This Week: Dwayne Middleton, T. Rowe Price

By

-

June 17, 2025

T. Rowe Price: Adapting fixed income strategies and identifying the potential of agentic AI.

Dwayne Middleton, global head of fixed income trading at T. Rowe Price, speaks to Trader TV about how his desk navigated the heightened volatility, where his traders are leveraging a diverse selection of protocols and unpacks how much of its fixed income flow is now automated—saying “we’re certainly not trading in an automated or electronic fashion just for the sake of it.”

Middleton also shares his views on the buzz around agentic artificial intelligence (Agentic AI), where it’s currently being applied to the trading desk, and how these applications could evolve in the future.

[This post was first published on Trader TV]

ASX Group under investigation after repeated “serious failures”

By

Lucy Carter

-

June 16, 2025

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has launched an inquiry into the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) group after a number of “serious failures” across its licensees.

As of December 2024, ASX represented 79.6% of total dollar turnover in equity market products in Australia. Cboe Australia took the remaining 20.4%.

The inquiry will investigate how well the group complies with governance, capability and risk management requirements as a market licensee and clearing and settlement facility licensee, as outlined in the Corporations Act (2001). It may take the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Act of 2024 into consideration.

Joe Longo, ASIC chair, commented, “ASIC’s decision to initiate an inquiry follows repeated and serious failures at ASX. ASX is ubiquitous, you simply cannot buy and settle on the Australian public equities and futures markets without relying on ASX and its systems.

“The inquiry provides an opportunity for ASX to bolster market trust.”

Members of the expert panel conducting the inquiry will be announced in the coming weeks, ASIC stated. It will be supported by an ASIC Secretariat, expected to include secondees from the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The panel will be tasked with identifying whether organisational and cultural drivers contributed to ASX incidents of recent years, and whether the group is fit for purpose. It will assess whether measures are in place to rectify shortcomings and, if not, what changes need to be made.

Responding to the inquiry announcement, ASX chairman David Clarke stated, “We acknowledge the seriousness of this action, and ASIC’s inquiry will have our full cooperation.”

He also referenced existing efforts to make change at the group, as outlined in its 2023 five-year strategy.

“We have been working hard on a transformation strategy with several of the initiatives designed to strengthen culture and capabilities, operational risk management, business resilience and technology resilience, but we acknowledge there have been incidents that have damaged trust in ASX.”

Cited in the terms of reference for the inquiry are a 2016 hardware failure, which resulted in a delayed market open and an early close, and a November 2020 full-day outage caused by a failed software upgrade.

Three of the five incidents referenced by ASIC involve the CHESS Settlement system.

The first considers capacity issues during COVID, which forced ASIC to mandate reduced trading volumes, and the most recent refers to a batch settlement failure on 20 December 2024. The commission’s expert technical review of CHESS, which was announced in March, will run alongside the broader inquiry.

Perhaps most notable of the batch is the 2022 pause and later cancellation of the CHESS upgrade project, which is currently the subject of a legal case.

The CHESS replacement system remains a priority at the group, with a recent consultation paper prioritising the project over shortening settlement cycles in the region.

Helen Lofthouse, managing director and CEO of ASX, noted, “We recognise the significance of this action by ASIC and we are committed to supporting the inquiry. This is a wide-ranging inquiry and it will provide an independent and transparent view of the work we have done, and the work we still have to do. It will be critical to ensuring our stakeholders can have trust and confidence in ASX. We will provide all the support required to ensure this inquiry is effective.”

Price waivers over US-style order protection rules, market says

By

Lucy Carter

-

June 13, 2025

Importing US regulation is not a quick fix for European markets, participants have affirmed, suggesting that while a negotiated price waiver would improve transparency and execution, an order protection rule would add unnecessary complexities.

Respondents to the European Commission’s (EC) ‘targeted consultation on the integration of EU capital markets’ warned against the adoption of a US-style order protection rule in the region, stating that market fragmentation would bring high costs and low benefits.

In its response to the paper, Norges Bank Investment Management commented, “We fail to see obvious advantages in changing the European trading landscape to one where best execution is facilitated by a US-style order protection rule – i.e., a system where trades are automatically rerouted to different venues based on the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO).”

“European markets are regionally fragmented. Forcing connectivity between regional venues that do not offer trading in the same shares would come at cost without immediate benefit.”

The European Principal Traders Association (EPTA) concurred, arguing that the introduction of such a system would undermine the goals of the savings and investment union (SIU), an ongoing priority for the region.

“Such a requirement would go beyond venues’ function as well as the concept of best execution in the existing EU regulatory framework. Issuers and investors would be better served by an environment that fosters competition and lowers barriers to access,” it stated.

