23 March 2023
Flow Traders spent three captivating days at the FIA International Futures Industry Conference, held annually in Boca.
Flow Traders is a regular participant in what is regarded as the premier industry event for firms and organizations focused on the evolution of global financial markets. We would like to take the opportunity to thank FIA President Walt Lukken and his team for another incredibly well-run event with hugely relevant content and broad-based attendance from across the industry.
Reflections
Reflecting on the various topics discussed during this year’s conference, it is clear the headline focus has shifted in the past 12 months towards evolution rather than revolution of the financial markets. Panel discussions focused predominantly on re-building trust, regulatory and oversight priorities, and market structures innovations. These all fed into the ambition to create a modern financial market ecosystem based on the latest technology which is highly resilient and addresses the needs of all market participants. At Flow Traders, we retain longstanding commitment towards initiatives that contribute to enhanced transparency, market efficiency and accessibility. We continue to actively participate in discussions which will shape the future of our industry and the broader financial markets. We believe that developing partnerships throughout the investment chain, fostering interoperability and trading arrangements is essential for driving forward our vision focusing on how financial markets need to evolve.
Boca 2023 took place amidst a backdrop of broader market volatility with the market absorbing issues within the US banking system and further interest rate uncertainty. The real time impact of these headlines was discussed heavily during the numerous informal conversations that took place in and around the conference. The future of the broader digital asset space was also another key conversation topic. Naturally, regulators globally are focused on the risks related to digital assets. Yet it is important to note that from a market structure perspective, trading firms and platforms need to embrace the opportunities arising from the technology and architecture that underpins digital assets. For example, utilizing aspects of distribution ledger technology has the potential to increase the execution certainty of trades and ultimately contribute to direct settlement of trades. Furthermore, the tokenization of assets also has the potential to provide additional opportunities, not only in terms of expanding asset classes that can be traded but also other usability factors such as the provision of collateral.
One of our key-takeaways from Boca 2023 is that as we continue to experience market volatility, the fundamentals of how the market functions, operates, and is regulated have never been more important. This calls for market participants, market structure operators and regulators to act as co-architects to build further trust and drive additional resilience across the market.