[ D I N E P D A E R P T M H E | N T M A | R H K E E D T ] U P D A T E S ]
and an external partner can provide a best-in-class solution on-demand . Second , the emergence of bulge-bracket buy-side execution services has given comfort to these larger firms that they have a partner who they can depend on , and who they usually already have an existing close relationship with .”
A big acquisition The other big news of the past 12 months was State Street completing its acquisition of outsourced trading firm CF Global , one year after the deal was revealed by The TRADE in February 2023 .
The acquisition gives State Street access to CF Global ’ s extensive relationships in the space as a segregated outsourced trading entity . Prior to the acquisition of CF Global , State Street had existing outsourced trading offerings in the Americas , APAC and the Middle East . CF Global is set to extend this remit to the UK and Europe .
At the time the deal was confirmed , State Street said it would also allow it to offer a complete global trading solution as part of its front-to-back State Street Alpha platform .
Outside of what it brings to State Street , is also poses the question whether this could be the start of consolidation in the industry as financial services giants like the custodians and prime brokers look to capitalise on this fast-growing industry . I say this at the risk of getting a barrage of disapproving emails from the prominent independents in the industry , but it ’ s fair to ask given how other adjacent front-office services have gone , there are seldom independents competing with the titans of the industry . On the other hand , the likes of Outset Global and Tourmaline are still boasting an array of in-house talent , capabilities and bluechip clients in a growing space , therefore diminishing the need to consider selling to the big banks .
The question is , does this business gradually become a game of scale in years to come where the investment required will only be achievable for those with the largest cheque books . Again , a question rather than a statement , right now the independents are holding their own , and will continue to point out the issues of turning to the aforementioned banking giants including conflict - which of course is refuted by those players in question .
Market structure changes One of the other big developments over the past year has been the shift to T + 1 settlement for US equities which led some overseas firms to consider adding new trading desks stateside to accommodate
Prior to the shift , BNY ’ s Crowe told The TRADE : “ Looking at T + 1 , which is causing everyone to have a fresh look at how they are managing their trading activity throughout the global cycle , we ’ re having some key conversations . It ’ s been very gratifying
“ Common use cases include ; providing buy-side execution coverage for different timezones and non-primary asset classes , data-driven broker wheel automation , trading anonymity , and broker list consolidation ,"
CHRIS BLACKBURN , HEAD OF UBS EXECUTION HUB , EMEA