Respondents also argued that trading venues should be able to benefit from a negotiated price waiver for negotiated transactions that take place with the assistance of a system or trading protocol that they operate. This is currently allowed in the US and UK, with platforms offering services like trajectory crossing.

Norges Bank Investment Management cited its own experiences with these mechanisms, stating that they help to reduce trading costs and improve execution quality.

“These mechanisms serve legitimate market needs, particularly for large institutional orders where minimising market impact is critical. Denying multilateral venues the ability to offer these innovations while allowing similar functionality through bilateral channels creates regulatory distortions that fragment rather than integrate European markets.”

EPTA agreed that negotiated trade waivers should be introduced, arguing that current restrictions are negatively impacting Europe – putting it behind global competitors and reducing visibility.

“One of the perhaps unintended consequences […] is that trajectory crossing services are still being offered in Europe in response to investor demand, but the activity is taking place off-venue in a less transparent and competitive environment,” it noted.

However, EPTA warned that practices must be put in place to prevent players from trading in ways that they cannot on-venue.

Before making definitive regulatory changes, it is essential to ensure more accurate post-trade flagging practices are adopted to enable market participants and NCAs to discern what kind of activity is taking place under this waiver.

“It is preferable for the waiver regime to be structured in a way that supports as much on-venue activity as possible and does not result in trading that would otherwise be suitable to occur on venue, taking place OTC.”

BlackRock added that bringing in a structural overhaul would cause more problems than solutions, increasing cost, adding complexity to supervision and increasing operational burdens.

It noted: “We recommend investing the finite resources of ESMA and national competent authorities (NCAs) in greater convergence and building common trust and confidence between NCAs. For the common rule book to converge in practice, we need a supervisory outlook with increased use of common supervisory actions and shared supervisory collaboration platforms.”

Norges Bank Investment Management agreed: “Our priority would be consistent application of rules across jurisdictions rather than any particular institutional arrangement. From our perspective as a cross-border investor, the most important outcome is that the same rules are interpreted and applied similarly across markets, reducing operational complexity and legal uncertainty.”

Cannacott replaces Vallonthaiel at Peel Hunt

By

Lucy Carter

-

June 13, 2025

Ian Cannacott, head of electronic trading, Peel Hunt

Ian Cannacott has joined Peel Hunt as head of electronic trading, based in London.

He replaces Nishad Vallonthaiel, who took on the role last year.

Peel Hunt reported £85.8 million in revenue for 2024, up 4% from 2023’s £82.3 million.

Cannacott, who has been with Redburn Atlantic for close to a decade, most recently served as head of electronic execution. Prior to this, he was an electronic sales rated and associate partner.

Over his 25-year career, Cannacott has held roles including vice president and program trader at both State Street and Dresdner Kleinwort, and director and senior trader at Instinet.

Structural change won’t solve market fragmentation, industry bodies warn

By

Lucy Carter

-

June 11, 2025

Market structure change is not the way to integrate European capital markets, industry bodies have argued, warning that such changes would give an impression of instability in the region.

Responding to the European Commission’s (EC) proposals on the integration of EU capital markets, AFME stated: “Any radical changes to microstructure would be highly undesirable and risk portraying the EU as being in a state of constant regulatory flux. Especially at a moment when investors – including those newly attracted to Europe in light of recent geopolitical trends – wish to navigate markets characterised by regulatory stability, predictability and consistency.”

It added that such changes would result in implementation and compliance costs for market participants.

Norges Bank Investment Management agreed that structural change was not the right path for European integration.

“The targeted consultation paper emphasises mechanisms to aggregate equity trading liquidity to create a European liquidity pool. We argue that market forces will lead to further market integration if the fundamental impediment of regional segmentation is diminished,” it stated.

“Further integration should be a consequence of increased competition, innovation and transparency in trading markets and not a result of additional regulatory intervention in the trading system.”

The group noted that the upcoming equity consolidated tape, expected to go live in 2026, would be a more effective mechanism to improve fragmented market liquidity.

While not addressing potential market structure changes directly, the Investment Company Institute (ICI) called for supervision to be harmonised rather than centralised, with national competent authorities coordinating their practices supported by ESMA.

This was echoed by Dansmarks Nationalbank, which advocated for harmonisation and the use of regulation over directives.

“We therefore support efforts to simplify and reduce the regulatory burden, provided that the core pillars of the regulation are preserved and not watered down,” it stated.

“Proposals to simplify the regulatory framework must be based on comprehensive impact assessments and evidence, taking into account an EU as well as national perspective, and where the benefits of regulatory changes, in terms of simplification, outweigh the potential costs.”

