Modern Money SmartPod

Sponsored by ION Markets

Shawn Creighton, director of index derivatives solutions at FTSE Russell, joins the show at the 49th annual International Futures Industry Conference to discuss what's happening on the ground in Boca. Creighton outlines trends in fixed income index trading, growth in digital assets and how conversations about sustainability and carbon trading differ in various regions around the world. Creighton also weighs in on the expansion of zero days to expiration (0DTE) options trading in the US, and how markets in EMEA and APAC are watching and learning from what happens in the US.

Remarkably ... Creighton manages to avoid talking about AI!

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It's no surprise that an industry veteran like Chris Edmonds, president of fixed income and data services at Intercontinental Exchange, would have a few insightful (and entertaining) thoughts to share about the buzz surrounding artificial intelligence. This chat with Edmonds at the 49th annual International Futures Industry Conference features his view on where AI fits in the long history of advancements in humans' ability to compute at greater speed. Edmonds reflects on what happens when he asks people to define 'artificial intelligence' and he also sneaks in a great reference to the 1980s film "War Games" to explain how trust can go wrong when it comes to AI. How does this all relate to data trends in capital markets? Tune in and let Edmonds explain.

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If you are going to talk about cloud technology and capital markets, sooner or later you are going to end up talking about artificial intelligence. This interview from our road trip to the 49th annual International Futures Industry Conference features Magnus Haglind, SVP and head of products, marketplace technology at Nasdaq. Haglind outlines the current 'State of Play' regarding how the cloud is being utilized in capital markets and what lies ahead as firms leverage the cloud to expand their AI capabilities.

If you want to learn more about how cloud technology is being put to use in markets, register to attend the following webinar on March 20, 2024:

What's Next: How Firms Are Future-Proofing Operations Via The Cloud, presented by Nasdaq with Amazon Web Services

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Our road trip to the 49th annual International Futures Industry Conference continues as we hear from Ivan Han, deputy chief risk officer at SGX. While the market landscape in China is uncertain at the moment, India is catching the eye of investors and Japan is resurgent. Han explains how enhanced access to markets in Asia is helping investors manage risk within the region and around the world.

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With the 49th annual International Futures Industry Conference getting underway today in Boca Raton, Florida, Futures Industry Association President and CEO Walt Lukken joins the show to offer a peek at what to anticipate at this year's gathering. Lukken previews some of the key issues that are bound to be hot topics in Boca, including US Treasury clearing, the Basel III endgame proposal and work the FIA is doing to help advance standards and modernize markets. Lukken also highlights panel sessions that he thinks will be popular among attendees, such as the 'Moneyball' session focused on what the sports world has learned from financial markets.

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The digital transformation of financial markets has spawned incredible connectivity and efficiency, but it has also created plenty of challenges. Roland Chai, executive vice president for market technology at Nasdaq, joins the show to outline how new technologies are enhancing market resiliency -- even in the face of extreme volatility events like interest rate moves, wars, bank failures, the GameStop frenzy and the pandemic.

Roland explains how investors are leveraging algorithmic trading and other technologies to manage risk in globally connected markets and he also delves into numerous other areas where Nasdaq is expanding its suite of offerings, including cryptocurrency custody and the tokenization of carbon credits. And, of course … you can’t talk about technology these days without talking about artificial intelligence, so Roland covers that ground as well.

Key highlights

The impact of digitalization on markets in recent years - (5:28)
Maintaining market resiliency through extreme volatility events - (9:26)
How the speed of news and other information is reshaping markets - (11:02)
Should the use of circuit breakers be expanded? - (13:33)
Challenges presented by digital transformation - (17:43)
Artificial intelligence in markets - (20:14)
The people behind trading algorithms -  (24:17)
Areas where Nasdaq is expanding its footprint - (26:41)

Our third  and final day of coverage of the International Futures Industry Conference … aka ... FIA Boca.

And since we are closing the book on yet another Boca, we decided to continue what has become a fun tradition for this podcast when we road trip to Futures Industry Association events. We invited FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken onto the show to wrap things up and hear his thoughts on everything that was seen and heard throughout the week. Walt always does a great job of hosting FIA Boca, so we promise you’ll enjoy his insights. 

We're back for another day of coverage from the International Futures Industry Conference … or as it’s more commonly known: FIA Boca.

Day 2 just wrapped up, so here's a quick recap of some of the highlights:

• CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam delivered his keynote address, during which he lauded the resiliency of global markets as they've navigated numerous crises in recent years.
• CoinFund President Chris Perkins joined the show for a 1-on-1 conversation about the impact the recent banking crisis has had on the startup sector and what lies ahead for digital assets. 
• The annual panel of regulators tackled questioned related to the LME nickel situation, FTX and the overall cryptocurrency landscape.
• Representatives from the crypto industry weighed in with their thoughts on what the future looks like for the sector.
• CoinFund President Chris Perkins joined the show of a 1-on-1 conversation about the impact the recent banking crisis has had on the startup sector and what lies ahead for digital assets. 

It’s March ... so that means it’s time for another Road Trip!

This episode comes to you from sunny Boca Raton, Florida, where we’re excited to bring you our second year of coverage from the International Futures Industry Conference … or as it’s more commonly known: FIA Boca.

The first day’s events just wrapped up, so here’s a quick recap of what went down here at the conference. 

• Walt Lukken kicked things off with a recap of what has been an eventful year for the industry. 
• In what is an annual tradition here at Boca, the leaders of some of the largest exchanges in the world took the stage for a panel discussion about news and trends that are shaping the industry.
• A one-on-one conversation with CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger to hear her insights on the hot topics at Boca.

When cloud technology was first introduced in markets, many people in the financial services sector were hesitant. There were concerns about security and even questions about overall use cases. Well, it is safe to say that things have changed. Today, the cloud is being used by finance pros in ways that would have been hard to imagine just a few short years ago.

Joining me today to provide an update on the current cloud landscape in financial services is Rohit Bhat from Google Cloud. Rohit leads Google Cloud’s efforts in Capital Markets, Digital Assets, and Exchanges in North America. His focus areas include technology enablers for accelerated quantitative research, pattern and anomaly detection, market data distribution, and insights-based risk and underwriting.

Rohit shares his insights about how the cloud is helping finance firms tackle all manner of tasks right now, but he also shares his view on what the future of the cloud might look like. Advancements in things like machine learning and artificial intelligence mean there are a lot of incredible capabilities on the way.

More resources

Learn more about Google Cloud for Capital Markets

Check out the whitepaper: Building the financial markets foundation for the future from Google Cloud