The TRADE 62 - Q4 2019 | Page 65

[ M A R K E T R E V I E W | 2 0 2 0 P R E D I C T I O N S ] Lucas Nuzzi director of technology, Digital Asset Research For the past three years, conversations around the institutionalisation of digital assets focused in part on the lack of qualified custodians. That changed in 2019, as major institutions like Fidelity stepped in with custody offerings. In 2020, the issue of market manipulation and clean crypto prices will be the main focus of financial institutions and regulators alike. Over the course of this year, US regulators signaled time and time again that the lack of reliable pricing is the main barrier preventing the approval of exchange-traded products, like a Bitcoin ETF. This will necessitate the vetting of exchange pricing Tyler Moeller CEO, Broadway Technology Ongoing disruption in the capital markets will force banks to take a hard look at their FICC trading operations in 2020. To grow and thrive, they will need to establish a relentless focus on their franchise value, embrace more of the ‘build and buy’ model of trading technology, and deploy a rich application integration platform as the foun- dation of their technology stack. Banks will recognise they can – and must – outsource more of their trading architecture to trusted partners to accelerate internal innovation, deftly handle aspects like order manage- ment and Ecommerce, and enable trading workflow automation between various areas of their FICC operations. As banks search for efficiency, we’ll see a consolidation of technology and business areas and the creation of a centralised FICC trading desk. This evolution will be necessary to drive innovation while reducing costs and maintaining competitive advantage as trading margins and regulatory requirements continue to tighten. data in a way that identifies, quantifies and excludes manipulated data from price calculations. Clean prices will contribute to more reliable valuations and risk management, and will ultimately make institutions more comfortable with the asset class. As market participants look to cut costs and operational risk, demand for more efficient trading solutions will increase. Portfolio trading will be a key focus for institutional investors and trading venues. Electronic portfolio trading will drive the migration to fully electronic workflows. We’ve already witnessed this shift after we launched our own portfolio trading solution, which we’ll continue to tweak and enhance in 2020. In a market where ETF basket trading is so vital each day, electronic portfolio trading is an inno- vation that will shape the future of the fixed income space. Enrico Bruni head of Europe and Asia business, Tradeweb Issue 62 // TheTradeNews.com // 65