IPC Expands Financial Markets Network including Connexus Platform in Russia

MOSCOW – November 16, 2016 – IPC, a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the financial markets community, today announced that it has enhanced its network capabilities in Russia. IPC’s points-of-presence (PoPs) in Moscow have been enhanced to support all of IPC’s channel solutions including the firm’s flagship extranet service, latency sensitive managed Ethernet service and MPLS corporate WAN solution. The announcement was made at an exclusive client event attended by senior industry leaders at the prestigious Swissotel Krasnye Holmy hotel in Moscow and follows closely on the heels of IPC announcing that it has extended its Financial Markets Network service portfolio to its Connexus platform.

Leveraging a unified and converged infrastructure, IPC is uniquely positioned to deliver a comprehensive channel product portfolio and solution set that is performance engineered to fulfill the growing demands of both Russian and global capital market participants. IPC’s network expansion in Moscow enables investors in Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and other parts of the world to access prime services as well as reliably and securely trade and hedge in the financial markets of the Russian Federation.

“Operationally resilient networks and the secure connectivity throughout the trade lifecycle are absolutely essential irrespective of whether a firm is borrowing securities or trading equities, debt, listed derivatives, FX, OTC derivatives or structured products,” said Ilya Batay, CIO, BCS Global Markets. “As a leading provider of innovative and customizable high and low touch trading solutions in Russia, we are excited that IPC is offering the network infrastructure that market participants require to achieve their overarching objectives.”

“Today’s announcement emphasizes IPC’s dedication to serving global market participants that are interested in reliably and securely accessing the Russian financial markets with cutting-edge technologies,” said David Brown, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Financial Markets Network, IPC. “We are pleased to continue investing in next-generation solutions that empower both the buy-side and broker dealer community to not only generate alpha and source liquidity in Russia’s markets but also communicate on-demand with counterparties.”

The IPC Financial Markets Network portfolio includes Connexus Extranet, Connexus Ethernet, Connexus WAN, Connexus Channel and Trader Channel services. IPC’s Financial Markets Network interconnects global financial centers and allows access to more than 6,000 market participant locations across 700 cities in more than 60 countries. 

About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader that powers financial markets globally. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With customers first and always, we collaborate with each to understand their individual needs to help make them secure, productive and compliant within our connected community. Through service excellence, long-developed expertise and a focus on innovation and community, we provide agile and efficient ways for our customers to accelerate their ability to adapt to the ever–changing requirements for advanced networks, compliance and collaboration with all counterparties across the financial markets. www.ipc.com

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should” or “will” or similar terminology. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

 

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IPC to offer Connexus® Cloud customers secure, seamless, global access to Equinix Cloud Exchange

NEW YORK – November 15, 2016 – IPC, a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the financial markets community, today announced the expansion of its relationship with Equinix. IPC has joined the Equinix Cloud Exchange™ (ECX) to provide direct, scalable and reliable access via its Connexus Cloud solution to cloud providers available in Equinix International Business Exchange ™ (IBX ®) data centers in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. Customers can access the Equinix eco-system of more than 500 cloud service providers delivered via IPC’s Connexus Cloud, one of the world’s largest secure, private financial markets network with over 200,000 users across 6,000 market participant locations in 700 cities.

Through the Equinix Cloud Exchange, IPC is able to provide the benefits of the cloud to customers adopting SaaS offerings while leveraging a private network with security and performance features which are not available via the internet. Customers are provided access to hundreds of cloud service providers via affordable, private connections through a single port.

“We are very proud to expand our relationship with Equinix and believe in its inherent benefits for our customers,” said David Brown, Senior Vice President, Financial Markets Network, IPC. “As more of our customers turn to the cloud model, we look to offer them products and services that support and simplify their businesses. By partnering with Equinix we ensure our customers can confidently leverage the security, high performance, ease of use and flexibility of Cloud Exchange. Through the Connexus Cloud, Equinix’s Cloud Exchange customers can access the world’s largest financial markets private network and our customers have a simplified low-cost path to migrate to a SaaS model.”

