The End of an Era: Farewell to an Icon
1/27/2015After more than two decades of writing for Wall Street & Technology, I am leaving the media brand. It's time to reflect on our mutual history and the road ahead.
Profile of Ivy Schmerken
Editor at Large Member Since: 5/8/2014Author
Blog Posts: 2629
Posts: 638
Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad number of topics including high frequency trading, algorithmic trading strategies, market structure, electronic trading in fixed income , colocation in data centers, Dodd-Frank regulation and the new derivatives landscape. Ivy meets with software companies and other innovators and writes about cloud computing, OMS/EMSs and other financial technologies.
Articles by Ivy Schmerken
After more than two decades of writing for Wall Street & Technology, I am leaving the media brand. It's time to reflect on our mutual history and the road ahead.
Morgan Stanley Data Theft Exposes Insider Threat & Need for More Restrictions
1/14/2015In the wake of Morgan Stanley firing a financial adviser for stealing information on 350,000 wealth management clients, experts say financial firms need to "cloak and contain" access to valuable data.
Clearpool Releases Iris Technology to Meet Needs of Evolving Equities Market
1/7/2015Clearpool Execution Services will use Iris technology to improve the way institutional orders are handled and prioritized in different execution venues.
The Clock For Market Structure Change Is Ticking
1/7/2015Capital Markets Outlook 2015: The SEC is conducting a broad review of US equity market structure, but the most important proposals are the tick-size pilot, maker-taker rebates, dark pools, and order routing transparency.
Swap Markets Debate Anonymous Trading in SEFs
1/5/2015Capital Markets Outlook: With more than a year of SEF trading up and running, swap participants are looking at standardized Market Agreed Upon or "MAC" swap products, to fuel anonymous order book trading next year.
IEX Bolsters Information Security With Top Hire From BlackRock
1/5/2015Benjamin Smith joined IEX as the private trading venue's head of information security last week. In a Q&A, Smith discusses his new role, Regulation SCI, and what exchanges and ATSs can do to combat hackers in 2015.
E-Trading Disruptors Seek Untapped Liquidity in Corporate Bonds
1/5/2015Capital Markets Outlook 2015: Drawing on consumer tech examples like Spotify and Amazon, a new wave of fixed-income trading platforms is determined to help the buy side find liquidity in corporate bonds.
Financial Services Institutions Gear Up for Social Intelligence
12/12/2014Social media has mainly been a marketing effort in financial services, and many firms are not tracking ROI. Yet, some are deriving value from analysis of social data, whether it's sentiment analysis for trading or credit risk in lending.
Trad-X SEF Reaches $1T Volume Milestone
12/9/2014Tradition's SEF Trad-X has seen a sharp increase in trading activity since September for USD interest-rate swaps on its central limit order book, citing its hybrid voice and electronic platform as a differentiator.
Debating Apple's Dive: Flash Crash or Institutional Rebalancing?
12/8/2014Some market professionals thought Apple's 3% price decline last Monday was a flash crash or an algo run wild. Quants at Rosenblatt Securities analyzed the tick data and came up with a different interpretation.
ICE Licenses Swap Futures Methodology From Eris Exchange
12/5/2014Intercontinental Exchange plans to begin trading swap futures in 2015 in credit and interest rates based on intellectual property licensed from Eris Exchange. ICE will offer a rival product to cleared OTC swaps.
IPC Systems Looks to Expand Compliance-Related Apps Under New Owner
12/3/2014Centerbridge Partners LP will look to expand IPC's Unigy software-based trading platform and its mission-critical data and network services.
Jefferies Selects Markit for TCA as a Neutral 3rd Party
12/2/2014As Jefferies beefs up its algorithmic trading business, the broker chose Markit to provide trading metrics and reports to the buy side.
A Conversation About Bitcoin Exchanges
12/1/2014Platform providers are drawing upon experience with high-frequency trading and fintech to create infrastructure for virtual currency exchanges.
