Predictions
In the latter half of 2016, there has been a greater
understanding that the time for talking about
MiFID II has passed and that work on the implementation phase is needed. 2017 is when this work
will start to take shape. There is a real danger of
market participants unilaterally implementing
bespoke solutions. FIX Trading Community aims to
provide standardised approaches with guidelines
and best practices that can be used by all and will
be vital for investment firms to meet their regulatory requirements in a cost effective and efficient
manner. The scope will include best execution,
clock synchronisation, microstructure, transparency, reference data. In addition, the community will
be working closely with trade associations to look
at commission unbundling, trade reporting and
order data and record keeping. It is vital that the
work that FIX Trading Community members do is
cross-referenced and shared with the marketplace.
Trends
2016 has been a year in which we have
seen the collaboration between members of the FIX Trading Community
continue to soar. The year began with
a sigh of relief that the implementation date had been pushed out to Jan
2018. However, the delay in timeline
did not disguise the depth of work
that was needed for the marketplace.
The ethos of FIX Trading Community
has always been one of cooperation
and leaving competitive hats outside.
This has never been more evident
and important as the marketplace
continues to look to the FIX Trading
Community and its members to
provide guidelines and best practices
and potential enhancements to the
FIX Protocol itself to meet MiFID II
requirements.
Trends
The increased use of cloud computing by
firms both on the private and public cloud
has been visible in 2016. Infrastructure
and platforms have matured, with more
users looking to outsource the next level
of services – key business solutions for
reduced operational and software costs.
Predictions
Machine learning has surged in quant finance
and will continue to advance in 2017 with many
of its capabilities not yet explored. It will be
interesting to see how and if machine learning
can be used for algo trading, market surveillance as a predictive tool and how the role of
humans on the trading floor will be impacted.v
Tim Healy, global marketing and communications manager,
FIX Trading Community
Louis Lovas, director of solutions, OneMarketData