“By leveraging Equinix Cloud Exchange, IPC is transforming the way financial institutions are accessing encrypted communications platforms for trading,” said John Knuff, Vice President of Global Ecosystems, Equinix. “Together Equinix and IPC are delivering robust services exclusively for financial institutions who continue to migrate and embrace cloud-based models to gain infrastructure flexibility, without compromising security or performance. 

About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader that powers financial markets globally. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With customers first and always, we collaborate with each to understand their individual needs to help make them secure, productive and compliant within our connected community. Through service excellence, long-developed expertise and a focus on innovation and community, we provide agile and efficient ways for our customers to accelerate their ability to adapt to the ever–changing requirements for advanced data networks, compliance and collaboration with all counter-parties across the financial markets. www.ipc.com

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should” or “will” or similar terminology. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

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IPC Survey: Financial Firms Project Higher Technology Spending in 2017

NEW YORK – November 10, 2016 – IPC’s annual survey of financial executives attending the FIA Futures and Options Expo in Chicago in October 2016 found for the second year in a row that respondents plan to increase their technology spend over the next year to realize cost efficiencies, gain competitive advantage and manage compliance. IPC is a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the financial markets community.

The survey found the top challenges financial firms see in 2017 are:

  1. implementing the right technology infrastructure to drive business
  2. risk management
  3. data analytics and reporting
  4. entering new geographies

Two-thirds of respondents, of whom 85 percent are C-suite-level respondents, expect to increase technology spending in 2017.

Respondents indicated the top reasons financial firms plan to increase their technology spend are to:

  • realize cost efficiencies (37 percent)
  • gain a competitive advantage (23 percent)
  • manage compliance requirements (16 percent)
  • replace legacy systems (14 percent)

Compliance with regulatory requirements is driving firms to make investments in managed services (41 percent), network infrastructure (37 percent), electronic connectivity (33 percent) and compliance oversight (25 percent).

Nearly 60% of those surveyed intend to deploy hosted solutions to support their technology infrastructure in contrast with 46 percent of survey respondents in 2015. Further,  54 percent of the respondents stated they are currently implementing cloud-based services in contrast to 45 percent of survey respondents in 2015.

“Our survey reaffirms that as technology spending continues to grow, firms need expertise, guidance and innovative end-to-end solutions now more than ever,” said Michael Speranza, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, M&A and Marketing, IPC.  “At IPC we are working closely with financial markets companies making moves to minimize infrastructure management and empowering them with the cost efficiencies and compliance oversight benefits provided by our cloud-based platforms and services.” 

The survey was conducted in-person at the 2016 FIA Futures and Options Expo on October 19 and 20, 2016.  In total, 239 conference attendees were interviewed. For more information on our survey results click here.

About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader that powers financial markets globally. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With customers first and always, we collaborate with each to understand their individual needs to help make them secure, productive and compliant within our connected community. Through service excellence, long-developed expertise and a focus on innovation and community, we provide agile and efficient ways for our customers to accelerate their ability to adapt to the ever–changing requirements for advanced data networks, compliance and collaboration with all counter-parties across the financial markets. www.ipc.com

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should” or “will” or similar terminology. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

 

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IPC to Sponsor and Exhibit at the 2016 Singapore FIX Conference

SINGAPORE – November 3, 2016 – IPC, a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the financial markets community, today announced that it will sponsor and exhibit at the 2016 Singapore FIX Conference to be held at the Fairmont on November 17. The conference is one of Southeast Asia’s leading electronic trading events and will be attended by some of the industry’s most influential executives from buy-side firms, sell-side firms, liquidity venues, market data vendors and technology providers.

“IPC is delighted to be a sponsor and exhibitor at an event where industry leaders will be debating the most important issues affecting the capital markets of Singapore and the wider ASEAN region,” said David Brown, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Financial Markets Network, IPC. “Our team of subject matter experts based in Southeast Asia will be attending the conference to discuss the pivotal role of reliable and secure connectivity throughout the trade lifecycle and access to an established ecosystem of market participants in the current market environment.”