FIX for Post-Trade Gains Traction: How Far Will It Go?
11/25/2014A group of heavyweight asset managers has collaborated on a solution for non-US trade confirmations and affirmations that is fueling interest in FIX for post-trade use as an alternative to Omgeo's Central Trade Manager.
FIX Trading Community Revamps Efforts to Address High-Performance Trading
11/24/2014The nonprofit industry standards body said it has combined all initiatives related to the support of FIX for high-performance trading and market data under a single working group.
Wall Street Horizon Appoints Industry Veteran Bruce Fador as President
11/21/2014Demand for stock calendar event data services is increasing among quants. Wall Street Horizon appointed Bruce Fador as president to push growth into other sectors.
Evercore ISI Selects REDI's Multi-Broker Network
11/19/2014REDI's independent trade management platform will provide access to Evercore ISI's electronic execution platform for US equities.
Exchanges Gain as Equity Volumes Hit 3-Year High
11/18/2014With the return of volatility last month, exchange volumes surged 29%, off-exchange share slipped, and one dark pool closed up shop, according to analyst market structure reports.
WallachBeth Hires CTO to Boost Broker's Quantatitve Skill Set
11/13/2014To navigate increasingly complex markets, WallachBeth Capital hired quant trading veteran Matthew Rowley as CTO, who previously worked at Credit Agricole Cheuvreux and financial software provider Fidessa.
Finra to Focus on Fixed Income ATSs & Algo Providers
11/12/2014Finra CEO Richard Ketchum outlines plans for requiring brokers that use fixed-income "RFQ systems" to provide more pre-trade price transparency to customers. In equities, Finra wants to register firms involved in designing algorithms.
SEC Chairman Discusses Rule Changes on HFT
11/11/2014SEC Chair Mary Jo White discussed HFT and the agency's plans for equity market structure in 2015 in a video interview with Bloomberg Market Makers at the SIFMA annual meeting.
Nasdaq OMX Won Over SIP Committee With Latency Reductions & Tech Upgrades
11/7/2014Nasdaq OMX's plan to move the SIP to the INET technology platform, coupled with ongoing reductions in latency and plans for hot/hot disaster recovery, influenced the committee's final decision.
Nasdaq OMX Expands Market Access in Chicago for Futures & Options Trading Community
11/5/2014Nasdaq will open a point of presence (PoP) in Chicago, enabling traders in the midwest to connect with the eSpeed bond trading platform as well as Nasdaq cash equity and equity derivatives markets.
BATS Appoints Markets Expert Chris Concannon President
11/4/2014BATS hires Concannon, a former Nasdaq executive, as it continues to integrate Direct Edge and looks to build upon recent successes in equities and options.
BGC Partners Hires Javelin Founder James Cawley to Strengthen Its Offering
11/3/2014The move is the latest step taken by BGC Partners to grow its derivatives trading business while competition is heating up among D2D and D2C platforms.
Happiness Resumes on Wall Street: Three-Quarters Expect Bonus in Survey
11/3/2014With volumes picking up and the IPO market strong, US financial services professionals are very confident about receiving a bonus this year, and 60 percent are expecting an increase.
Fidelity Survey: Mobile Financial Apps Bring Higher ROI
10/29/2014A Fidelity survey found that investors relying upon mobile finance apps are more engaged with their finances, with over 40% earning a 20%-plus return over the past 12 months.
ITG Adopts Machine Learning Techniques to Boost Fills in Dark Pools
10/27/2014To find natural liquidity from investors, ITG launched an optimizer that learns from its trades to allocate different order type combinations across 25 dark venues.
Cyber Risk Is a Top Concern, 84% Tell DTCC
10/23/2014DTCC released its recent "Systemic Risk Barometer" survey showing that cyber risk is among the global financial industry's top five concerns, along with the impact of new regulations.
