Waters Wavelength

Dan and Anthony take a look at four recently-published features that appeared in Waters and Inside Data Management that analyze Mifid II, which comes into effect January 2018. They start by discussing two pieces regarding the reporting requirements for the buy side (1:35). The guys then take a look at what kind of clock synchronization will be needed for the regulation (11:15), and the impact Mifid II will have on the Asia-Pacific region (15:45). Anthony then gives his take on the recent SCOTUS nomination (19:55), and the guys wrap things up talking about their favorite Super Bowl prop bets (29:00). This week's podcast is sponsored by SmartStream.

Dan welcomes onto the podcast Sean Belka, the director of Fidelity Labs, to discuss virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). They talk about the differences between VR, AR and mixed reality (2:30) and the potential benefits each have (7:25). Belka also discusses specific VR/AR projects Fidelity Lab has participated in (10:20) and what needs to occur for widespread adoption of the technology to happen (19:20). Dan and Sean wrap things up discussing how the growth of VR/AR speaks to the further consumerization of technology (21:50). Then, back with his co-host Anthony, Dan tells a story about a recent altercation he had on the subway (23:50). The guys wrap things up debating alternative facts (31:15) and the Super Bowl (38:15). This week’s podcast is sponsored by SmartStream.

Dan and Anthony open things up discussing the podcast’s one-year anniversary (:30). They then get into Thesys being selected to build the Consolidated Audit Trail (1:20). Dan talks about seeing CFTC chairman Timothy Massad and CFTC commissioner Christopher Giancarlo both making keynote addresses at Sefcon VII (10:15). Anthony then examines his natural language processing feature (13:45). The guys wrap things up talking about Jeff Bagwell’s election into the Baseball Hall of Fame (21:45) and the NFL playoffs (28:50).

The guys open things up discussing when they can officially celebrate the one-year anniversary of the podcast. They then jump into the future of the source code provision of Regulation AT, in addition to the proposed rule as a whole, following the resignation of CFTC chairman Timothy Massad (3:08). They then look at the broader regulatory picture for 2017, specifically the impact to the buy side in the US and Europe (12:38). They wrap things up discussing the controversial Trump dossier that was released (24:25) and predict the length of Trump’s presidency (35:55).

Dan sits down with newly-appointed Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman (1:15), who discusses Nasdaq’s use of artificial intelligence for market surveillance (3:50) and potential implementations she sees for blockchain (7:22). She also gives an update on Nasdaq’s Extended Life Order (11:30) and discusses how she sees exchanges evolving in the coming years (16:15). Friedman wraps things up talking about how she became a black belt in taekwondo (20:10).

With a lack of big news occurring over the holidays, Dan and Anthony decide it’s time to revisit some of the biggest dos and don’ts for PR people (1:15). The guys also discuss what their plans are for the holidays (15:45).

Dan welcomes on Victor Anderson, WatersTechnology editor-in-chief, to give a preview of what the biggest topics are for 2017. Victor starts things off by talking about his background and his first role with what was, at the time, Risk/Waters (1:00). He talks about how finance has changed throughout his career (8:00). Victor then goes through the 10 biggest trends he believes will have an impact on financial technology in 2017 (14:53). To wrap things up, Victor tells some war stories from his worst cycling crashes (39:50).

Dan is joined by Max Bowie, the longtime editor-in-chief of Inside Market Data and the current editor of Inside Data Management (IDM). He talks with Dan about launching IDM and what current subscribers of Inside Market Data and Inside Reference Data can expect going forward (1:25). He then talks about the features in the December issue (6:05) of IDM and previews his story for the January issue around the management of alternative data (10:55). The guys wrap things up discussing their favorite holiday cocktails and beers (18:25).

Dan and Anthony recap Waters USA by looking at a topic the C-level panel was deeply interested in: talent acquisition (2:00). The guys debate whether the issue is as big as some in the industry make it out to be. They also discuss a presentation by Tom Hardin, a trader-turned-FBI-informant, about insider trading (16:33). Dan then discusses virtual reality and its potential use cases within financial services (22:45). Finally, they wrap things up looking at this year’s Grammy nominations, which were recently released (30:15).

Anthony is joined by Viral Shah, Jeff Bezanson and Stefan Karpinski, three of the creators of the Julia programming language (4:50). They discuss what type of questions were brought up at Julia Day for Finance (10:00), which was held Wednesday in New York, and what should and shouldn’t be expected for the release of Julia 1.0 (14:10). Anthony then asks the trio about concerns some have brought up about the language regarding its maturity (16:22) and the chance that other languages such as Python or R could eventually offer similar speeds as Julia (20:15). He also asks how Julia will aim to help firms weed through the massive amounts of data they are dealing with (23:55) and if the programming language can be used as a recruiting tool for attracting young programmers (28:45). Finally, the founders discuss use cases for Julia outside of finance and economics (31:45).

