FLASH FRIDAY: FIX Trading at 30

FLASH FRIDAY is a weekly content series looking at the past, present and future of capital markets trading and technology. FLASH FRIDAY is sponsored by Instinet, a Nomura company.

The FIX Trading Community celebrated its 30th anniversary this year – and people will be talking about it next week.

The FIX Americas Trading Conference 2024, to be held in New York on October 16, will feature the panel FIX at 30: Reflecting on Three Decades of Market Transformation. Speakers including Scott Atwell, FIX Connectivity Manager at American Century Investments; Amy May, Executive Director, Electronic Trading at Morgan Stanley; and Sneha Savalgi, Vice President, Electronic Trading at Goldman Sachs, will trace FIX’s evolution and impact on trading, and what the next 30 years might hold. 

Not just surviving, but thriving and sustaining relevance for three decades is no mean feat in an industry that is constantly evolving. 

Scott Govoni, Regional Director for the Americas at FIX, recently discussed the upcoming conference and some of the industry group’s recent initiatives on FinTech Focus TV

The New York conference is FIX’s flagship event. “It’s an opportunity to bring the community together to talk about the topic of electronic trading and everything regarding that,” Govoni said. “It’s also a great networking opportunity.”

Govoni said the COVID pandemic forced FIX to scale back some of its regional meetings in the Americas, but the industry group is planning a comeback in that area over the next few years, with networking meetings already on the docket for Boston and Chicago, and plans to return to Toronto.

Meeting locations, as well as content and format are all ultimately a function of demand. “We are a member-driven operation – we’re just facilitating the conversations.” 

Aside from the FIX at 30 panel, Govoni discussed the Streamlining Trades: Reviewing T+1 Trade Processing in Financial Markets panel, which he said will cover what did and didn’t work in the US’s move to T+1 earlier this year, and what lessons European market participants and infrastructure providers can take. He also highlighted the panels Forging a Path: Women in FIX; Digital Assets Unveiled: Navigating the Future of Trading; and AI Insights: Revolutionizing Financial Trading panels, as well as the fireside keynote with Caroline Pham of the US Commodity Futures Commission.   

Going forward, Govoni said “there are pockets of FIX supporters everywhere. It is ubiquitous, it’s not going away and it’s a critical component of the financial industry. Any major city has financial institutions using FIX and involved in electronic trading.”

Added Govoni: “We’re just trying to get people together to talk about the things that matter.”