About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

Sustainable Trading Adds Seven New Firms to its Membership Network

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sustainable Trading, the non-profit organisation aiming to transform environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in the financial markets trading sector, has added seven new firms from across the trading industry to its membership network. Joining the 41 firms already participating in the industry initiative are Barclays, Liquidnet, Mizuho International, Rand Merchant Bank, Schroders, State Street and Telehouse.

Since its launch in February 2022, Sustainable Trading has established a set of working groups and specialist sub-groups to assess the practical ESG issues the sector currently faces. The organisation is now working closely with member firms to develop a set of ESG best practices tailored to the trading industry.

“We’re about a third of the way through the first iteration of that process,” says Founder and Director Duncan Higgins. “We set up six detailed working groups, on subjects from technology and infrastructure all the way through to governance practices, including elements such as diversity, inclusion and employee wellbeing. We’ve been exploring these areas in some depth with our members, having people share their experiences and progress they’ve made in their firms. We’re now digesting all that information before we release it in aggregated form, showing where there are common areas of activity and where some firms are doing things that are particularly impressive. From that we can begin to document a set of best practices for those activities.”

Higgins provides a couple of examples of focus areas. “We’re looking at all sorts of things, from reuse and recycling of hardware through to how you’re set up within a data centre, how you manage power for your trading infrastructure and so on. From a Social perspective, we’re looking at practical changes such as how you write your job descriptions in your adverts to make sure you don’t put off diverse candidates, how you go through the interview process with those candidates and how you demonstrate that your firm is committed and focused on supporting diversity.”

Sustainable Trading has recently moved to an office in the City of London and appointed two Member Engagement Consultants, who will support the organisation’s delivery workstreams and work with both existing and prospective members as the network grows.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Recorded Webinar: Unlocking Competitive Edge with Outsourcing and Managed Services in Trading Technology

Outsourcing has emerged as a strategic solution for capital markets firms as trading technology infrastructures become more complex, data volumes grow exponentially, and regulatory pressures intensify. .By leveraging third-party expertise, firms can optimise operations, reduce costs, and focus on innovation in their trading technology stack. Outsourcing potentially enables firms to scale seamlessly, meet regulatory reporting...

BLOG

EU’s AI Act Loads Data Responsibilities on Institutions but also Offers Opportunities

Financial institutions are under pressure to put their data estates in order as the European Union’s artificial intelligence regulation comes into force this week, threatening huge fines for failures to observe its tough rules on the safe and fair use of the technology. Nevertheless, the introduction of stringent measures that will place new compliance burdens...

EVENT

TradingTech Summit London

Now in its 14th year the TradingTech Summit London brings together the European trading technology capital markets industry and examines the latest changes and innovations in trading technology and explores how technology is being deployed to create an edge in sell side and buy side capital markets financial institutions.

GUIDE

The DORA Implementation Playbook: A Practitioner’s Guide to Demonstrating Resilience Beyond the Deadline

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) has fundamentally reshaped the European Union’s financial regulatory landscape, with its full application beginning on January 17, 2025. This regulation goes beyond traditional risk management, explicitly acknowledging that digital incidents can threaten the stability of the entire financial system. As the deadline has passed, the focus is now shifting...