Howson departs Cboe

By

Lucy Carter

-

June 11, 2025

David Howson, outgoing global president, Cboe Global Markets

Dave Howson is leaving his role as global president at Cboe Global Markets, effective 1 August.

Howson has held the role since 2022, before which he was president of Europe and APAC. He began working at Cboe, then Bats, as chief operating officer for Europe in 2013.

Cboe CEO, Craig Donohue will take on the president title, with global head of derivatives Cathy Clay and chief operating officer Chris Isaacson expanding their leadership roles after Howson’s departure.

Clay will be responsible for overseeing the Cboe Data Vantage business, integrating it with her existing leadership of the global derivatives division.

The company, which reported US$565 million in revenues over Q1 2025, recently expanded its derivatives business with the addition of S&P 500 equal weight index options.

Isaacson will take on the cash equities, global FX and clearing businesses in addition to his existing coverage of technology, operations and risk operations.

The company states that dividing leadership in this way will strengthen its strategic focus and improve operational agility.

PISCES shares to trade this year as disclosure concerns linger

By

Lucy Carter

-

June 11, 2025

FCA logo

The FCA has released the final rules for its Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES), with shares expected to be traded later this year.

PISCES allows private company shares to be traded on an intermittent basis, giving investors access to the considerable capital that has shifted to private markets in Europe and the UK over recent years.

Concerns have been raised around the transparency requirements of PISCES, after respondents to the FCA’s April consultation argued that the proposed amount of information disclosure required from firms should be reduced to align with private market practices.

Respondents listed by the FCA include the London Stock Exchange Group, UK Finance, and AFME.

In the final rules, the FCA has maintained and clarified the details of its core disclosure requirements. The proposal of a mandatory sweeper model to provide additional disclosure information was opposed by participants, and has not been taken forward. Participants also argued that an ask model for additional information should not require companies to respond.

Andrew Telling, head of knowledge management at global law firm Taylor Wessing, told Global Trading: “It’s a novel approach to disclosure. The statutory liability regime should focus minds, though not seeking to emulate a listed markets approach. The ‘ask-model’, enabling potential investors to ask for additional disclosure, should be a useful additional tool. It remains to be seen how the ask-model will work in practice, with the FCA leaving a lot to be set out by PISCES operators in their applications to operate and subsequently in their own rules.”

Investor access to PISCES platforms will be limited to institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals, sophisticated investors and employees of participating companies, the definitions of which are outlined in the FCA handbook.

A wide range of private companies will be eligible for PISCES, with the FCA expecting to see significant differentiations in operators’ platforms. Those running the systems will be able to determine the frequency of windows in which shares can be traded, how a selling company discloses and, to some extent, the type of investors using their system.

Connor Cahalane, partner at law firm RPC, commented: “[PISCES is] a welcome attempt to broaden access to the UK’s public markets […] but it’s not a replacement for a full listing, which remains the most effective route to raising significant capital and accessing deep, sustained liquidity.

“It should be seen more as a stepping stone – a way to help businesses prepare for the demands and scrutiny of the Main Market or AIM, rather than avoid them.”

It will be operated in a sandbox until 2030, when a permanent regime will be established. Pre-application advisory services opened earlier this year. Fees for the service will be consulted on in December.

Proposals for PISCES were published by the FCA in December 2024, with the Treasury releasing a statutory instrument to Parliament by May.

READ MORE: PISCES progresses with FCA proposals

At TradeTech earlier this year, Jon Relleen emphasised the value of PISCES: “We don’t want these kinds of cliff edges between public and private markets. PISCES has been about reducing that. We understand there is a demand for a regulated marketplace around some second market transactions in the private space.”

SEC loses director of investment management

By

Lucy Carter

-

June 11, 2025

Natasha Vij Greiner, ex- director of investment management, SEC

Natasha Vij Greiner is stepping down as director of investment management at the SEC, effective 4 July.

A replacement has not been named.

Greiner has been with the SEC for all 23 years of her career, and has been in her current role since March 2024.

The investment management division oversees and regulates investment advisors and companies, and advises the SEC on the proposal, adoption and amendment of rules and forms around the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940.

During her time with the commission, Greiner has also held positions across the enforcement, examinations and trading and markets divisions.

On her departure, chairman Paul Atkins commented: “[Greiner’s] unwavering commitment to the agency’s mission and her ability to navigate complex regulatory landscapes with clarity will have a lasting effect.”

Australia accelerates listing process amid record low IPOs

By

Lucy Carter

-

June 11, 2025

As in Europe, Australia is suffering a dwindling IPO market – so much so that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is stepping in to speed up the process for those who do want to list Down Under.

