Opinion
Time for a Standards Strategy
Collaboration over standards is on the rise, and recurring issues are being tackled, but a centralised strategic approach could be the more appropriate solution, says London Market Systems' Martin Sexton
Editor's Letter - Bureaucracy waiting to happen?
Dark pools have become such an integral and important part of the buy side that I guess it was only a matter of time before the regulators got stuck in. Last month, Mary Schapiro, chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), indicated that…
The cap-and-trade tirade
From financial reform to healthcare and war, it seems no issue will escape scrutiny and revision in the US this year. But it is energy policy, and in particular emissions management, that a number of hedge funds and other trading desks are keeping their…
An overdue shake-up?
Ever since Buy-Side Technology and its forerunner, Hedge Fund & Investment Technology, first started covering dark pools more than a few years ago, we've consistently heard two major themes voiced by investment managers, consultants and vendors.
Regroup, restructure, recover
Technology spending has slumped over the past year as a result of the slowdown in the financial services industry and the ensuing global recession. But, as MFT's David White argues, now is the time for buy-side firms to use technology spending as a…
The Center of Attention
Although low-latency has made mainstream headlines recently, thanks to a New York Times story on high-frequency trading, the most cutting-edge, low-latency trading strategies depend on the relatively un-sexy subject of co-location-installing firms'…
Getting That Second Wind
Operators of the Equiduct multilateral trading facility (MTF) are feeling a bit better now that Citadel Securities has taken a majority stake in the venue and guaranteed operating capital to keep it in business for at least the next two years (see story,…
The Human Factor
With the growth of algorithmic trading in recent years, some have feared a Terminator-style "rise of the machines" in financial markets, relegating human beings to obsolescence. Couple this with increased overall automation and the swathe of job cuts…
Have Trench Coat, Will Travel
Maybe it's because I'm watching a film adaptation of John le Carré's espionage novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, or maybe it's because summer is here and Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum novels are perfect beach reading material, but for some reason I have…
Latency Love in A Cold Climate
If time is money, do things that save time also save us money? In the financial markets, saving time can make money, by being the first to get the best price and make the most profitable trades. However, the data and technology solutions that enable…
The Sound and the Fury
There's been a lot of buzz in the financial markets over the past week on how a former Goldman Sachs employee, Sergey Aleynnikov, allegedly downloaded his former employer's proprietary trading "secret sauce." Some coverage in the business press…
The Naked and the Dead
It appears that it will be only a matter of time before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) writes the obituary for naked sponsored access to the exchanges. Most people in the industry agree that it is a smart thing to do in order to…
From Russia With Latency
With a birthday coming up at the end of the month, I was expecting some cards, so I was encouraged to see one arrive in the mail this week from some business contacts in Russia. However, when I opened the envelope, I realized that all was not as it first…
20:20 Hindsight
As UK-based market data technology vendor Sinara Consultants celebrates its 20 th anniversary, sales director Gary Hughes reminisces on how technological change and globalization have changed customer requirements over those years, and looks forward to…
The Greatest Show on Earth?
OPINION
Tear Down the Silos
OPEN PLATFORM
Fast as the Speed of Thought 6Y2
OPINION
Press Restart
EDITOR'S LETTER
OSI: Managing the Impact Analysis
The business impact analysis, the logical first step of any options symbology initiative (OSI) program, should provide a complete view of the OSI's effect on an organization, its business processes and its systems, says Ernst & Young's Alan Paris, with…
Editor's Letter - Things are not the same
I'm not going to be in New York this year for the annual SIFMA conference/exhibit, and I'm disappointed it'll be the first such get-together I've missed in the past seven years. But I simply couldn't justify the expense and time out of the office to…
Warming up to registration by Stewart Eisenhart
What a difference three years, an economic crisis and a new US presidential Administration make. After successfully turning back SEC efforts to require hedge fund registration in 2006 - and keeping the issue from being meaningfully revisited since -…
Calculating the real cost of technology
Buy-side firms are under increasing pressure to rationalise their technology infrastructures and staff compliments in an attempt to positively impact the bottom line. One way of doing this is by carrying out a total cost of ownership (TCO) exercise…
Mind the gaps by Emily Fraser
If a road or pavement starts to crack, creating a public health and safety hazard, you would hope the local authorities would eventually come along and fix it. Unchecked, such cracks pose a risk of serious injury, particularly to weaker and infirm…