StreetsTalksTo

In this episode of StreetsTalksTo we are joined by Alan Jones and Sarah Norford-Jones, Co-Founders of YEO Messaging. We discuss the rise in cyber breaches and the significant impact this has on organisations, particularly when many staff are working from home due to COVID-19. We discuss how YEO has created a solution designed to allow teams to communicate quickly and efficiently in a truly secure way using facial recognition technology. We explore the benefits this offers organisations across many sectors, all keen to secure their information.

YEO Messaging is an ultra-secure private messaging platform that connects businesses with people, assuring trust, compliance, and providing total control. It's an innovative alternative to the market-leading messenger options because it assures delivery and confirms the identity of the viewer. Doing this it uses its patented continuous facial recognition. YEO Messaging claims to be the only messaging application that guarantees delivery to the person rather than just the device.

In this episode of StreetsTalksTo we are joined by Hilary Smyth-Allen, BPFS Sector & Modern Services Lead and Executive Lead SuperTech, David Stewart, Group Chief Operating Officer for Wesleyan and Co-Chair of the FinTech arm of SuperTech and Joff Walters, Co-Founder Million Labs and Co-Chair of the FinTech arm of SuperTech

We start the conversation with a fascinating look into West Midlands' rapidly emerging professional services technology which has seen a massive acceleration of tech trends in recent years. We talk about the impact of The Kalifa Review on the UK's Fintech sector and what this means for the region. Time to market is a key priority for entrepreneurs and innovators and we discuss how low code and no code are empowering startups. SuperTech is focused on supporting businesses and building on the existing globally and nationally relevant established cluster and how it can help businesses scale, all the while ensuring that as a community, it remains fit for future generations of changemakers.

SuperTech is a cross sector partnership designed to showcase the talent, innovation and investment potential of the West Midlands' professional services technology cluster This supercluster aims to amplify the voice and the potential in sectors that include fintech, legaltech, prop tech, and insuretech. It is the first dedicated prof tech collaboration of its kind in the UK.

In this episode of StreetsTalksTo we are joined by Sassan Danesh, Managing Partner at Etrading Software and James Haskell the Business Operations Officer.

We discuss two major industry developments: the consolidated tape and developments in crypto asset trading. We delve deeper into the consolidated tape infrastructure challenges and operating models from the highest levels of governance down to some of the technical requirements concerning data and standardisation. We talk about rapid growth in crypto asset trading and the opportunities that may be missed if considered discussions are left unaddressed. We also discover Sassan and James' fascinating views on regulation, or lack thereof, in the crypto asset trading world.

Etrading Software is an independent global provider of technology led solutions. They design, build and operate technology for the front office, fixed income OTC markets, helping clients keep full governance and control using transparent and vendor neutral solutions Etrading Software has a proven record of working with consortia through a mutualised approach to design, implement and operate technology-based services - from incubation to execution - that help solve common challenges faced by the industry.

In this episode of StreetsTalksTo we are joined by Stephane Leroy, Chief Revenue Officer of Quanthouse and Emmanuel Carjat, Chief Operating Officer. Quanthouse provides end-to-end systematic trading solutions. This includes ultra-low latency and consolidated market data solutions, algo-trading development framework and proximity hosting and order routing services. They help hedge funds, market makers, investment banks, brokers and trading venues achieve optimal trading performance, develop and integrate new trading strategies, comply with regulatory requirements, test existing and new trading infrastructure tools and rationalise operating costs.

In this fascinating conversation we cover many topics including technology infrastructure, data, trading strategies and the ability to self permission. We touch upon the current geopolitical climate and of course we ask what is their favourite piece of regulation!

In this episode of StreetsTalksTo we are joined by Erez Zada, CEO and Magnus Almqvist, Head of Exchange Development for Exberry. Exberry helps exchange pioneers, at all levels & of all sizes, to launch, pivot, break ground and scale. They deliver a blend of exchange and trading technology expertise for secondary market models, creating matching engines in the cloud at speed for traditional, alternative and digital asset exchanges.

During the podcast we delve into the challenges and opportunities that exchanges are facing in the current environment, and the importance of supporting the real economy in order to improve liquidity. We talk about the struggle with legacy technology and how it is an exciting time for innovation and creativity with entrepreneurs finding new ways of uncovering investment opportunities, particularly when it comes to the digital or tokenized world. There is general acceptance that digital is the future and the dream to achieve low latency based on the cloud is now a reality thanks to firms like Exberry.

We kick off Series two with a fascinating conversation with Dan Shepherd, CEO and Caroline Holmes, COO from BTON Financial, the independent outsourced dealing desk for assets managers. BTON Financial helps asset managers rethink their trading infrastructure in an environment of increased regulatory pressures and margin compression. By using BTON Financial buy side firms are able to continue to drive greater performance, quality of execution and ultimately returns for end investors. Delivered as SaaS, asset managers can rest assured their investment intentions are not undermined by poor execution quality as a result of inadequate and legacy technology.

