Commissioner Hester Peirce will lead agency-wide effort
For Immediate Release
2025-30
Washington D.C., Jan. 21, 2025 â
SEC Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda launched a crypto task force dedicated to developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets. Commissioner Hester Peirce will lead the task force. Richard Gabbert, Senior Advisor to the Acting Chairman, and Taylor Asher, Senior Policy Advisor to the Acting Chairman, will serve as the task forceâs Chief of Staff and Chief Policy Advisor, respectively.
Drawing from talented staff across the agency, the Task Force will collaborate with Commission staff and the public to set the SEC on a sensible regulatory path that respects the bounds of the law. To date, the SEC has relied primarily on enforcement actions to regulate crypto retroactively and reactively, often adopting novel and untested legal interpretations along the way. Clarity regarding who must register, and practical solutions for those seeking to register, have been elusive. The result has been confusion about what is legal, which creates an environment hostile to innovation and conducive to fraud. The SEC can do better.
The Task Forceâs focus will be to help the Commission draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously.
The Task Force will operate within the statutory framework provided by Congress and will coordinate the provision of technical assistance to Congress as it makes changes to that framework. The Task Force will coordinate with federal departments and agencies, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and state and international counterparts.
âI look forward to the efforts of Commissioner Peirce to lead regulatory policy on crypto, which involves multiple SEC divisions and offices,â said Acting Chairman Uyeda.
âThis undertaking will take time, patience, and much hard work. It will succeed only if the Task Force has input from a wide range of investors, industry participants, academics, and other interested parties. We look forward to working hand-in-hand with the public to foster a regulatory environment that protects investors, facilitates capital formation, fosters market integrity, and supports innovation,â stated Commissioner Peirce.
The Task Force anticipates holding roundtables in the future, but in the meantime welcomes public input at Crypto@sec.gov.
The index industry is at the heart of one of the most exciting shifts in modern financeâdemocratizing investing, according to Kirsten Wegner, the newly appointed CEO of the Index Industry Association (IIA).
Wegner, who joined the IIA last week, told Traders Magazine that what truly attracted her to the organization was its mission: âBy enabling greater access to markets and driving cost-efficiency through passive investing vehicles, the index industry is playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of investing.â
Based in Washington, D.C., Wegner is a financial industry expert, lawyer, and bipartisan consensus builder. She has more than 20 years of experience working with regulatory agencies, Congress, and leading collaborative education and advocacy initiatives with policymakers, the media, investors, and other key stakeholders.
Previously, Wegner spent eight years at the Modern Markets Initiative (MMI), with the last seven as CEO, where she led advocacy initiatives on public policy, educated key stakeholders, and built consensus on issues surrounding fintech, artificial intelligence, and market automation.
Before that, she was the Government Relations Director at the International Securities Exchange, where she established political and policy strategy for the first all-electronic options exchange. Earlier in her career, Wegner was a practicing lawyer focused on the financial services and technology industries and also spent three years in broadcast media.
Wegner believes that her leadership strength lies in consensus building. âI thrive on bringing diverse perspectives together to find common ground and create unified strategies,â she said.
“With the IIAâs constituency spanning 17 member firms across three continents, itâs a privilege to lead such a globally diverse organization,â she added.
As the new CEO, Wegner will work with the IIAâs 17 member firms and its Board of Directors to set high-level strategic direction, lead the IIAâs public policy and communications initiatives, serve as the index industry spokesperson, and represent the IIA in front of policymakers, regulators, investors, and other key industry stakeholders.
âAmong my focuses is expanding educational outreachâincluding studies, data, and scientific analysisâto inform conversations about the positive impact of index firms on the investing ecosystem, and the net positive impact for everyday investors, in terms of cost savings, transparency, and market integrity,â she commented.
Broadening the IIAâs audience is her key priority for her first yearâto reach not just asset managers, but also everyday investors saving for college, retirement, and other milestones, so they understand the positive impact of index firms in the role they provide as transparent and independent measurements on which index funds are based, she said.
The index industry has evolved rapidly in recent years, Wegner said: âI think weâre seeing a shift in some areasâlike in parts of Asia and Europeâmoving from a savings mindset to an investing mindset. Iâm excited for the positive role the index industry may play in this trend of democratizing investing to a broader demographic.â
âAs the passive investing trend continues to grow, weâll see increased demand for related services that index providers offerâsuch as data solutions and custom index solutions forming the basis for benchmarks,â she added.
