The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has launched JSE-FIX, a new order routing service developed in collaboration with electronic trading solutions provider Rapid Addition. The service is designed to lower order transmission costs while offering a scalable, vendor-neutral solution for market participants.
JSE-FIX leverages Rapid Addition’s technology to facilitate efficient sell-side broker connectivity for both domestic and international asset managers. It enables JSE member firms to electronically send and receive trade orders and confirmations across multiple asset classes, integrating seamlessly with their execution management systems.
This launch builds on the JSE’s broader efforts to enhance market infrastructure. In 2023, the exchange introduced Colo 2.0, a low-latency colocation service aimed at improving access to its markets, and established a joint venture with big xyt to market a new data analytics platform.
TradingTech Insight sat down with Mike Powell, CEO of Rapid Addition, to find out more about the technology underpinning the new offering.
TTI: Can you outline the work you’ve been doing with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the key objectives of your collaboration?
MP: Sure. We’ve been active in the South African market for many years, working with several large banks and building strong client relationships. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been in discussions with the JSE about potential areas of collaboration, particularly where they see friction or inefficiencies in the market.
One of the key areas we identified was the need for a vendor-neutral order routing hub to improve cost-effectiveness and ease of access when sending orders between buy-side and sell-side firms. The buy-side typically uses a variety of order and portfolio management systems (OMS/PMS) such as Charles River, Portware, and FlexTrade and others. Orders are then sent through different third-party networks, which creates complexities around onboarding, connectivity management, and associated costs. Some vendors have done a great job at providing full end-to-end solutions, and while this suits certain firms it potentially restricts technology choices for others.
Rapid Addition, as a provider of open-API core trading platform technology, operates in a vendor-neutral manner. This aligned well with the JSE’s vision. Together, we developed JSE-FIX as a vendor-neutral order routing hub provided by the Exchange. It offers pre-established connectivity via the major order routing networks to a large community of financial market participants, with the flexibility to add other networks based on client demand. The goal is to provide an independent platform where both local and international application vendors can easily integrate their solutions, offering greater choice of trading tools to both buy and sell-side firms.
For example, if a local software development firm has a compelling trading front end offering, they can easily connect to the JSE FIX hub to provide improved market access for their customers. Given the JSE’s unique position as South Africa’s primary exchange, it is a logical step to simplify connectivity and support the broader financial community.
We’ve found the JSE to be highly focused on market enablement. They recognize the unique dynamics of their market and have implemented several strategic initiatives to enhance accessibility and attract liquidity. These efforts, including the introduction of Colo 2.0 and their data analytics partnership with big xyt, demonstrate a clear commitment to fostering a vibrant and efficient trading ecosystem. JSE-FIX is a natural extension of this strategy, designed to streamline trading and reduce complexity for all participants
This solution benefits both the domestic trading community—by simplifying local buy-side to sell-side order routing—and international firms who want to trade in South Africa, by removing the need for significant infrastructure investment. In essence, it’s about reducing barriers for potential new entrants, offering seamless market access for institutional investment firms through the JSE’s member brokers, and creating cost efficiencies for sell-side firms.
TTI: So in terms of who benefits, obviously, the exchange does, but also the buy-side, as they gain easier connectivity, and the sell-side, as onboarding becomes simpler. The vendor community also benefits, since they can more easily integrate their solutions, correct?
MP: Exactly. We’re seeing strong interest from domestic vendors because JSE-FIX helps address the question of how they connect to the trading community, allowing them to focus on developing compelling functionality to meet their customers’ needs and bringing greater choice to sell and buy-side firms.
TTI: It also seems to accelerate onboarding.
MP: Yes. We support the JSE in onboarding clients, streamlining the process through the RA Platform’s unique toolset as well as coordinating between the buy-side, sell-side, and any third-party order routing networks or solutions providers. There’s a certain amount of triage our team performs to align the various parties, conduct conformance testing, and integrate with third-party trading systems before the counterparties can send and receive live orders.
TTI: From a technology standpoint, what exactly have you delivered?
MP: We’ve built JSE FIX using our core RA Platform technology, which is already deployed at various leading financial firms around the world. The solution is asset class-neutral, which is important because the JSE operates across multiple trading platforms and markets, including cash equities and derivatives, agricultural derivatives, and FX derivatives. Rapid Addition’s technology can seamlessly integrate different protocols, financial instruments, and trading types, so JSE-FIX can be applied across these different markets depending on client demand.
The infrastructure is hosted in one of the key South African financial market data centres and will connect to the JSE’s Colo 2.0 environment. We provide the full application layer and managed infrastructure with multiple options for clients to connect, including VPN and cross-connect. Since everything is pre-built and tested, onboarding is significantly simplified, reducing complexity for market participants.
TTI: Thank you Mike.
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