Droit Taps Industry Veterans as Advisors to Its Derivatives Compliance Platform
10/22/2014Droit Financial Technologies appointed former ISDA CEO Robert Pickel, fintech specialist Mark Beeston, and former UBS executive Seth Cohen to join a new advisory board that will broaden the conversation about derivatives compliance.
Wall Street Seeks Edge From Operational Alpha
10/21/2014Alpha was a front-office term, but now banks and brokers are looking to the middle and back office for profitability.
Speeding Up the SIP Isn't Enough, Say Market Pros at Baruch Conference
10/17/2014Wall Street professionals discussed a plan to create multiple competing aggregators for the Nasdaq SIP as a way to strengthen the market infrastructure.
SIFMA Criticizes SIP Selection Process for Lack of Transparency
10/17/2014Citing conflicts of interest in the voting process for a key market data feed, SIFMA letter presses for answers and for brokers and asset managers to get a seat at the table.
After Scandals & Ethical Lapses, Financial Industry Needs a Code of Conduct
10/15/2014A financial markets trade body is bringing a model code of conduct to participants who work in interest rates, FX, commodities, and derivatives. After a series of fines, can this help banks repair their reputations?
Hedge Funds Gain Access to Data on Prime Services, Swaps & Funding Costs
10/13/2014S3 will distribute counterparty analytics through Portware to help hedge funds and asset managers understand the costs of prime services, swaps, and custody services.
Quantcha's Search Engine Helps Retail Investors Find & Analyze Options Strategies
10/10/2014The startup has launched an options search engine that filters and analyzes thousands of strategies based on an investor's stock price forecast, trade budget, and risk/reward parameters.
Buy Side Vets Research Providers with Standardized Questions
10/8/2014Buy-side concerns over insider trading led Castine Consulting and Integrity Research to launch a cloud-based platform that standardizes due diligence questionnaires posed to research providers.
Nvestly Launches Social Investment Platform for the Average Person
10/7/2014The real-time platform is geared to Millennials who can use its social media features to share and compare returns with friends and other investors.
BGC Partners Hires Trading Tech Veteran as CIO
10/6/2014The interdealer broker hired fixed income technology expert Eric Hirschhorn to serve as chief information officer to expand its hybrid and electronic trading businesses.
Raymond James CIO Focuses on Ease of Use
10/6/2014Raymond James�s financial advisers are becoming more productive, partially through the use of new technology and data analytics provided by the firm�s IT group, led by Vincent Campagnoli.
Tabb Report: Capital Markets Trading Activity Consolidates in 10 Datacenters
10/3/2014After a 10-year building boom that led to excess capacity, datacenters with access to matching engines and liquidity are gaining the edge, Tabb Group reports.
Fidelity Labs Takes Innovation to the Next Level
10/2/2014Fidelity Labs is running a pilot on LinkedIn that lets financial advisers interact with their book of customers. That's just one example of how the tech incubator is seeding ideas and developing future products for its parent company.
The New Race to Zero
10/2/2014The low-latency trading race is almost over, but the in-memory analytics race is just beginning.
State Street Operates an Internal Social Network to Spark Innovation
9/30/2014At the InformationWeek Leadership Summit at Interop New York, David Saul, chief scientist of State Street, said companies must tap their employees for innovation, or they are wasting resources.
IEX CTO Runs 10-Month Marathon
9/30/2014The most influential time in Rob Park's career was the 10 months it took to take IEX from conception to production.
New Tool Prioritizes Critical Data & News for Traders & Investors
9/30/2014S&P Capital IQ and Kuberre Systems are launching Event Fusion, a new product that monitors multiple real-time feeds and alerts investors to critical data impacting their securities holdings.
Tabb Survey: Swap Participants Air Discontent With SEF Rules
9/29/2014The jury is still out on whether SEF rules will produce a positive outcome for the swap market, and some participants are shifting to alternative instruments, according to Tabb Group's fourth SEF Industry Barometer.