Building on the IIAâs achievement of a presence on three continents, she plans to deepen relationships with educators and policymakers on their issues in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
âChallenges can be tackled by being open and having transparent data available for decision-makers,â she stressed.
Many of the independent index providers in the world are members of the IIA, including Bloomberg Indices, CBOE Global Indices, the Chicago Booth Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP), China Bond Pricing Co., China Securities Index Co. Ltd., FTSE Russell, Hang Seng Indexes, ISS-STOXX, JPX Market Innovation and Research (Tokyo Stock Exchange), Korea Exchange, Morningstar, MSCI, NASDAQ OMX, Parameta Solutions, Shenzhen Securities Information Co., and S&P Dow Jones Indices.
IIA members administer over three million indices for their clients, covering many asset classes, including equities, fixed income, and commodities.
Part of the IIAâs mission is to consider ways to promote best practices for index providers, which makes it a natural supporter of appropriate and proportionate industry standards.
âIâm excited for the IIA to convene a broad group of stakeholders to explore policy questions, promote thoughtful discussion, and build consensus in the coming year. The financial ecosystem is interconnected, and Iâm excited for the IIA to promote open and transparent conversations between stakeholders,â Wegner concluded.
London, 23rd January 2025 â The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, today announces the 2025 priorities for the exchange and clearing industry.
The WFE Board â 18 leaders of market infrastructures from around the world, met last week to discuss and agree the priorities. The WFE, which represents over 250 market infrastructures, will focus on the areas below:
The Role, Purpose & Work of Market Infrastructure in the next decade: As public, lit markets continue to champion the rights of investors, issuers and market participants, while more lightly regulated alternatives continue to be a source of concern and undermine social welfare, the WFE will advocate for regulation for all forms of financial trading that ensures markets remain trustworthy, inclusive, transparent and serves the needs of the industryâs diverse stakeholders.
ESG Leadership for Market Infrastructures: Regulated marketplaces remain the bastion of ESG, and the WFE will work on practical guides on disclosures and transition, in support of securities issuers and derivatives markets.
Innovation in Technology: As IT evolves continuously and plays a central role in modern market infrastructure, the WFE will assess the changes and how best to manage the use of technology, such as Artificial Intelligence. This will include the key issues of security and resilience â which are the hallmarks of Market Infrastructure. We will be working with regulators to ensure that emerging standards in these areas neither deter innovation nor fail to protect investors.
Private and Public Markets- improving the health of capital markets: Private markets now occupy a grey area relative to public ones, especially with growth in secondary trading and retail access. With our stakeholders, the WFE will examine how private and public markets interact and how to optimise this interaction, to ensure that the incentives to list and to trade transparently are aligned with the known benefits of lit, public markets.
Clearing, CCPs and the changes arising from new regulation: The WFE, which is the largest global organisation representing CCPs, will work on the issues arising from the wave of new policy making, especially around margin practices, to ensure the CCP voice, and consensus, is heard clearly.
Education: With the WFEâs Market Infrastructure Certificate entering its third year, the WFE will work to ensure the learning and educational needs of future leaders are being served.
As the voice of the exchange industry, the WFE will continue to foster and promote efficient market structures that are resilient, robust, fair, transparent and stable during this time of change and innovation.
Nandini Sukumar, CEO at the WFE, said: âWe will continue to champion the sustainable growth of public markets and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure their ongoing health and robustness, given their important economic and social role to the global economy.â
About the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE): Established in 1961, the WFE is the global industry association for exchanges and clearing houses. Headquartered in London, it represents over 250 market infrastructure providers, including standalone CCPs that are not part of exchange groups. Of our members, 37% are in Asia-Pacific, 44% in EMEA and 19% in the Americas. WFEâs 87 member CCPs and clearing services collectively ensure that risk takers post some $1.3 trillion (equivalent) of resources to back their positions, in the form of initial margin and default fund requirements. WFE exchanges, together with other exchanges feeding into our database, are home to over 51,000 listed companies, and the market capitalisation of these entities is over $110 trillion; around $140 trillion (EOB) in trading annually passes through WFE members (at end 2024).
The WFE is the definitive source for exchange-traded statistics and publishes over 350 market data indicators. Its free statistics database stretches back 49 years and provides information and insight into developments on global exchanges. The WFE works with standard-setters, policy makers, regulators and government organisations around the world to support and promote the development of fair, transparent, stable and efficient markets. The WFE shares regulatory authoritiesâ goals of ensuring the safety and soundness of the global financial system.
