Wednesday, March 11, 2020 Stamford, CT USA — Running a truly global business is inherently complex, and having to operate within multiple layers of redundant regulations is increasingly complex for derivatives market participants.

To understand the thinking of market participants on these and other market structure topics, Greenwich Associates in partnership with FIA gathered insights from nearly 200 derivatives market participants from around the world.

“The results are a strong vote of confidence from the end users, investors, clearers, brokers, traders, and exchanges involved in the global derivatives markets, and complement the more than 36% growth in listed derivatives trading between 2016 and 2019,” says Kevin McPartland, Head of Research in Greenwich Associates Market Structure and Technology group and co-author of Derivatives Market Structure 2020.

Liquidity and Innovation for 2020
More than three-quarters of derivatives market participants saw liquidity remain intact or improve in 2019, with nearly 80% expecting the same for 2020. Nearly half the study respondents believe liquidity will improve even more in the next 12 months—a sentiment held by brokers, clearers and investors alike.

This optimism can be attributed in part to continued investment and innovation. Over 90% of clearing firms are actively investing in their clearing business and focused on improving operational processes—the top metric used by the buy side when evaluating their clearing firms.
“We expect to see improved service for the buy side and a more sustainable business for the clearing firms going forward,” says Ken Monahan, Senior Analyst for Greenwich Associates Market Structure and Technology and co-author of the report.