Encrypting Cloud Email Isn�t as Easy as You'd Think
9/25/2014Fund managers need to consider who holds the encryption keys for cloud-based email, or face potential legal risks.
BlackRock Offers Recipe for Transforming a 'Broken' Fixed Inome Market
9/24/2014The world's largest money manager outlined steps for improving liquidity in corporate bond markets with expanded e-trading protocols and bond standardization.
ConvergEx Develops New Order Routing Strategy to IEX & Its Own Dark Liquidity Algo
9/22/2014The agency broker is giving the buy side a choice of routing a percentage of an order to IEX while designating a percentage to go through ConvergEx's Darkest, an algo connected to 20+ unlit venues.
PDQ ATS Launches a New Electronic Equity Auction for Large Orders
9/22/2014As institutions struggle to execute large orders, PDQ ATS is introducing Auction1, a new auction for equities that pauses orders up to one second so it can aggregate liquidity from fragmented markets.
SEF Trading Volumes Emerging From Summer Doldrums
9/18/2014Tradeweb's SEF saw a twenty-fold increase in interest-rate derivatives trading volume in the first two weeks of September, while Tabb Group looks for signs of summer doldrums turning around.
SEC Commissioner Urges Agency to Reform Equities & Fixed Income Markets
9/18/2014In a speech this week, SEC Commissioner Dan Gallagher said the SEC must act on the opaque fixed income markets and put Reg NMS under the microscope.
Startup Brings Pandora-Like Data Intelligence to Bond Voice Trading
9/16/2014Algomi is helping sales traders find the other side of less liquid bond trades, so that banks can become more efficient at voice trading.
TeraExchange to Launch Bitcoin Swap Trading on Regulated SEF Platform
9/15/2014Citing demand for an efficient hedging tool, TeraExchange has developed a Bitcoin swap product and a Bitcoin price index, to launch the first regulated Bitcoin derivatives platform.
Eris Swap Futures Expand Into Other Regions & Asset Classes
9/12/2014Eris Exchange licensed its swap futures methodology to the Montreal Exchange while setting a record for daily volume in its domestic swap futures contracts, buoyed by new buy-side entrants.
Venue & Order Routing Analytics to Boost Transparency in Fragmented Market
9/11/2014Tabb Group announced Clarity, a venue and order routing analysis service, to help the buy side understand where and how orders are executed and handled in the fragmented stock market.
PDQ ATS's Pause & Algorithmic Trading Crowd Attains Volume Milestone
9/10/2014PDQ ATS, a venue that recreates floor trading, executed more than 1 billion shares in August, averaging 50 million share per day in US equities, the venue's parent reported.
IEX Raises $75M From VCs to Pursue Exchange Status
9/3/2014After tripling its volume in less than a year, the dark-pool operator has gained venture capital backing to apply to become a full-fledged stock exchange.
Don't Be Surprised by a Cyber Attack: Prepare, Respond, Recover
9/2/2014Cyber attacks have become inevitable, but companies that prepare for how to respond can "shrink the problem" and minimize the impact of any security breach.
Hedge Funds Raise the Urgency Level on Cyber Security
8/28/2014Hedge funds are bracing for SEC exams on cyber security preparedness in 2014, but do they need a chief information security officer?
SmartStream Hires Industry Veteran to Head Transfomation Services
8/28/2014SmartStream tapped Tom Dalglish, an industry expert on reference data initiatives, to spearhead its back-office transformation services for global clients.
SEF Consolidation Likely as Volumes Slowly Increase
8/21/2014With 21 swap execution facilities, and slowly increasing volumes, the marketplace is perfect for consolidation.
GTS's Sale of Microwave Network to TMX Group to BroadenAccess to Ultra-Fast Data
8/19/2014Microwave data networks are going mainstream, and will level the playing field for all investors to access critical market data, said CEO of GTS, which entered a deal to sell StrikeNet to TMX Group.