With extensive experience of developing and enforcing high standards of conduct, the WFE and its members support an orderly, secure, fair and transparent environment for investors; for companies that raise capital; and for all who deal with financial risk. We seek outcomes that maximise the common good, consumer confidence and economic growth. And we engage with policy makers and regulators in an open, collaborative way, reflecting the central, public role that exchanges and CCPs play in a globally integrated financial system.
Off-exchange US equity trading volumes have increased in recent years, and upstart alternative trading systems such as IntelligentCross, PureStream, and OneChronos have captured material market share.
Effective January 22, thereâs a new player in the space: AlphaX US, operated by Toronto-based exchange group TMX. The venue was announced today.
âWeâve been seeing a very small number of standalone ATS venues emerge and weâve watched that piece of the pie grow,â said Heidi Fischer, President of TSX Alpha US, which operates AlphaX US. âWe believe it will continue to grow, and weâre offering a good addition to whatâs out there.â
In an interview with Traders Magazine, Fischer said AlphaX US differentiates itself as an auction model that incorporates counterparty segmentation, whereas most ATS venues that do counterparty segmentation are not auctions.
âHow weâre looking at counterparty tiering within segmentation is also different from others,â Fischer said. âIn todayâs marketplace, tiering is primarily one size fits all. We are allowing participants to customize tiering to the duration that matters to them from a performance perspective.â
âA Participant might care about their markouts at 15 minutes, or one second, or two seconds,â she continued. âWe want to present that customization for the sell side in our venue.â
Fischer said there will still be monthly tiering, but the contra-tiers will be based on what execution duration the participant cares about and tailored to how they view performance. Tiering will not be available on day one; it will be introduced after sufficient trading data is generated.
She also said AlphaX USâs pricing model is different, as it prices trades at the midpoint of buyer and seller prices, whereas most auctions price at the midpoint of the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO).
AlphaX US is the first venue expansion outside of Canada for TMX Groupâs Markets division and it will trade US-listed securities only (Reg NMS). Fischer said the launch is a culmination of two to two and a half yearsâ planning.
âWeâve seen independent ATSs coming into the market with innovation and improving execution quality, and they have been growing,â she said. âWe fit into that bucket and we have a strong parent company with over 150 yearsâ experience in building markets, strong funding, and great technology. Weâre focused on not only improving execution quality, but also partnering with our participants and providing a custom and tailored execution experience.”
With the Trump administration taking office this Monday, capital markets are focusing on how his government appointments, including executive posts at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Reserve, may impact bank regulations and the broader capital markets.
Kenneth E. Bentsen
âWith the new administration and its plans to pause much, if not all of the pending rule-making [there are almost 20 pending SEC Rule proposals], we expect a far different posture towards regulation and rule-making, which we would view as a positive,â said Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., President and CEO of SIFMA, during the annual media briefing on January 21.
“Among our key focus will be hopefully a more rational capital and liquidity framework that recognizes the dramatic changes that have occurred since the global financial crisis, in particular, also recognizing the important role that banks play in the capital markets, as well as looking at areas around equity market structure, the growth of private markets, the growth of retail investment base and product offerings to that base,” he said.
Isaac Wheeler, Managing Director, Balance Sheet Strategy at Derivative Path, said that in general, a Trump presidency is likely to mean âless regulation by enforcement and greater regulatory clarity for financial institutions.â
âIn areas of innovation in particular, many depositories have found themselves operating under rules that werenât particularly well-defined, disincentivizing the level of innovation they were able to engage in,â he said.
âThere is an expectation that Trumpâs regulators will offer clearer boundaries around what financial institutions are and arenât allowed to do,â Wheeler told Traders Magazine.
On Tuesday, January 21, the SEC announced that President Donald J. Trump had designated Mark T. Uyeda as Acting Chairman of the agency.
The President has previously stated he will nominate former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to run the agency on a permanent basis.
Khody Azmoon
According to Khody Azmoon, CEO and Co-Founder, and Head of Business Development and Product Strategy at BLOX Markets, under the current three-member commission, advancing a regulation requires all commissioners to participate in the vote unless one is recused or disqualified.
Therefore, some challenges may arise for the current three-member commission in adopting significant rules or amending existing ones, given SEC quorum rules, he said.
âThis situation could result in some potential political maneuvering for Paul Atkinsâs confirmation hearing for the permanent SEC Chair position, but we believe President Trump made an excellent choice in appointing SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda as Acting Chair,â he said.
