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The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

FPGA Momentum Accelerates!

Perhaps it’s just me reacting to NIWeek, which just concluded here in Austin, but I seem to be noticing the F word – for FPGA (that’s Field Programmable Gate Array for you x86 guys) – cropping up more and more these days.  Could it be that these specialised ‘go faster, run cooler’ chips that have...

TMX and Atrium – If You Can’t Join Them, Beat Them?

With a plan to expand internationally through a merger with the London Stock Exchange thwarted by a lack of shareholder support and a rival bid, Canada’s TMX Group – Toronto Stock Exchange, Montreal Exchange, and others – is extending its reach through the acquisition of Atrium Network.  The move provides its markets with connectivity to...

Perseus Shaves Milliseconds to Sao Paulo

Just 106 milliseconds roundtrip, is the published latency for Perseus Telecom’s new low-latency connection between Nasdaq’s Carteret, NJ data centre and the Sao Paulo-based Brazilian securities, commodities and futures marketplace, awkwardly named BM&FBOVESPA.  Perseus is leveraging GlobeNet’s submarine cable to go south. That’s the fastest we know of.  Orange Business Services Trading Solutions (yeah, another...

Co-Lo + Connectivity. Just Add Community for Profit!

For those interested in trends in co-location and connectivity, and the emergence of the community effect fueled by these technologies, you might take a look at this feature that I authored for A-Team’s monthly Insight review. Download the PDF and enjoy!

Level 3 Goes Last Mile to LSE

A bit more insight into the Level 3/London Stock Exchange news today.  After previously relying on others – competitors – to provide last mile connectivity to the LSE’s co-location centre, the connectivity provider now owns that segment.  While that means slightly lower latency, the main benefit is related to control and management, so Level 3...

Wenig Departing Thomson Reuters in Reorg

Veteran Devin Wenig is leaving Thomson Reuters, where he was head of the Markets division (its focus being on financial information and trading systems) as part of a reorganisation that will see that division split in three. CEO Tom Glocer will take over Wenig’s responsibilities, and the division will now be organised as: Financial Professionals...

Bats Europe Goes West to Equinix’s Community

So, Bats Europe has officially signed on to relocate its matching engines to Equinix’s LD4 facility in Slough, west of London.  If all goes well, it will be up and running at its new location in October, as a new member of the ‘community’ there. Of course, if all goes very well, by then the...

The Network Effect

Looking at the latest news from Sanford C. Bernstein, about them joining SunGard’s Global Network got me thinking a bit. First, what does the “C” stand for? Next, since I couldn’t find an answer to that first one, is where do networks from the likes of SunGard fit in the low-latency world? And it all...

Strange Bedfellows in Singapore?

Certainly in some people’s eyes. Or maybe just an example of pragmatism, co-operation and even industry standards at work. I speak of the rollout at the Singapore Exchange of pre-trade risk functionality in the form of the Risk Management Gateway from NYSE Technologies. And its soon to be hookup with the exchange’s new matching system,...

Delaying The Inevitable

Bowing to market pressure, it seems that the SEC has given the financial trading community a little extra time to implement certain aspects of the so-called Market Access Rule covering pre-trade risk. Instead of a July 14 deadline, trading firms, brokerages and exchanges now have a November 30 date to work to for implementing aggregate...