Eyeing the Full Wallet, Markit Integrates Commission Manager With Broker Vote
8/12/2014Buy-side firms want access to their full commission wallet so they can leverage the data in their broker vote software and factor in research related events, according to Markit.
London Stock Exchange Group's UnaVista Boosts Presence in North America
8/8/2014As banks and asset managers grapple with EMIR Phase II of European derivatives rules, LSEG's UnaVista emerges as a major player in post-trade, regulatory reporting.
Strong Recovery of Equity Trading Volumes on Global Exchanges
8/6/2014Statistics from the World Federation of Stock Exchanges show that equity trading volumes rose 10%, signaling a strong recovery for the first half of 2014.
Quandl to Distribute Nasdaq OMX Index Data for Free
7/31/2014Data portal Quandl forms its first partnership with Nasdaq OMX, providing global indexes to a younger generation of financial analysts.
Hedge Funds Face Compliance Hurdles of AIFMD
7/30/2014Alternative funds selling to European investors must meet ESMA's strict guidelines for trader reporting, risk controls, and valuations -- similar to SEC's Form PF.
Data Analysis Startup Thinknum Raises $1M in Seed Round
7/28/2014The financial analysis platform is planning to launch a private platform for hedge funds seeking to keep their models private.
Hiring Trends: Wall Street Regulators in Demand
7/28/2014High-ranking government officials continue to leave the CFTC, landing lucrative industry jobs.
Barclays Disputes NY Attorney General's Dark Pool Allegations
7/25/2014Asking a court to dismiss the NYAG's lawsuit, Barclays contends that highly sophisticated traders were not misled about high-frequency traders in its dark pool.
SEC Eyes Cyber-Security Planning
7/22/2014In addition to regular audits, the SEC will start to scrutinize the cyber-security preparedness of market participants.
Corvil Launches Streaming Analytics Platform to Mitigate IT Risk in Electronic Trading
7/22/2014To detect risks in electronic trading, Corvil is moving beyond latency management to help banks and exchanges run real-time analytics on petabytes of data that can be migrated to big-data systems.
Why Is the Investor's Personal Rate of Return Missing on Financial Statements?
7/18/2014Only 25% of statements across the annuity, mutual fund, and brokerage sectors include a "personal rate of return," Dalbar's annual survey says.
Hedge Fund Readiness for AIFMD Is Lacking as Deadline Approaches
7/17/2014With the July 22 deadline looming, hedge funds are unprepared to meet the AIFMD data reporting requirements, and they worry about compliance costs, two studies say.
TradeKing Enters the Online Advisory Market
7/7/2014As robo-advisers target independent investors with automated tools, TradeKing teamed with Morningstar's Ibbotson Associates to deliver professionally managed portfolios with low fees.
Cinnober Pledges No Change in Boat Trade Reporting Service After Acquisition From Markit
7/2/2014New owner looks to expand the European trade-reporting service beyond the 40 investment firms and MTFs currently reporting trades to Boat.
BATS to Launch BATS One Data Feed
6/30/2014Reflecting its merger with Direct Edge, BATS Global Markets will offer a new direct data feed product with a unified view of aggregate quotes, trades, and optional depth information for all four equity exchanges it operates.
Fraud Charges Against Barclays Rock the Dark Pool World
6/27/2014New York State's lawsuit alleges that Barclays marketed the safeguards of its surveillance system to buy-side customers but actually favored high-frequency traders in its dark pool.
Debate Over Conflicts of Interest in Equity Markets Rages On
6/24/2014Last week's Senate hearing explored conflicts of interest faced by brokers that receive payment for order flow and rebates for routing orders to certain trading venues, but many experts warned against immediate change.
FIX Protocol Gains Traction Among SEFs
6/17/2014Most swap execution facilities have adopted the FIX Protocol to avoid fragmentation and allow for aggregation across multiple liquidity pools.