According to Azmoon, Mark Uyeda has prioritized promoting capital formation and innovation while protecting investors, particularly seniors, from fraudulent activities.
Additionally, his tenure with the SEC Staff, which began in 2006, reflects the experience and leadership qualities desirable in a permanent chair, he said.
It is also notable that Acting Chair Mark Uyeda was one of the SEC commissioners in September 2024 who unanimously voted 5-0 in favor of the equity market structure changes to Regulation NMS for Tick Sizes, Access Fees, and Better-Priced Order Transparency, he added.
âThese changes are expected to enhance execution quality for the underlying retail investor by promoting tighter spreads, reducing exchange fees, and increasing fee transparency. Ultimately, we believe that Mark Uyeda as Acting Chair will be positive for the U.S. equities markets,â he said.
Benjamin Schiffrin
Benjamin Schiffrin, Director of Securities Policy, issued the following statement in connection with Better Marketsâ new Fact Sheet, âWorking-Class Americans Elected President Trump, and His New SEC Chair Must Take Action to Protect Themâ.
âLast summer, at the Republican National Convention, Vice President-elect JD Vance said that his party was done âcatering to Wall Streetâ and would instead âcommit to the working man.â Yet the prevailing view is that the nomination of Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission will be a boon to Wall Street. Thatâs because Atkins has long advocated for deregulation, which often comes at the expense of the ordinary retail investor,â he said.
âSo the question is whether, under President Trump, the SEC will favor Wall Street or the âworking manâ and retail investors. Unsurprisingly, the messaging around Atkinsâs nomination has not focused on his pro-Wall Street views. In nominating him, President Trump said that Atkins âis a proven leader for common-sense regulations,ââ he said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Board announced on January 6 that Michael S. Barr will step down from his position as Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision, effective February 28, 2025, or at such an earlier time as a successor is confirmed.
Isaac Wheeler
Wheeler commented: âPerhaps the most consequential appointment pending is that of the Fed chair, which could remain unannounced for some time.â
Barr was leading the U.S. initiative behind the Basel III endgame proposal, which aims to raise capital requirements for banks.
âIf this selection aligns with Trumpâs other regulatory appointments, markets may need to prepare for a shift in the Fedâs traditional reaction function,â Wheeler argued.
âThe new Fed chair could mark a decisive change from the Bernanke-Yellen-Powell eraâs mandate and drive greater interest rate volatility in the years ahead,â he said.
âAdditionally, there is a general consensus that M&A activity will increase across the banking industry as a result of a more deal-friendly environment under the new administration,â he said.
It is with immense gratitude and a profound sense of responsibility that I begin my term as Board Chair of the Security Traders Association (STA). This moment reflects years of hard work, dedication, and commitment to the financial markets. I am deeply honored by the trust STA members have placed in me.
By way of introduction, my name is Julie Andress, a proud Cleveland native and graduate of John Carroll University. My career began in 2007 in New York at Bloomberg. In 2011, I returned home to Cleveland to join KeyBanc Capital Markets as a sales traderâa role I have embraced for the past 14 years. Over the years, Iâve had the privilege of serving STA at both local and national levels, and I am passionate about its mission to support professionals in the financial services industry.
As we step into a new year, the financial markets face a period of significant transformation. A new administration, evolving geopolitical dynamics, rapid technological advancements, and regulatory changes have created an environment that is both challenging and ripe with opportunities. Adapting to change has always been essential to professional growth, and this year will be no different.
STAâs mission is to keep our members informed on industry trends while fostering a solutions-oriented mindset. As Chair, I am committed to ensuring STA continues to serve as a resource and advocate for our members. My primary focus this year will be broadening our reach across the industry in two ways.
The pandemic reshaped the geographical landscape of our profession, creating new hubs of financial activity in previously unexpected regions. Ensuring that every region has a voice at the table is imperative. This year, we launched our first chapter in Arizonaâan exciting milestone for us as an organization and professionals in that regionâand we will continue working to expand into other new or underserved areas. We will also collaborate with leaders in our affiliate regions to enhance inclusivity, particularly for members outside major financial centers.
Additionally, we will focus on significantly expanding our outreach to younger professionals. Their fresh perspectives and energy are vital to the future of our industry. New initiatives will be introduced to engage and integrate this next generation into our strategic vision, ensuring the continued success of our association.
Looking ahead, I am optimistic about the future of our industry. STA is a testament to the power of collaboration and the strength of collective expertise. Together, we will navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities ahead.