The IPC Financial Markets Network portfolio includes data connectivity solutions consisting of the Connexus Extranet, Connexus Ethernet and Connexus WAN as well as voice solutions consisting of Connexus Voice and Trader Voice services. IPC’s Financial Markets Network interconnects global financial centers and allows access to more than 6,000 market participant locations across 700 cities in more than 60 countries.

About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader that powers financial markets globally. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With customers first and always, we collaborate with each to understand their individual needs to help make them secure, productive and compliant within our connected community. Through service excellence, long-developed expertise and a focus on innovation and community, we provide agile and efficient ways for our customers to accelerate their ability to adapt to the ever–changing requirements for advanced data networks, compliance and collaboration with all counter-parties across the financial markets. www.ipc.com

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should” or “will” or similar terminology. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

 

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IPC Thought Leader to Present at the Fixed Income Leaders Summit Europe

BARCELONA – November 2, 2016 – IPC Systems, Inc., is proud to announce that one of the company’s thought leaders, Ganesh Iyer, IPC’s Global Director of Product Marketing, will be presenting to influential European heads of fixed income trading and portfolio management at the Fixed Income Leaders Summit in Barcelona, Spain scheduled to be held from November 8-10, 2016 at the Fairmont Rey Juan Carlos I. The event will focus on critical concerns faced by fixed income professionals such as the evolving regulatory environment and market structure, liquidity shifting to the buy-side and technological innovation.

During his presentation titled “Connecting European Market Participants in the Evolving Landscape of Capital, Liquidity and Leverage Requirements,” Mr. Iyer will be focusing on the benefits of connectivity throughout the trade lifecycle and on-demand access to large and diverse financial ecosystems to assist with executing a range of fixed income trading strategies. Mr. Iyer holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation and has been a speaker and panelist at prestigious industry events around the world.

“IPC is thrilled to be a sponsor, exhibitor and thought leader at an event where senior buy-side portfolio managers and traders will be debating the most important issues affecting the European fixed income markets,” said Joseph Pickel, Global Head of Sales and Marketing, Financial Markets Network, IPC. “Our team of global subject matter experts will be in attendance to meet with clients and discuss the technology implications of a low interest rate environment, market volatility, the fixed income liquidity crunch, proliferation of platforms, growth in trading protocols and the emergence of all-to-all trading.”

The IPC Financial Markets Network portfolio includes data connectivity solutions consisting of the Connexus Extranet, Connexus Ethernet and Connexus WAN as well as voice solutions consisting of Connexus Voice and Trader Voice services.  IPC’s Financial Markets Network interconnects global financial centers and allows access to more than 6,000 market participant locations across 700 cities in more than 60 countries. Market participants interested in speaking to IPC’s subject matter experts can schedule a meeting with us at the conference or email us. 

About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader that powers financial markets globally. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With customers first and always, we collaborate with each to understand their individual needs to help make them secure, productive and compliant within our connected community. Through service excellence, long-developed expertise and a focus on innovation and community, we provide agile and efficient ways for our customers to accelerate their ability to adapt to the ever–changing requirements for advanced data networks, compliance and collaboration with all counter-parties across the financial markets. www.ipc.com

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should” or “will” or similar terminology. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

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LMAX Exchange Joins IPC’s FX Hub

New York – November 1, 2016 – IPC, a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the financial markets community, today announced that LMAX Exchange, the  leading Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) for FX and one of the UK’s fastest growing technology companies has joined the IPC FX Hub in the Equinix NY4 data centre.

The IPC FX Hub supports the global foreign exchange markets through data centers in key markets such as London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Frankfurt, Moscow, Zurich, Chicago and Hong Kong – all with connectivity to IPC’s vast community of diverse financial market participants and low latency access via IPC’s dark fiber rings to key FX liquidity providers and dealers.

