[ A D V E R T O R I A L ]
help maximise productivity for
traders who could be experiencing
information overload. Other tools
in high-demand include real-time
in-trade charts that can plot the
progress of an order across its exe-
cution lifecycle and more powerful
visualisation packages such as heat
maps and bubble charts that enable
traders to act on a large amount of
information at a glance.
TT: As one of the early pioneers
of EMS in the listed space, do you
think there is now a genuine shift
towards relying on electronic trad-
ing for fixed income as well?
CH: There is now a lot of serious
discussion around this and growing
demand for fixed income EMSs.
The recent proliferation of fixed
income trading venues that has led
to fragmentation is likely to be fol-
lowed by some consolidation, but
the pre- and post-trade transpar-
ency rules mean that we will see
more meaningful volumes forced
onto the screen.
Because of this, any serious fixed
income buy-side firm will need
liquidity aggregation and access
to multiple execution venues,
along with the tools to achieve
best execution. As we were the
first non-venue EMS to offer fixed
income trading on our platform, we
have been able to leverage a first
mover advantage in discussions
with both venues and liquidity pro-
viders in the fixed income space.
While the majority of fixed
income still may not be executed
on screens in the near future,
there is a major drive to get more
pre-trade data on there and with
more liquidity becoming accessi-
ble among the 100+ venues that
now exist, the buy-side will need
an EMS to help them solve the
fragmentation issue and aggregate
this liquidity.
TT: If a buy-side firm is currently
gearing up for change and still se-
lecting its partners, can it really be
ready in time for MiFID II in January
2018?
CH: Yes, we don’t expect MiFID
II to all arrive at once with all the
regulatory changes arriving on
day one. It is likely there will be a
bedding-in period to enable firms
to get used to the requirements,
though we expect regulators will
be less lenient than in the past.
New ways of onboarding clients
and the SaaS (Software-as-a-Ser-
vice model) also mean it is far less
painful and time consuming than
in the past, so buy-side firms cur-
rently in EMS selection mode still
do have time to make the change.
Issue 51
TheTradeNews.com
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