I would like to express my gratitude to those who have helped me reach this position. Past Board Chairs Jim Hyde, Chris Halverson, Katie McCallister, and Ryan Kwiatkowski have been invaluable mentors. I also want to thank the 2025 Board of Governors, Advisors and committee leadership for their commitment to serve and the STA OfficeâDawn, Erin, and Jimâfor their unwavering support. I know we will achieve great things together.
Finally, to all of youâthank you for entrusting me with this honor. I am excited about the journey ahead and committed to leading this association with dedication and integrity.
Hereâs to a successful year for STA and its members. Thank you!
How do you differentiate yourself from peers in capital markets and how do you expect your position in the marketplace to evolve in the next few years?
Anthony Amicangioli, HPR
HPR is a leading provider of capital markets infrastructure (CMI), comprised of both hardware and software-based products and services, for top-tier buy-side and sell-side firms and exchanges.
Since our founding in 2011, we have remained steadfast in building a comprehensive platform designed for simplicity and efficiency. This disciplined approach has enabled HPR to create solutions that meet diverse client needs; from our flagship enterprise risk solution and software-based market access gateways to hardware-based risk systems, ensuring seamless integration, scalability, and reliability in pricing and performance.
While most providers specialize in either hardware or software, our platform does both exceptionally well. It elegantly integrates hardware and software, in a proximity cloud service to deliver unprecedented speed, stability, and security. HPR intends to completely modernize the CMI electronic trading stack.
What was the highlight of 2024?
The theme for 2024 was growth, optimization, and globalization. Our platform set new records this year, trading over 19 billion shares in a single day – a true testament to its resilience and ability to handle the highest trading volumes.
In line with our vision to create the exchange platform of the future, we dedicated significant engineering resources to enhancing HPR Hypercube, our fully hardware-based matching engine, which outperforms current exchange architectures by a factor of 100 with a hardware package 1/10 the size and power consumption. Additionally, we reduced latency to 250 nanoseconds in our flagship RiskbotÂŽ solution for enterprise pre-trade risk management.
We have grown the sales, product, and marketing functions, and are actively engaging new market participants. We continued to onboard global, tier-1 banks on our enterprise risk stack. We also commercialized DatabotTM, our low-latency, market data solution. HPR is continuing to grow in new international markets across APAC, the Middle East, and Latin America. To support this effort, we launched operations in Sydney.
What are your expectations for 2025?
With the introduction of our hardware-based matching engine technology, Hypercube, we are establishing a brand-new normal for trading with one hundred times the power and performance. As such, requirements for performance solutions in other areas like market data and access will also increase. We expect 2025 to be a breakout year for us as demand for our offerings will accelerate as markets advance.
According to Coalition Greenwichâs Market Structure Trends to Watch in 2025, âATSs are eroding on-exchange market share, nonbank market makers are picking up market share (and clients) from big banks, and capital markets fintech firms are doing both of those and more. These agile newcomers are leveraging cutting-edge technology, innovative business models and a customer-centric approach without the hangover of legacy technology and operational complexity.â With Hypercube, we believe HPR is a formidable and agile newcomer ready to disrupt the trading landscape as we know it.
We have already achieved great success in meeting our targets to address functionality and global geographic coverage. We plan to accelerate our efforts to provide a more seamless and unified solution across major asset classes in the second half of 2025. This will herald the completion of our three-axis plan to grow a comprehensive portfolio across regions and asset classes, while providing holistic capabilities for our partners.
How do you see financial technology changing in the next five years?
Top technology platform companies like Google and Amazon are racing to increase data center efficiency (power consumption, compute power per rack unit) as Mooreâs law wanes. However, this trend seems to be unaddressed and all but unknown in the financial sector. This race will yield solutions with increased FPGA off-load technology as well as wholesale upgrades of legacy software applications to hardware-based appliances.
The current and prevalent notion that innovation is slowing and settling on the present legacy software stack-solutions fails to recognize that there is much more innovation to come as high-density hardware-based appliances begin to displace certain critical applications in the CMI space.
HPR is a major driver of this paradigm and is pioneering the future of capital markets. We built our entire suite of solutions with this in mind since inception. Our latest offering, the Hypercube, is a matching engine that consists entirely of hardware, which has never been done before. In a market where everyone is competing for the best orders, the Hypercube will usher in the next generation of electronic trading, democratizing markets and leveling the playing field for all participants.
TECH TUESDAYÂ is a weekly content series covering all aspects of capital markets technology. TECH TUESDAY is produced in collaboration with Nasdaq.