Ralf Duken, Head of Networks & Security of LMAX Exchange, commented: “LMAX Exchange aims to provide its clients with a range of flexible connectivity options.  We look forward to working with the IPC FX Hub community in our newly launched New York-based matching engine and continue to provide reliable and consistent, ultra-low latency execution to all our clients.”

“In today’s rapidly evolving FX landscape, broker-dealers and non-dealer financial institutions require reliable, latency-sensitive and secure connectivity to liquidity venues for transparent price discovery and dependable trade execution,” said David Brown, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Financial Markets Network, IPC. “We are delighted to collaborate with LMAX Exchange and empower market participants to generate alpha, mitigate risk, arbitrage and source liquidity in the global currency markets through our FX Hub solution.”

The IPC Financial Markets Network portfolio includes data connectivity solutions consisting of the Connexus Extranet, Connexus Ethernet and Connexus WAN as well as voice solutions consisting of Connexus Voice and Trader Voice services. IPC’s Financial Markets Network interconnects global financial centers and allows access to more than 6,000 market participant locations across 700 cities in more than 60 countries.

About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader that powers financial markets globally. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With customers first and always, we collaborate with each to understand their individual needs to help make them secure, productive and compliant within our connected community. Through service excellence, long-developed expertise and a focus on innovation and community, we provide agile and efficient ways for our customers to accelerate their ability to adapt to the ever–changing requirements for advanced data networks, compliance and collaboration with all counter-parties across the financial markets. www.ipc.com


About LMAX Exchange

Recognised as one of the UK’s fastest growing technology firms for three consecutive years (2015, 2014 and 2013 Sunday Times, Tech Track 100), LMAX Exchange is the leading MTF for FX, authorised and regulated by the FCA. Servicing retail brokers, funds, corporates, asset managers and banks, LMAX Exchange delivers a unique vision for global FX trading – a transparent, neutral, level playing field for all market participants, regardless of status, size or activity levels.

The LMAX Exchange OPEN order book is driven by streaming, no ‘Last Look’ limit order liquidity. LMAX Exchange offers a range of key products, including spot FX, precious metals, commodities and equity indices, with complete pre and post-trade transparency and order execution where no ‘last look’ is standard. Orders are executed in strict price/time priority.

LMAX Exchange – the emerging benchmark for global FX.

https://www.lmax.com

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should” or “will” or similar terminology. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

 

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IPC to Host Network Launch Reception in Moscow

MOSCOW – November 1, 2016 – IPC, a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the financial markets community, today announced that it is hosting an exclusive client event at the iconic Swissotel Krasnye Holmyhotel in Moscow on Wednesday, November 16. Leading Russian institutional investors, asset managers, broker-dealers, exchanges and trade lifecycle service providers have been invited to attend the reception. David Brown, IPC’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Financial Markets Network, will be joined by a number of other IPC executives to present the company’s vision and strategy for the Russian market.

Event Details

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

5:00pm – 8:30pm

Swissotel Krasnye Holmy

Davos 1+2 Hall, 29th floor,

Kosmodamianskaya nab., 52, bld. 6,

Moscow, Russia

The IPC Financial Markets Network portfolio includes Connexus Extranet, Connexus Ethernet, Connexus WAN, Connexus Channel and Trader Channel services.  IPC’s Financial Markets Network interconnects global financial centers and allows access to more than 6,000 market participant locations across 700 cities in more than 60 countries.

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About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader that powers financial markets globally. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With customers first and always, we collaborate with each to understand their individual needs to help make them secure, productive and compliant within our connected community. Through service excellence, long-developed expertise and a focus on innovation and community, we provide agile and efficient ways for our customers to accelerate their ability to adapt to the ever–changing requirements for advanced networks, compliance and collaboration with all counterparties across the financial markets. www.ipc.com

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should” or “will” or similar terminology. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

 

MiFID II: New Compliance Tech Needed for Financial Firms In The EU And US. Even Post Brexit.