Market Data Expense Expert Hires New CEO
6/16/2014The Roberts Group has hired a former Omgeo executive as CEO to expand the company, which already helps buy-side and sell-side firms reduce market data expenses between 10% and 30%.
SEC Charges Against Wedbush Securites Raise Issues With Direct Risk Controls
6/11/2014The regulator accused Wedbush of violating the Market Access Rule by allowing customers to set their own risk controls on proprietary and third-party platforms.
Stressed Out by Compliance, Reputational Damage & Fines?
5/30/2014Financial services executives are living in a "regulatory pressure cooker." Here's how executives are preparing for the new compliance requirements.
Nasdaq OMX Migrates eSpeed Platform to Its Carteret Datacenter
5/28/2014On top of performance gains, the move positions Nasdaq OMX to offer electronic trading services to broker dealers who are still relying on voice brokerage and to expand the fixed-income product set.
IEX�s Katsuyama: Market Structure Problems Are Everyone�s Responsibility
5/22/2014Don�t single out HFT for the market�s problems. Anyone who has worked in the industry during the past two decades has been complicit in corrupting the markets.
TrueEX Processes $750 Billion in Bunched Order Allocations
5/19/2014The firm's post-trade platform is helping asset managers and FCMs handle "bunched order" allocations for interest rates swaps, a major pain point for the buy-side.
BlackRock to Bring Tradeweb Liquidity into Aladdin Portal
5/15/2014The asset manager announced a strategic alliance with Tradeweb seeking to expand access to liquidity in rates and derivatives.
Nasdaq OMX Expands Information Offering with Macroeconomic Data
5/14/2014Today, Nasdaq OMX announced an exclusive relationship with MasterCard to distribute its detailed reports on consumer spending activity to the buy-side community.
Motif Investing Enters Financial Advisor Market
5/13/2014After raising $35 million in a second funding round, the online site announced a platform for financial advisors along with plans to expand internationally and roll out asset allocation models to self-directed investors.
Nasdaq OMX Rehires Adena Friedman as Co-President
5/12/2014Friedman is leaving the Carlyle Group to return to Nasdaq OMX, where she is reportedly a candidate to become the next CEO.
Dark Pool for Dealers Addresses Shortfall in Corporate Bond Liquidity
5/8/2014TMC Bonds and Codestreet have launched the first dealer-only dark pool for US corporate bonds to mine data across a virtual balance sheet.
Javelin's CEO James Cawley Departs SEF
5/5/2014An advocate for transparency in swaps trading, James Cawley, founder and CEO of Javelin SEF, is parting ways with the derivatives trading platform.
Bloomberg Defends HFT and Dark Pools on CNBC
5/2/2014Michael Bloomberg told CNBC the system "is not rigged," commissions are dramatically lower, and investors have choices of numerous venues where they can trade.
NY AG Secures Agreement with PR Newswire to Prevent Direct Data Access for HFT
4/30/2014News distributor PR Newswire has agreed to require customers to certify annually that the direct data feeds they receive will not be used for high frequency trading.
Volant Trading Expands into Ultra-Fast Order Routing for Options Traders
4/28/2014Based on its expertise in options microstructure, VOLEX is unveiling a high-speed liquidity sweep capability for traders known as Take Out.
High Frequency Debate Influences Survey on Stock Market Fairness
4/25/2014A survey conducted by ConvergEx Group found that 70% of participants believe the US equity market isn't fair to all participants.
On Brink of Expansion, Liquidnet Hires Bob Garrett as Head of Technology
4/23/2014As Liquidnet expands into fixed income, Garrett will focus on integrating the pending acquisition of Vega Chi into its ATS technology.
Exclusive: Inside the GETCO Execution Services Trading Floor
Advanced Trading takes you on an exclusive tour of the New York trading floor of GETCO Execution Services, the solutions arm of GETCO.
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