When we introduced the Nasdaq IPO Pulse a year ago, we said it suggested that U.S. âIPO activity⌠should remain in an uptrendâ as we headed into 2024.Â
Then, when we introduced the Nasdaq Stockholm IPO Pulse in September, we wrote that it âsuggests [Stockholm] IPO activity⌠is likely to remain in an uptrend in the coming months.â
And now, it looks like our IPO Pulses were right!
2024 was a year of recovery for IPO activity in the U.S. and Stockholm
Following the earlier upturns in our U.S. and Stockholm IPO Pulses, actual IPO activity also recovered â in both the U.S. and Stockholm â in 2024.
According to Nasdaqâs data, the U.S. saw 179 non-SPAC IPOs in 2024 â the most since 2021, and a 40% increase over 2023 (127). By value raised (ex SPACs), it was an even better year, with value raised increasing over 50% from 2023 to $30 billion â also the most since 2021.
Plus, the year ended strong, with Q4 having the most non-SPAC IPOs in a quarter (53) in three years.
Sweden saw a more than 60% jump in IPOs in 2024 (23) compared to 2023 (14 IPOs). Sweden also closed the year strong, with Q4 having the most IPOs in a quarter (10) in 2½ years.
U.S. led global IPOs, followed by Asia, while some major markets lagged
Not only did the U.S. have a strong year for IPOs when compared to recent years, but also when compared to the rest of the world.
According to FactSet data (including SPACs), the U.S. had over 250 IPOs in 2024.
After the U.S., the list was dominated by Asian (and Emerging) Markets, which took 12 of the top 14 spots.
European markets rounded out the top 20 in the chart (Sweden took 15th place), but there are some major European economies missing from this list, including France and the Netherlands, which both fell outside the top 20.
Chart 1: U.S. leads global IPO activity in 2024, followed by Asian markets
Since most countries have very different sized economies and stock markets, itâs a little unfair to compare countries by a simple count of IPOs.
A âfairerâ comparison is to look at the percentage increase in listings due to IPOs in each country. We show that in the grey circles. By that measure, 11 countries â including the U.S. (5%) â were clustered in the 4%-6% range. The clear winners in 2024 were Macedonia (14%) and Saudi Arabia (12%). While China, Australia and the U.K. scored the lowest.
Nasdaq IPO Pulse near high, indicating continued uptrend in U.S. IPOs
Even though 2024 was the best year for U.S. IPOs in three years, some commenters think 2025 will be an even better year. Right now, the cyclical drivers of future IPO activity captured by the Nasdaq IPO Pulse look pretty supportive.
While the IPO Pulse ticked down in December, itâs just off Octoberâs 3Âź-year high, suggesting U.S. IPO activity should remain in an uptrend into mid-year.
Chart 2: The Nasdaq IPO Pulse suggests IPO activity will hold up into mid-2025
Nasdaq Stockholm IPO Pulse off its high, but not yet signaling a downturn
For Stockholm, the IPO Pulse upturn has faded, but is not yet at the point that itâs clearly indicating a downturn is ahead.
The Nasdaq Stockholm IPO Pulse was in an unambiguous upturn through the first half of 2024, reaching a 2½-year high in June (chart below, blue line). Since then, itâs come off that high, but it remained above Octoberâs eight-month low in December.
Chart 3: The Stockholm IPO Pulse sees a continued upturn in IPO activity into the spring
Given this recent softening, we can test whether itâs truly signaling a downturn in IPO activity by comparing it to its past downturns. Thatâs because most of those past downturns genuinely anticipated downtrends in IPO activity, while a couple were false alarms.
Fortunately, based on that comparison, this recent slowing currently looks slightly more similar to historical false alarms, so the Stockholm IPO Pulse is not yet conclusively indicating a directional shift in IPO activity.
That means we should expect Stockholm IPO activity to stay in an uptrend for now, but our next update in April should help clarify whether a near-term downturn is likely.
U.S. and Stockholm IPO Activity likely to stay in uptrends into Q2 2025
2024 was a year of recovery for IPO activity in the U.S. and Stockholm. And based on our IPO Pulses, IPO activity looks likely to stay in an uptrend into mid-year â especially in the U.S.
Of course, a lot can change over the course of a year, so weâll be updating our Nasdaq IPO Pulses each quarter to see if these uptrends will continue beyond mid-year, or if a directional shift lies ahead.
Phil Mackintosh is Chief Economist at Nasdaq. Michael Normyle is U.S. Economist and Senior Director at Nasdaq.