By Joanna Belbey for Forbes – first published on October 29, 2016

Financial services firms in the European Union (EU) have followed a common regulatory framework, Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), since 2007. However, in response to the financial meltdown and recognized gaps in the legislation, those rules were recently revised to strengthen the markets and better protect the investor. These updates take place in January 2018 and are collectively referred to as MiFID II.

To learn more about the rules and how they will impact financial services firms, I spoke with UK-based Robert Powell, Director of Compliance, IPC Solutions Inc. Powell has worked in and around the financial markets for nearly 30 years. Initially at banks and financial institutions, in the last ten years, he’s focused on the records retention space. Below is an edited conversation we had over video and email.

Belbey: For those who are unfamiliar with MiFID II and its impact on financial services both in the EU and here in the US, please provide us with an overview.

Powell: In a way, MiFID II is similar to the aims of the Dodd-Frank Act in the US. The goal is to enable better transparency and the support and promotion of a safer, sounder, more transparent and more responsible financial market with better access to all classes of investors. However, it differs from Dodd-Frank in two areas. First, the rules are intended to remove some of the discretion that individual member states’ regulators previously had over their market. Whereas previously member states could opt in, or out, of certain parts of the rules, MiFID II removes that flexibility. Secondly, it has been agreed that the stability of the financial markets is more important than the privacy of the individual. This is significant because of some of the changes to the rules that are coming soon, in January 2018.

Belbey: Tell us about the major provisions pertaining to electronic communications, such as rules around Record keeping, Investor Protection, Supervision, Trade Reconstruction, Retention and Storage?

Powell: MiFID II harmonizes the rules for all of these rules and regulations across the 28 member states of the European Union . The idea is that investors receive the same level of protection regardless of which member state they choose to invest in. This is important because with the single currency, it’s just as possible for a Spanish investor to invest in a French fund as in a Spanish fund. Record keeping and surveillance will now be almost the same as the current requirements in the United States. Data must be retained for five years and firms must conduct surveillance on their employees’ communications. Any communication “intended to lead to a transaction” must be stored so that transactions and behavior can be analysed by the firm or the regulator in the future.

Belbey: We know that regulators tend to be neutral about the channel of communications and that “content is determinative”. Could you talk about how firms will need to supervise their employees’ communications across multiple platforms? Are there any specific challenges firm face when supervising social media or voice?

 Powell: This is an interesting area. Previously, many countries in the European Union had not been conducting surveillance on financial markets communications. This was mainly due to the privacy rules that prevented compliance teams from looking at the messages of their employees. The new rules require a risk-based approach that is determined according to the size, scale and scope of the business. Communications should be periodically examined to allow the firm to be certain that their employees are compliant with the financial markets’ rules and the firm’s internal rules. Social media is not used in the European financial markets as much as it is in the United States, however, many expect it to increase over time, so that will need to be supervised as well. The surveillance of voice calls from desk phones or mobiles represents a particular challenge that is probably only solved with technology. Where written communications can be searched for words, phrases and intent quite easily, doing the same for voice calls requires specialist software and understanding of how conversation is different than text along with good quality calls to work on. The ability to capture, archive and analyse various types of communications media via an integrated information governance solution, will be a strategic advantage for financial service firms seeking to deal with regulatory requirements efficiently.

Belbey: In other words, firms will need robust supervisory technology to make sure they are compliant with MiFID II. In light of this, how are firms preparing? What should they be doing? Will there be enough time to meet the January 2018 deadline?

Powell: MiFID II was originally due to be implemented in January of 2017. That has now been delayed to January 2018 to allow firms more time to comply with the changes to transparency, trade reporting and other changes. As with any deadline, when it was extended there was a collective sigh of relief that was quickly followed by the realization that the extra year may still not be enough time to put in place all of the requirements. There will likely be a settling in period where regulators are more relaxed about the strict implementation, provided that firms are well on the way to being compliant. That said, the trade reporting, transparency and best execution rules will not receive that leeway.

