for at this year’ s TradeTech FX Europe
WHETHER YOU ARE A RETURNING DELEGATE OR A NEWCOMER TO THE EVENT, THE VOLUME OF PANELS AND STREAMS AT TRADETECH FX CAN BECOME OVERWHELMING. HERE ARE SOME OF THE KEY DISCUSSIONS YOU WON’ T WANT TO MISS.
DAY ONE
9:20 – How has the European FX market responded to an updated Global Code of Conduct As you will have read on page 26, it’ s been over a year since the introduction of the Global Code of Conduct within the FX markets. Aimed at repairing the industry’ s tarnished reputation in the wake of billions of dollars’ worth of fines for a variety of misdemeanours, the Code brought in 55 principles addressing major issues including ethics, governance, execution, information sharing, risk management, compliance, confirmation and settlement.
Panellists from the Bank of England, BNP Paribas and the ACI Financial Markets Association will discuss how the industry has adapted to the new Code, which, although not legally binding, does place the onus on participants to improve their processes, particularly in conjunction with the arrival of MiFID II at the start of the year.
11:00 – FX etrading in 2018 and beyond – how can you measure the performance of liquidity providers to establish the best partners in different trading scenarios? There are a myriad of issues that FX traders are required to navigate and overcome concerning liquidity, from increasing levels of market complexity and changes under MiFID II, to the emergence of new currencies that haven’ t historically been executed electronically which are now candidates for automation. FX trading desks need to adapt to these new challenges and what effects these are having on their liquidity provider relationships, formulating new strategies and processes while taking advantage of the latest technology developments, which is no small task.
A panel comprising of speakers from Citadel Securities, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Aberdeen Standard Investments, Optiver and Flow Traders will address all the above points, as well as tackle issues such as the drive towards multi-asset trading and how that is impacting liquidity providers.
15:00 – What have been the successes and failures of building a MiFID II best execution policy and how can you establish best practice processes and TCA around it?( CONFERENCE TRACK A) MiFID II was undoubtedly a game-changer for traders throughout Europe, and in many cases the rest of the world, as it brought in a raft of new obligations. While there are still plenty of ongoing issues for firms to address to ensure ongoing compliance, the adoption of new best execution policies and processed was one of the most fundamental changes to address.( See page 24 for an in-depth review of how the industry has handled the new regulatory regime so far).
Speakers from a range of market participants, including Union Investment, Thomson Reuters, Florin Court Capital and APG Asset Management, will assess issues such as the use of TCA, analytics and process efficiency is shaping best execution policies that establish best practice under MiFID II.
DAY TWO
9:50 – The evolving FX market structure: What are the major developments transforming European FX markets and how will this change the way you interact with your sell-side, platform and technology counterparts? The title may be a bit of a mouthful, but this all-star panel focusing on the changing state of the FX market structure promises to be of interest to all market participants, not just those on the buy-side. Evolving product offerings, the emergence and adoption of new technologies, not to mention the raft of new obligations under MiFID II and other regulator initiatives, means the relationships between liquidity providers and takers have shifted, creating a new playing field for all.
Speakers from Schroders, BAML, UBS, Deustche Bank and MarketFactory will discuss how the role of the buy-side FX desk should be adapting in response to these issues, as well as the ramifications of the market structure moving away from the tier one banks.
11:20 – Disrupt or be disrupted? Evaluating the emergence of cryptocurrencies and their potential place in your FX portfolio The increasing emergence of cryptocurrencies as a genuine contender or companion to more established asset classes is a widely-debated issue for the institutional markets, with most industry participants keeping cryptocurrencies at arm’ s length for the time being. But this won’ t always be the case, as the increasing activity from crypto exchanges, custodian banks and technology specialists indicates. The collapse of the Turkish Lira in mid-August is a prime example of how quickly things can go wrong when it comes to currencies, however, it’ s also seen as an opportunity for the nation to embrace Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Panellists from Goldman Sachs, Sadis and Goldberg and the ACI Financial Markets Association will dissect how existing FX market participants are developing trading innovations and product offerings in the space.
15:35 – How will the global FX market landscape evolve in an era of increasing geo-political and market structure disruption and FinTech innovations? From the chaos of Brexit to escalating strife across international relations, not to mention the intrinsically unpredictable nature of the Trump administration, each day brings just a bit more of the unknown to the markets’ doorstep. The FX markets in particular are often more effected than most and there’ s little evidence to suggest that this trend will be slowing down any time soon.
Speakers from AXA Investment Managers and T. Rowe Price will attempt to coax some clarity from the current geo-political turmoil and market structure disruption, examining where the FX markets are likely to be headed over the next 10 years and what types of technological innovations participants can expect to see during that time, including the role of automation in the evolution of human FX traders.
34 THETRADETECHFX DAILY Issue 1