Creating tomorrowâs markets today. Find out more about Nasdaqâs offerings to drive your business forward here.
The Index Industry Association (IIA) has appointed Kirsten Wegner as its new Chief Executive Officer. Wegner succeeds Rick Redding following his retirement after 13 years as the IIAâs CEO since its founding in 2012. In this role, she will work with the IIAâs 17 member firms and its Board of Directors to set high level strategic direction, lead the IIAâs public policy and communications initiatives, serve as an index industry spokesperson and represent the IIA in front of policy makers, regulators, investors and other key industry stakeholders. Previously, Wegner spent eight years at Modern Markets Initiative (MMI), with the last seven as CEO, where she led advocacy initiatives on public policy, educated key stakeholders and built consensus on issues surrounding fintech, artificial intelligence and market automation. Prior to that she was Government Relations Director at the International Securities Exchange and established political and policy strategy for the first all-electronic options exchange.
Jennifer Piepszak
Daniel Pinto, JPMorgan Chase’s President and Chief Operating Officer, who has served the firm for more than 40 years, has informed of his decision to retire at the end of 2026. Pinto will relinquish his responsibilities as President and COO as of June 30, 2025. This will allow him to effectively transition those responsibilities in the coming months. He will continue to serve the company as Vice Chairman of JPMorgan Chase working closely with and advising the CEO and other senior executives on key projects, client relationships and complex issues facing the firm. Jennifer Piepszak, Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Commercial & Investment Bank (CIB), has been named Chief Operating Officer of the company, effective immediately, working closely with Pinto over the next few months.
Corey Geis
Investcorp has announced that Neil Rickard, Managing Director and Head of Credit Research in Europe, will become Co-Head with responsibility for the European business, alongside Corey Geis, currently Managing Director and Head of Trading and Capital Markets in the US, who will become Co-Head with responsibility for the US business. Their new positions become effective April 1, 2025. Rickard has been a part of the Credit Management team in Europe since 2011. Prior to this, Neil worked at Mizuho Corporate Bank from 2005. Geis has been a part of the Credit Management team in US since 2017 and has almost three decadesâ experience in credit, including at GoldenTree Asset Management and TD Securities. Both Jeremy Ghose and Tom Shandell are retiring from their current executive roles as global head Credit Management and head of liquid credit investments in the US respectively. From April 1, Ghose will step down to become non-executive Chairman of the business and continue to participate in various investment committees until his retirement on July 31, 2025, while Shandell will continue to provide support and continue to participate on the US credit investment committee until his retirement on June 30, 2025.
Apex Group has appointed Zion Hilelly as a new Chief Product officer, based in New York. Prior to joining Apex Group, Hilelly was the Head of Operations and Managed Services within S&P Global, where he ran multiple industry leading investment management solutions. Hilelly is BlackRock veteran having worked at the asset manager from its early days for over 20 years. As a Managing Director, Hilelly was responsible for launching, developing and leading many of the post-trade products and capabilities of the firmâs flagship Aladdin platform.
Scott Mitchell has been appointed Chief Executive Officer at InspereX. He succeeds John DesPrez III, who is retiring after serving as the firmâs CEO since his appointment in January 2015. Mitchell joins InspereX after a 20-year career at J.P. Morgan, where he held progressively senior positions across Equity Derivatives and Cross-Asset Structured Investments Sales and Marketing. He first joined J.P. Morgan in 2004 to co-head U.S. Third-Party Structured Investments Sales, launching the firmâs third-party distribution business, as well as its brokered CD platform.
FIA has hired Melissa Brunton as a new Senior Vice President of Global Events, Marketing and Communications. She joins the FIA team from the Direct Selling Association (DSA), where she served as SVP of Education and Meeting Services. In addition to hiring Brunton, FIA announced Will Acworth’s promotion to Global Head of Market Intelligence.Â
Reid Cheyne has joined Pirum as Director of Fixed Income Sales, Americas. Reid brings over 25 yearsâ Securities Finance and Fixed Income experience in many leadership roles, ranging from trading and financing to sales and brokerage, across banks, broker dealers and interdealer brokers. Most recently, at Citi, Reid moved from directing Fixed Income Prime Services Sales to lead Financing Sales for Hedge Funds. Previously Reid held VP roles at Abbey National Securities and Citicorp Securities, as well as Managing Director at Capital Markets Engineering and Trading.
