Market structure happenings have been fast and furious since 2009, and 2014 did not disappoint.  Mandatory SEF trading finally began, fixed income electronic trading continued its steady incline, the current shape of the US equity market was...

The penetration of electronic trading across the financial markets is remarkably inconsistent.  While equities and foreign exchange are largely traded over platforms, the same cannot be said for much of the fixed income market.  Over-the-...

Another year down. We're a year further from the Lehman bankruptcy, a year further from the signing of Dodd-Frank and a year closer to the full implementation of Basel III. But before we start looking ahead, let's look back at the year in market...

High costs can be a barrier to success for any swap execution facility (SEF), but there’s more to it than that. Based on our conversations with the buy side, simple fee models are preferable. Thankfully most major SEFs have taken a transpar­ent...

A reduction in systemic risk is one great benefit of global financial reform; another is the increasing volume of data made available to market participants and observers.  Even still, finding and deciphering that public data is often easier...

Market structure changes in the bond market appear to be happening organically.  Shocking I know. Rewind back seven years to 2007.  Market structure research was primarily focused on technology innovation, evolving business models and a...

I'm of the belief that the regulatory changes with the biggest long term impact are those related to the cost of capital.  Basel III, CRD IV and whatever the US regulators ultimately decide will prove to be both the carrot and the stick...

I spent most of my summer digging through our 2014 North American fixed income data looking to see what's changed in the past year and what's the come. While the bulge bracket continues to dominate rates, mid-tier brokers are making some...

On October 2 market participants requesting price quotes for an order via a SEF will have to ask a minimum of three dealers to respond rather than the current minimum of two (although in neither case are those dealers required to respond to the...

According to Liquidnet CEO Seth Merrin the corporate bond market is “a disaster waiting to happen”. A disaster? Maybe. But certainly it is a market waiting for better ways to match buyers and sellers. That is exactly what Liquidnet was thinking...