Dan and Emilia discuss consulting and outsourcing services provider Capgemini’s accelerator program for fintechs and how it differs from others in the space (1:16). They also discuss Thanksgiving, and Emilia gives an outsider’s perspective on the American holiday (8:40).

Dan and Anthony discuss fintechs, regtechs and whether there is a difference between the two or if it’s simply a marketing ploy (1:05). They then talk about UK day trader Navinder Singh Sarao pleading guilty to spoofing and whether the case was overblown (15:40). Dan then explains how the Consolidated Audit Trail, which gained regulatory approval this week, could alleviate some of these issues, despite having its own problems (22:10). The guys wrap things up talking about the NFL (26:05).

Dan and Tony talk about the results from the US presidential election and how the capital markets will be affected going forward (2:14) They also give an update on CFTC’s Reg AT proposal following a vote that was held last week (19:52).

Dan and Emilia open things up discussing the latter’s feature on US treasuries platforms (1:10). They then talk about Dan’s profile of Bats Global Markets CIO Chris Isaacson, who will take over as CIO of CBOE Holdings following the completion of its acquisition of Bats (8:23). They close things out debating the merits of Accenture’s editable blockchain (14:40). Finally, Anthony jumps on at the end to quickly talk about the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series (22:40) and his thoughts on the final days before the US Presidential election (29:28).

Dan chats with Suresh Kumar, chief information officer at BNY Mellon, about why financial firms need to be more open and willing to share with one another via open source (2:30). He also discusses when he believes financial firms will begin contributing back into open source (14:30). Suresh then talks about the best way to tackle the ongoing stream of regulations (16:50) and gives advice to firms about the importance of having your voice heard with regulators (22:07). Dan and Anthony wrap things up discussing the start of the NBA season (24:50) and a feature in Outside magazine about the feral cat situation in Hawaii (30:05).

Dan and Anthony recap the North American Buy-Side Technology Summit 2016. They open things up debating the merits of the Reg AT’s source code proposal (2:25), before switching to the how some firms have changed their approach regarding the buy-versus-build discussion (12:45). The conversation then turns to MiFID II and whether firms are actually worried about the deadline or just stalling (18:15). They also talk about why they enjoyed the event’s blockchain panel so much (23:20). The guys wrap things up talking about the US presidential election (26:00) and the MLB playoffs (28:15).

Dan, Anthony and Emilia discuss their three-part series looking at the state of blockchain and distributed-ledger technologies in financial services. Anthony first explains the basis for the special report (3:30). The group then discusses part one (6:50), which looks at banks’ adoption of digital currencies; part two (14:45), which looks at the money backing blockchain firms; and part three (20:15), which looks to debunk the hype around blockchain. The trio also discusses why blockchain is so attractive to financial services (28:00). Finally, they wrap things up talking about the second presidential debate (34:15).

Dan welcomes on Bruno Campenon, Americas head of custody and clearing services for BNP Paribas Securities Services, to discuss CME Clearing’s recent approval of the French bank to serve as a custodian for US Treasury and federal agency securities (6:15). He then talks about what differentiates the firm in the custodian space (9:30). Bruno explains a new service around the recently implemented uncleared swap margin rules (15:30) and the impact new capital requirements will have on custodians (18:00). He also chats with Dan about BNP’s interest in blockchain (20:45), his previous roles at NASA, IBM and Chanel (27:23), and extraterrestrial life (34:10). Dan and Anthony wrap things up talking about the MLB playoffs (36:13).

Dan and Anthony open things by briefly talking about this year’s American Financial Technology Awards (:13) before jumping into the CBOE-Bats deal (3:31). They then switch gears to chat about a panel Anthony attended at the Chicago Trading Technology Summit that discussed using machine learning to sort through social media’s “noise” (13:10). The guys wrap things up discussing the first presidential debate (19:05).

Dan and Anthony open things up discussing Thomson Reuters’ acquisition of Redi Holdings (:50). They also look at how this may or may not affect Bloomberg (6:45). Anthony then gives some highlights from the Chicago Trading Technology Summit (13:30). The guys wrap things up discussing their airplane woes (19:00), airplane etiquette (23:34) and some great meals they both had while traveling this week (29:00).