Belbey: How has Brexit impacted the preparations for MiFID II?

Powell:  This is probably the question that I’m asked most nowadays. The UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), issued a press release on the day after the result was announced. They have made it very clear that there is no “bonfire of legislation” for UK participants of the financial markets. Firms will be expected to comply with the current rules and continue to prepare for the new rules of MiFID II. The MiFID II rules will come into effect at least a year before the UK leaves the European Union. The UK has been a willing and prominent participant of the creation of the new rules along with their colleagues from regulators in all of other EU member states. One of the main aims of the original MiFID was to allow firms in each member state “passport” rights to sell their financial markets products in other member states. This has been a hot topic of the Brexit discussion in Europe as many in Europe see it as being linked to the principal of the “Free movement of people”. It’s hard to believe that the European Union or the UK want to loosen market access, but the negotiations have not even started yet.

Belbey: Are US firms impacted?

Powell: Any US firm that operates an office in the EU will be affected by these changes. From the simplest change, and understanding how they apply, to the most complex in transaction reporting or in how they pay for research. Regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have been diligent in publishing consultation papers and fueling discussions with firms so there is a lot of information on what firms need to do to be compliant. Industry associations are also playing a significant role in helping to prepare these businesses for potential changes. Fortunately, many US firms are already compliant with some aspects of the rules because of the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulators in the US.

Contributor’s note: From all accounts, firms need to begin to design processes and deploy technology they will need to meet the new MiFID II requirements now. An excellent start is to read the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) MiFID II Consultation Papers here:

MiFID II – Consultation Paper I

Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II implementation proposals – Consultation Paper II

Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II implementation – Consultation Paper III

IPC Systems: Global Connectivity for Financial Trading

By CIOReview – first published October 2016 

The use of data and voice connectivity for communicating trade information is just not enough for organizations that operate in the increasingly complex and competitive financial services industry. Firms cannot fully rely on trading partners all over the world or afford to have connectivity issues that hinder sourcing liquidity or mitigating risk. For efficient exchange of trading information, businesses need a one-stop solution provider that can offer a high-performance network and unite the various financial trading communication methods. To fulfill this requirement, IPC’s portfolio of Financial Markets Network services for data, voice, and enterprise connectivity aims to help organizations in trading faster than ever before all while becoming more agile, and enhancing competitive advantage.

“Today, businesses are looking for highly secure Unified Communications (UC) solutions that have the operational reliability to ensure that the right trading information governance is instilled within the company,” begins Don Henderson, SVP, Product and Customer Success, IPC.

Read the full article.

The Cloud and Beyond: The Next Wave of Fintech Innovation

First published in SiliconIndia, October 25, 2016

Headquartered in U.S., IPC Systems empowers the financial market globally by anticipating changes and solving problems, setting the standard with industry expertise and providing exceptional service through comprehensive technology.

Financial technology innovation continues to grow, global investment in fintech in the first quarter of 2016 reached $5.3 billion, according to Accenture, driven, in part, by increasing regulatory requirements. As banks and other financial institutions realize the challenges in building or acquiring their own proprietary technology, and the potential barriers to collaboration it can create, alliances that foster innovation and mutual objectives are becoming a priority. At the same time, enabling much of this innovation, cloud technology has continued to mature and make its leap from the world of financial startups to large enterprise players. The financial services industry has discovered that adopting a cloud solution can deliver a faster time to market, greater infrastructure flexibility, and a way to address complicated compliance mandates.

The adoption of cloud technologies is also signaling the next wave of innovation in fintech, acting as a natural stepping stone to the adoption of other consumer-oriented technology used in our everyday lives. Enhanced with the functionality, critical safeguards and security necessary for compliance, biometric authentication, mobile devices and customized apps are starting to change the landscape of financial communications. Worth noting for their rapid adoption as well as the proficiency and advancements they are bringing to financial services and in particular, the financial trading sector, biometrics, mobile devices and customized apps must be both appreciated and understood by corporate decision-makers that want to maintain a competitive edge.

