ing on their offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo or Singapore, to support their 24 by five trading.”
Some argue that the way in which trading desks are currently set up would be sufficient to allow for continuous or expanded trading hours for equities, however, this viewpoint aligns more with larger firms already operating large teams globally. For smaller firms, having a follow-the-sun model would require a lot of adaptation, including the need to set up in different geographical locations to accommodate time zones.
“ The technology we have is already managing an extension of trading hours on some market segments. There would be, for sure, adaptation to the post-trade session, which would be a challenge. But in terms of technology, we know how to do a 24 / 5 market today. You don ' t need a revolution or innovation to do that,” says Nicolas Rivard, head of cash equity and data services at Euronext.
Despite differing viewpoints in the US versus the UK and Europe, it appears that extending trading hours in equities is going to happen. Much like with the shift to T + 1, other regions may find their hand forced as the US continues to steam ahead. With an increasing number of US venues looking to implement the change, UK and EU venues could find themselves pressured to follow suit in order to remain competitive.
“ We ran a consultation for our participants both on the continent and in the UK and no clear consensus emerged from it.”
VINCENT BOQUILLON, HEAD OF CASH EQUITIES AT EURONEXT
Issue 83 // thetradenews. com // 31