Droit has appointed Somerset Pheasant as Chief Strategy Officer. Somerset brings over 15 years of experience in the financial industry and served on the Droit board from 2016 to 2023. In his most recent role as Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, he managed the strategic investing business globally and established the European Firmwide Strategy team.
If you have a new job or promotion to report, let me know at alyudvig@marketsmedia.com
I joined GTS in the second half of 2024, so going in, I was aware that GTS made markets in over 10,000 global names and was powered by incredible technology. What surprised me was how the IP and technology stack could be leveraged for other businesses across our organization, enabling us to provide deeper liquidity and tighter spreads in the market. We are seeing significant synergies across the entire franchise.
What are your expectations for 2025?
We expect to continue growing our multi-asset client franchise businesses across Equities and FX. This spans everything from our ETF to Wholesale Market Making to FX businesses, as well as our NYSE Designated Market Making and Floor Broker activities. From the COO seat, we are focusing a lot of our efforts on operational excellence and simplifying workflows across the stack to facilitate faster decision-makingânot just on the trading side but across the entire franchise, including front, middle, and back-office.
What are you most excited for in 2025?
There are two major themes we’re excited about and focused on: First, with the impending change of guard at the SEC, we look forward to seeing how market structure regulation will evolve under the new administration. Our Co-Founder and CEO, Ari Rubenstein, testified before the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets last year, clearly outlining GTS’s stance, and you’ll undoubtedly hear more thought leadership from GTS in 2025 regarding our market structure viewpoints and the impact to markets and specifically our trading partners and clients. We’re eager to continue to expand upon our expertise and data-driven approach to help clients tackle trading challenges while remaining a highly trusted counterparty.
Second, we have ambitious plans in place across all of our business units and our technology and operations organizations. We are particularly excited about growing our business units while continually calibrating the organization to ensure GTS is well-positioned to consistently deliver superior liquidity solutions while providing concierge-level client service.
A Letter From Julie Andress, 2025 STA Chair
By Julie Andress, KeyBanc Capital Markets
2025 STA Chair
It is with immense gratitude and a profound sense of responsibility that I begin my term as Board Chair of the Security Traders Association (STA). This moment reflects years of hard work, dedication, and commitment to the financial markets. I am deeply honored by the trust STA members have placed in me.
By way of introduction, my name is Julie Andress, a proud Cleveland native and graduate of John Carroll University. My career began in 2007 in New York at Bloomberg. In 2011, I returned home to Cleveland to join KeyBanc Capital Markets as a sales traderâa role I have embraced for the past 14 years. Over the years, Iâve had the privilege of serving STA at both local and national levels, and I am passionate about its mission to support professionals in the financial services industry.
As we step into a new year, the financial markets face a period of significant transformation. A new administration, evolving geopolitical dynamics, rapid technological advancements, and regulatory changes have created an environment that is both challenging and ripe with opportunities. Adapting to change has always been essential to professional growth, and this year will be no different.
STAâs mission is to keep our members informed on industry trends while fostering a solutions-oriented mindset. As Chair, I am committed to ensuring STA continues to serve as a resource and advocate for our members. My primary focus this year will be broadening our reach across the industry in two ways.
The pandemic reshaped the geographical landscape of our profession, creating new hubs of financial activity in previously unexpected regions. Ensuring that every region has a voice at the table is imperative. This year, we launched our first chapter in Arizonaâan exciting milestone for us as an organization and professionals in that regionâand we will continue working to expand into other new or underserved areas. We will also collaborate with leaders in our affiliate regions to enhance inclusivity, particularly for members outside major financial centers.
Additionally, we will focus on significantly expanding our outreach to younger professionals. Their fresh perspectives and energy are vital to the future of our industry. New initiatives will be introduced to engage and integrate this next generation into our strategic vision, ensuring the continued success of our association.
Looking ahead, I am optimistic about the future of our industry. STA is a testament to the power of collaboration and the strength of collective expertise. Together, we will navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities ahead.
I would like to express my gratitude to those who have helped me reach this position. Past Board Chairs Jim Hyde, Chris Halverson, Katie McCallister, and Ryan Kwiatkowski have been invaluable mentors. I also want to thank the 2025 Board of Governors, Advisors and committee leadership for their commitment to serve and the STA OfficeâDawn, Erin, and Jimâfor their unwavering support. I know we will achieve great things together.
Finally, to all of youâthank you for entrusting me with this honor. I am excited about the journey ahead and committed to leading this association with dedication and integrity.
Hereâs to a successful year for STA and its members. Thank you!