In this episode we discuss why outsourced trading models are in such demand at the moment, with Covid-19 accelerating and already existing trends industry outsourcing. We talk about the importance of operational resilience as businesses adjust to new working models as well as upcoming regulations industry participants need to pay attention to - including the Senior Manager Regime, which brings personal accountability to the fore, and, of course, Brexit. Dan and Caroline also share the reasons why MiFID II is their favourite piece of regulation, and why, when it comes to modernisation, we need to think more like Gen Z. And as always, we find out what they've been doing to keep going throughout lockdown.

In this episode we are joined by Emma Kalliomaki, Managing Director of the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) and The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB), and Malavika Solanki, Member of the Management Team at the DSB. ANNA is a global member association that seeks to foster standardisation within the financial industry by upholding the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) principles, and by promoting International Securities Identification Numbers (ISINs), Classification of Financial Instrument codes (CFIs), and Financial Instrument Short Names (FISN). The DSB was founded by ANNA as a fully automated global generator of ISINs, CFIs and FISNs for OTC derivatives.

Messaging and data standards might at first appear dry, but together Emma and Malavika explain why the association and bureau exist and their roles in helping key regional market infrastructures. We explore the pressures their members and partners face and how they continue to support them throughout Covid-19 with business continuity and resilience development. While data integrity and alignment play an incredibly important part of this, we explore how the human need for stability must be met before organisations can look at how to move forward with new innovations and technologies such as digitisation, AI, and robotic process automation. We also discuss the role of consultation and collaboration with the other industry associations, members and stakeholders in shaping ANNA's and the DSB's roadmaps, and why the industry should be paying particular attention to new regulations such as Securities Finance in Transaction Regulation (SFTR), ESMA's consultation on non-equity transparency under MiFID II, and EMIR Refit. And on a lighter note, as we have asked all CEOs and their colleagues, Emma and Malavika share what's been keeping them going personally throughout the lockdown.

In this episode we are joined by Karen Rudich, CEO and Israel Obinyan, COO of ELEMENTARYb, an intelligent data financial SaaS company creating a future model of banking to support businesses' financial and risk needs using high-performance modern technology for all banking, tax and accounting activities. About to start their pre-round A fundraise, ELEMENTARYb will help Middle Market Enterprises (MMEs) build resilience, compliance and security fit for both today and tomorrow.

We discuss the current environment of low growth and continued uncertainty in the face of Brexit and the pandemic, the effect of Covid on MMEs and how innovation is key to moving forward, how Open Banking and Open Finance are solving problems like data standardisation. We explore the importance of MMEs, the underappreciated backbone of the UK's growth economy, and how ELEMENTARYb is focused on helping MMEs address any short or medium term needs by bringing data into a central place, providing a holistic view of the business and helping to reduce the complexity around the decision making process.

In this episode we are joined by Adam Toms, CEO Europe and Tim Dinsdale, CTO of OpenFin, the operating system of finance. OpenFin brings the application interoperability we have all come to love on our mobile devices onto the financial desktop, essentially delivering to the financial desktop what Apple and Android have delivered for mobile. A successful scale up fintech firm, OpenFin is used to deploy over 1,200 applications across more than 225,000 desktops in some 1,500 institutions, in more than 60 countries.

We discuss the challenges of remote working as trading floors and capital markets firms tackle the downsizing of desktop real estate from multiple monitors to home PCs and laptops. We talk about the challenges of working with legacy infrastructures and the acceleration of web technology. Exploring how Openfin's clients and the industry as a whole have navigated lockdown, we discuss the re-entry path ahead and delve into industry engagement with FDC3, the financial desktop interoperability standards. There are mutual benefits on offer from collaboration, and we consider the priorities in play as firms deliver their digital transformation programmes. Turning to regulation, we focus on the benefits and challenges of SMR (The Senior Managers Regime) compliance exploring the responsibility that this places firmly on the shoulders of industry leaders… and so much more, including how both Adam and Tim have kept physically and mentally strong throughout lockdown.

In this episode we are joined by Paul Humphrey CEO and William L'Heveder COO of BMLL Technologies, the fintech scale up data and analytics firm offering access to granular order book data from exchanges and trading venues worldwide. They deliver analytics tools to help unlock the predictive power of pricing data, offering insights to help banks, brokers, hedge funds and buy-side firms understand how markets behave and make informed decisions.

Together we explore market behaviours and changing client requirements during lockdown, how cloud-enabled technologies have proven their value as working patterns have adapted, how shrinking trading screen real estate has increased pressure for insights, data and analytics and the fight for tech talent. We explore the 'democratisation of financial services' and the notion that while the speed race is over, the data race is only just beginning. At a time when the industry debates the merits of a post-trade consolidated tape, BMLL explains how it is in a strong position to respond.