Wall Street Letter VOL. XLVI, NO. 7 - July 2014 | Page 10

NEWS

and features an API that can be
hosted in a private cloud platform,
according to Schleifer. He added
that technologists have to provide
oversight into risk, but otherwise the
function is easily managed.
“This can be used on any PC, Mac,
tablet and smartphone, and still have
access to the full set of capabilities,”
said Schleifer. Desktops have six
screens and is exactly the same toolset
data, and all of the data is synchronized across devices.”
The budding technology company aims to replace terminal based
analytics stations and give buyside
traders the ability to have mission
critical data available across several
platforms and now be able to place
trades in the same screen, noted
Greg Neufeld, founder and managing partner.
TECHNOLOGY
10

Former BOX CEO
plans futures,
options algos
Scott Morris, the former CEO of the
Boston Options Exchange, is crafting algorithms aimed at futures and
options for positions, risk management, and Greeks, WSL has learned
exclusively.
The algos will be rolled out over the
next six months, according to Morris, who runs his own firm, Morris
Consulting.
Morris recently crafted an algo
called Fast Futures that details
forecast values for the futures asset
class, he noted. The algo he is currently building, the delta risk adjuster,
focuses on delta adjustments in relation to risk for options and futures,
according to Morris.
“I am developing an algorithm that
calculates the aggregate delta risk of a
portfolio of options and creates a risk
adjustment that is applied directly to
each traded option in the portfolio,”
said Morris. “By incorporating the

EXCHANGES & ATSs

ICE, Nasdaq execs positive on SEC sentiment

C

EOs of the IntercontinentalExchange
and Nasdaq OMX Group were positive
in their reaction to a speech given June 5
by SEC chair Mary Jo White at the Sandler
O’Neill + Partners Global Exchange & Brokerage Conference that highlighted initiatives the agency will take to improve market
structure in coming years.
White’s speech noted the agency is looking at a broad set of issues including market
instability, high-frequency trading, fragmentation, broker conflicts and the quality
of markets for smaller companies. Specifically, she noted Commissioners are working
on an anti-disruptive trading rule and
guidelines that would change requirements
for active prop traders that would require
them to register as dealers and subsequently
register as FINRA members for increased
oversight.
Other initiatives will force broader disclosure for alternative trading systems and
an examination of the regulatory model for
exchanges and other trading venues.
When asked during his presentation at

the conference about his reaction to White’s
speech, Robert Greifeld, CEO of Nasdaq
OMX Group, indicated he was positive
overall about the apparent direction of the
agency.
“I’m less concerned now than I was before,” he said. “These were words of action
she used. It’s a great blessing we have her as
the head of the Commission.”
Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of the IntercontinentalExchange, which closed last year
on its acquisition of NYSE Euronext, said
during his conference presentation that he
didn’t hear the speech but noted the sentiment of the SEC chair’s comments is not
unexpected.
“I’m not surprised because even when I
looked at it, the way [NYSE] was operating
before is unsustainable,” he said. Referring
to comments he has made in the past about
changes that should be made to equity market structure, he added: “I wasn’t trying to
be some kind of spokesman on behalf of the
industry, but I was saying the obvious and
the inevitable.”

risk directly into
the option prices,
the trader will
automatically be
working to control
and minimize risk.”
Morris is also
SCOTT MORRIS
working on an exformer CEO of the
Boston Options
tension of the Fast
Exchange
Future algo that
will enable it to operate across asset
classes, he noted.
“Another one I’m working on is an
extension to the Fast Future algorithm that will incorporate multiple
asset classes,” said Morris. “This is
something that will cover interest
rate products or grains or any futures
products that are highly correlated.
This algo will come up with a joint
forecast for all different futures contracts simultaneously.”

POST-TRADE

Pershing to finalize
NetX360 tech
rollout this year
Pershing, the Jersey City, N.J.-based
subsidiary of BNY Mellon, is anticipating the rollout of techno