Eligible offer documents of entities listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) through the fast-track process will be informally reviewed by ASIC on an informal basis up to two weeks before they are publically submitted.

Engaging with the issuer before exposure cuts down the need for supplementary and replacement documents, minimises the need for the usual 7-day exposure period to be extended, and could reduce the IPO timetable by up to a week, the commission says. The risk impact of market volatility and consequential prices on investor appetite will also be reduced, it added.

“Creating a more streamlined IPO process underscores our commitment to ensuring our public markets remain attractive to companies and investors,” affirmed Joe Longo, ASIC chair.

“Our initial public offerings are the lowest they have been in over a decade, and companies are de-listing,” he warned.

Despite the region’s woes, the US$2 billion in AUD-denominated IPOs issued between May 2024 and April 2025 dwarfed the US$1.4 billion issued in GDP. However, the Aussie dollar remains far behind its APAC peers – US$9 billion in IPOs were yen-denominated over the 11 months, and US$13 billion in HKD.

The fast-track process is available on a two-year trial basis to entities with a market cap below AUS$100 million at the time of listing and no ASX-imposed escrow.

The trial also includes a class no-action position, allowing eligible companies to accept retail investor applications before the public exposure period ends. This will further reduce administrative timelines, ASIC says, and align prospectus and product disclosure statement processes.

Longo stated: “While we do not see regulatory settings as the silver bullet, we have received lots of ideas and are considering further regulatory adjustments to support a strong and well-functioning market.”

The announcement follows a February consultation paper reevaluating capital market dynamics in Australia and globally. More than 50 public submissions were made, including from industry bodies such as the National Stock Exchange of Australia, Bloomberg, and Apollo Asset Management.

“Greater deal certainty for companies should help deliver more IPOs, which means more investment opportunities so companies can expand, increase jobs and ultimately economic growth,” Longo concluded.

LSEG supports Brazilian challenger exchange

By

Lucy Carter

-

June 10, 2025

Carlos Ferreira, co-founder and CEO, A5X

LSEG has signed a strategic agreement to provide its integrated market infrastructure technology suite to Brazilian challenger exchange and clearing house A5X.

Alongside an end-to-end post-trade platform, LSEG’s market infrastructure technology services include pre-trade risk management, an ultra-low latency matching engine, market distribution services and real-time surveillance.

Derivatives and futures exchange A5X was established in 2024 as an alternative to dominant Brazilian exchange B3. CEO Carlos Ferreira, who founded the firm alongside Karel Luketic, Julian Chediak and Nilson Monteiro, previously spent more than 14 years at financial services provider XP.

According to a survey conducted by the Futures Industry Association (FIA) and Coalition Greenwich, 30% of market participants believe that Brazil has the greatest growth potential for their firms over the next two years.

B3 provides futures and options for various currencies, interest rates and equities. The average daily volume (ADV) for listed derivatives in Q1 2025 was 8.9 million contracts – a 9.4% year-on-year (YoY) decline. However, revenue per contract (RPC) was up 29.3%.

Overall revenue for markets was R$1.8 billion (US $323.7 million), up 7.5% YoY.

In January, Optiver, IMC Trading, Jump Trading Group, XTX Markets and ABN AMRO Clearing Bank invested in A5X’s Series B funding round.

The exchange intends to begin regulatory testing in Q4 2025, and launch commercially in H1 2026.

.cls-8{fill:#fff;stroke-width:0px;}

T. Rowe Price: Adapting fixed income strategies and identifying the potential of agentic AI.

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has launched an inquiry into the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) group after a number of “serious failures” across its licensees.

Importing US regulation is not a quick fix for European markets, participants have affirmed, suggesting that while a negotiated price waiver would improve transparency and execution, an order protection rule would add unnecessary complexities.

Ian Cannacott has joined Peel Hunt as head of electronic trading, based in London.

Market structure change is not the way to integrate European capital markets, industry bodies have argued, warning that such changes would give an impression of instability in the region.

Dave Howson is leaving his role as global president at Cboe Global Markets, effective 1 August.

The FCA has released the final rules for its Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES), with shares expected to be traded later this year.

Natasha Vij Greiner is stepping down as director of investment management at the SEC, effective 4 July.

As in Europe, Australia is suffering a dwindling IPO market – so much so that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is stepping in to speed up the process for those who do want to list Down Under.

LSEG has signed a strategic agreement to provide its integrated market infrastructure technology suite to Brazilian challenger exchange and clearing house A5X.

.cls-8{fill:#fff;stroke-width:0px;}