Biometrics Beginning to Supplant Password Authentication

In a burgeoning trend, millions of customers of the largest banks regularly use fingerprints to log into their accounts on their mobile phones, while others are using biometric technologies such as eye scans, facial and voice recognition to authenticate identity. Goode Intelligence predicts that by 2020 bank customers will be using biometrics as the predominant method of identifying themselves in order to access bank services. Biometric technology is providing an important layer of security critical for keeping customer data secure. With security and compliance as priorities, it is no surprise that biometrics are also starting to penetrate financial trading as a way to authenticate users into telephony and data systems, particularly as mobility increases.

In financial trading, vast amounts of voice, video and other data are being collected daily. Biometrics tied to voice, the primary communication means in financial markets, or other biometric-based authentication methods, can foster greater efficiency by enabling additional compliance checks when traders may be away from their desks. Current regulation requires firms to be able to instantly access all forms of communication across transactions and retrieve them in a way that allows the “reconstruction” of that communication pre-and post-trade, along with specific data relating to a transaction. So, it is invaluable to be able to validate and authenticate through biometrics that it is your user in the telephony and data system, no matter the platform of communication they employ or for that matter, you are using to verify them.

What’s more, with financial institutions increasingly using biometrics, it is imperative that there is a secure place for this highly sensitive data to live. The cloud is increasingly becoming the platform for such confidential data given its safe, reliable and expansive capacity.

Mobile as a Business Norm

Regulation has changed the nature of how financial markets participants communicate, report and trade. The trade lifecycle now involves more participants, not only because of the demand for increased transparency,but because of firms’ needs to continue to differentiate their services to remain competitive. That means firms are hiring more economists, research staff and analysts, who in addition to compliance, need to be actively engaged in front-office activities. They need to see and hear more instantly from on site, off-site and abroad. They need to be untethered and mobile … and they are.

Those traditionally bound to their desks to perform their jobs are now up and on the go, handling transactions in real-time and many times, on their mobile devices. Tablets and smart phones are housing tools and mobile trading apps that process real-time activity, instantly. This adoption of mobile platforms is increasing productivity and cost-effectiveness, and enhancing infrastructure flexibility by empowering organizations to use consumer-friendly technology that is customized based on needs.

When it comes to trading, regulations are requiring that all communications that are intended to result in a trade are recorded and stored. That includes mobile calls, emails and instant messages in addition to hard line calls. While emails have for years been archived in the cloud, we are now at a time when many other means of communication and trading, ultimately all services should be stored in the cloud to minimize risk, improve flexibility, lower infrastructure costs due to the storage scalability cloud offers.

The Right App for the Right Need

Financial services and trading firms need to increase workforce productivity, efficiency and profitability, all while minimizing risk in an increasingly demanding regulatory environment. The path each company takes in order to achieve these goals may be different and merit tailored solutions. For example, a global bank may want an app that helps correlate the time spent by the trader and transaction support team with each customer and the resulting transaction profitability so it knows which customers to focus on, and perhaps, which members of its own team need to operate more efficiently. On-the-go traders working on mobile devices need to have instant access to their business contacts and the ability to make a phone call in seconds; they do not have time to manually search for business contact information or dial phone numbers. Apps that utilize the cloud help users migrate from on-premise solutions to on-demand access, enabling them to find data faster, make calls quicker, communicate from anywhere and integrate their work with existing enterprise applications and office systems. This is a growing collaboration and innovation trend among trading and technology firms that are partnering with companies possessing both the industry expertise and development platforms to meet their specific app needs.

While regulatory requirements for financial firms are not expected to wane any time soon, they are inadvertently furthering a new age of technology innovation, collaboration and progress. Companies that have already adopted a cloud strategy should be mindful of these emerging technology trends, but the entire industry needs to recognize their influence and future role. Those that can resourcefully incorporate the next wave of fintech evolution into their business strategies will inevitably be able to transform regulatory and market pressure into a thriving competitive advantage.