Execution and Exchanges - Articles & White Papers

As the investment industry undergoes significant change, firms have shown an increased willingness to re-think how trading is handled. State Street invited experts from three major consultancies to join them in a discussion about the transformation that’s underway in the front office. They offered their knowledge gained from…

In the U.S. market, two popular exchange fee structures are "maker-taker" and "inverted" (also known as "taker-maker"). Maker-taker exchanges charge fees for taking liquidity and give rebates for providing liquidity, while inverted exchanges give rebates for taking liquidity and charge fees for providing liquidity.

What could 2020’s liquidity lessons mean for the insurance investment landscape moving forward? S&P DJI’s Tim Brennan joins State Street Global Advisors’ Ben Woloshin, Citadel’s Katie Stiner, and One America’s Brian Matthews for a closer look at this evolving landscape.

Market participants have often noted that general collateral (GC) repo trades happen very early in the morning, with most activity being completed soon after markets open at 7 a.m. Data on intraday repo volumes timing are not publicly available however, obscuring those dynamics to outside observers. In this post, the authors…

The 2021 Carbon Market Survey reveals higher price expectations in key markets, and a growing perception that cap-and-trade systems deliver emission abatement and that the cost of CO2 is becoming crucial for investment decisions. The findings, collected in March-April, reflect an overall more bullish sentiment compared to a…

The appetite for a ‘hydrogen market’ has been growing in the past year or two and is often called a ‘market’ by governments, regulators and other energy industry players. The question is what ‘hydrogen market’ are they referring to, as there is currently no such market established? In this podcast, David Ledesma talks to…

This study uncovers the existence of a trillion-dollar internal capital market that played a central role in the financing of dealer banks during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Hand-collecting a novel set of dealer microdata at the subsidiary level, the author presents the first set of facts on the evolution of…

Traditional odd lot trades (i.e., trades involving fewer than 100 shares) now comprise over half of all equity trades on U.S. exchanges. Under Regulation National Market System, however, these trades are excluded from a market center’s trade execution statistics. In addition, while brokers are required to consider odd lot…

This paper briefly addresses three issues at the forefront of policymaking in the wake of the 'meme stock' trading frenzy, including names such as Gamestop, that roiled the U.S. equities market in January 2021. In particular, there are questions about the potential conflicts of interest in the payment for order…

The purpose of this report is to examine the extent to which the liquidity of UK equity markets (cash, ETFs and derivative) and bond ETFs were affected during this period of extraordinary stress. The authors draw comparisons with the peak of the global financial crisis (GFC) in autumn 2008 and examine key measures which may…

Volatility and volumes in both equities and multi-listed options reached, and remain at, higher than historical levels in 2020. Now market participants are wondering what the new normal for 2021. This survey of equity markets and listed options trading committees, as well as representatives of U.S. equity and multi-listed…

The World Federation of Exchanges conducts an annual survey of the derivatives markets operated by its members, affiliates, and other exchanges that voluntarily submit data, with the aim of providing an update about the derivatives market for the past calendar year. This report is based on data collected from 49 derivatives…

The ISDA Margin Survey analyses the amount and type of initial margin (IM) and variation margin (VM) posted for non-cleared derivatives. The survey also reviews the amount of IM posted by all market participants to major central counterparties (CCPs) for their cleared interest rate derivatives (IRD) and credit default swap (…

See pages 3 and 8 for the latest assessment from White & Case on M&A trends across global stock markets and exchanges.

Dennis Kim and Lori Whiting, members of Wellington Management's Alternatives Team, consider the changing relationship between volatility and liquidity, and offer ideas on alternatives strategies for what they expect will be an enduring trend.

ICMA’s Quarterly Report for the Third Quarter of 2021 begins with a message from ICMA’s Chief Executive, Martin Scheck, on key ICMA initiatives. The Quarterly Assessment is on the orderly wind-down of LIBOR in the bond market. There are international capital market features on: regulatory policy work of the new ICMA…

The impacts of climate change on financial stability hinge on both the distribution of financial exposures and the evolution of prospective financial system losses. A granular mapping of financial exposures to climate change drivers suggests uneven vulnerability across EU regions, sectors and financial institutions.…

ICMA continues its podcast series looking at the role of Euronext in the European fixed income marketplace.

The latest data from the Bank for International Settlements over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives statistics shows a significant increase in the gross market value and gross credit exposure of OTC derivatives during the second half of 2020, while notional outstanding remained relatively stable. The increase was driven by a…

Pre-trade information on bond pricing is currently non-standardised and often misunderstood. The term ‘axe’ is used in fixed income trading to represent a sell-side advertising buy or sell bond interests. These are traditionally tied in some form to the sell-side’s book but can also be driven by client orders and even a…