Cboe Global Markets Inc. is returning to its roots in Chicago’s financial district with the opening of a new trading floor. The company moved its Cboe Options Exchange into a remodeled space in the Chicago Board of Trade building. The 40,000-square-foot (3,716-square-meter) space gives market participants updated equipment and additional physical space to execute trades in the options market. The company’s new trading floor was built to handle heavy volume in index options trades, while nearly all equity options trades are handled electronically. The firm said it executed roughly 36%...

Instinet has entered into an agreement to acquire the algorithmic trading business of agency-broker FIS according to a story in The Trade news. The deal remains subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close later this year. Instinet will acquire FIS’ algorithmic trading technology and intellectual property. Founded in 2000, FIS provides algorithms to improve execution quality and costs while minimizing information leakage. The business acquired FIS Execution Services in 2015 as part of its SunGard deal. Its key products include trading algorithms and execution services...

On Thursday June 16, 2022, FIF will host an in-person panel discussion focused on CAT CAIS, overall CAT industry status and the way forward. The event will take place at Refinitiv's offices at 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10005. The panel discussion will be from 5-6:30 pm with refreshments and networking afterwards from 6:30-8 pm. Attendees must provide proof of vaccination to attend this event. FIF would like to thank Refinitiv for sponsoring this event. FIF Members may register for free here.

The FIF TRACE/Fixed Income Working Group will meet on Tuesday June 7, 2022 at 3 pm ET to continue its review of a draft FIF comment letter on the recent FINRA rule filing with the SEC (SR-FNRA-2022-011) to expand TRACE reporting to cover transactions in US dollar denominated foreign sovereign bonds. Time permitting, the Working Group also will discuss the following current TRACE regulatory changes and proposals: May 23, 2022 rule filing by FINRA with the SEC (SR-FINRA-2022-013) to require reporting of transactions in U.S. Treasuries as soon as practicable, but no later than one hour after...

An FIF member would like to discuss Regulation S and Rule 144A issues with another FIF member that is involved in this area. Please contact FIF at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested in participating in this discussion. 

The FIF Back Office Committee will meet on Tuesday June 21 at 11 am ET to review applicable FICC, DTC, NSCC, SEC, MSRB, OCC, IRS and FINRA updates during the past month.  The spotlight presenter will be Greg Lee of Paxos, who will provide an update on Paxos’ clearing agency activities.

The FIF Front Office Committee will meet on Tuesday June 28, 2022 at 11 am ET to review applicable updates and notices from the SEC, FINRA, FINRA CAT and the equity and option exchanges. The spotlight presenter will be Chris Sparrow, who will discuss Adverse Selection in Volatile Markets.

The FIF Data and Technology Committee will meet on Wednesday June 29, 2022 at 10 am ET to review capacity, latency and volume data for the prior month for the equity, options, currency, crypto and futures markets. The spotlight presenter for the meeting will be Stefanos Bazinas of the NYSE, who will discuss the surge in off hours trading volume.

TRACE/Fixed Income Working Group. The FIF TRACE/Fixed Income Working Group reviewed a draft comment letter on the recent FINRA rule filing with the SEC to expand TRACE reporting to cover transactions in US dollar denominated foreign sovereign bonds. The Working Group discussed recent FAQ updates from FINRA relating to TRACE reporting by covered depository institutions, which takes effect on September 1, 2022. Securities Lending Transparency Working Group. The Securities Lending Transparency Working Group discussed a request that FIF received from SEC staff members to discuss the comment...